NINE BIG THINGS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 73, 30 March 1929, Page 13

NINE BIG THINGS

WHERE BRITAIN LEADS

FIRST IN EFFICIENCY

HUMANISING .INDUSTRY

To counteract any possible general belief in Canada that all the great achievements of business and industry are to be found in tho United States, Mr. Herbert N. Casaon, the well-known writer on business topics, in a letter to tho Toronto "Financial Post," mentions nine things... that ■ are not to be found either in the United States or

anywhere else," and each of which ho declares to be "the highest point of human achievements in its own lino." Tho nine arc as follow:—

1. The Midland Bank. This is the largest bank in the world. The big banks of New York are not to bo compared with it. It has deposits of over £2,000,000,000. Its total ' assets now now stand at the unparalleled figure of £2,200,000,000. It is the most progressive British bank, too, as well as the largest. It is not a vast inert mass' of capital. It is dynamic. It is constantly offering new services to tho British public.: .

This big bank is not. exceptionally large, as' compared with other English banks.: There are four others that are almost as immense—Lloyd's, Barclay's, Westminster, and National Provincial.

Tluwe arc Ihe "Big Five" b.'inks of Great lirilaiu. .They stand in a chtss by thciiiselvc*. Their coinViinrji] assr-is amount lv more llinn £!1,000,000,000. What five, banks in the United Stairs or vh.it Iru banks, can iniikc such a show-

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

2. London Stock Exchange. This exchange is unique, not only in its size, but in the fact that it is international. The New York Stock Kx-c-hango lists about 1100 securities. Tho London Stock Exchange lists more than 4000. It hits four times as many members as the .New York Stock Exchange. As for volume of business, it has few artificial booms, but it thinks nothing of handling 3,000,000 shares in a day.

It is the one great international mart for the best securities of all civilised countries. It is well managed. It is under control. It does not antagonise the banks. That is why it is and will remain the centre of the world's fin-

It is run primarily for investors, not for cliques of "bulls" and "bears." It has its speculative side, but it is never overpowered by speculators, as so many other stock exchanges are. There is always a steadiness that makes it difficult for panics and violent movements to arise. In other words, it is the best managed and most reliable stock exchange in the world.

3. Lloyds'. This famous Maritime Exchange, too, is unique. There is nothing that even slightly resembles it in any other country. It dates back as an organisation to 1771, and as a group of brokers to 1689. It has stood the shocks of eight generations, and it has never broken down.

Lloyd,'s is an association of about 1200 mon. Individually, they are underwriters; collectively, they are Lloyd's. They have a reserve fund of over £0,000.000. They have made the seas safe. If you ask why Britannia rules the waves, the answer is "Lloyd's."

4. "Daily Mail." This morning paper has now a circulation of 2,000,000 copies a day. This is the largest circulation, by far, of any daily paper in the world. It is nearly three tinjos the circulation of.' the "New York Evening Journal," which claims to sell more copies than any other American daily paper.

The groat now building of the "Daily Mail" is O)io of the sights of the world. Nowhere else are there so many presses. As an advertising medium, too, the "Daily Mail" leadsthe world's Press. Its front page for a' day costs £1400, nnd it is often sold out for six months in advance.

A GREAT RAILWAY.

5. Dispatching room of tho Midland Railroad. As everyono knows, the British railroad service comes nearest 1.0 perfection. In no other countries do trains run 300 miles without a stop. And in )io other country are there so few accidents.

The entire Midland Eailroad 13 ope-' rated from a single room iv Derby. Not a train moves without an order from this room. This is the highest point of efficiency ever reached in the operation of railroads, and it has been wholly developed by English experts.

C. Shipyards. The three greatest shipyards of the world are in the British Isles —at Glasgow, Newcastle, and Belfast. Apart from one shipyard in Germany, there is no other shipyard in any country that can be placed in the same class with the "Big Three" of Great Britain . The largest American shipyard is a child's playgr.ound in comparison witli these. J ; ■

7. Carreras's Factory. If a prize were offered for the most perfect and ixnique factory it would not go to America. It would go to the new Carreras's factory in London.

This factory is an industrialised copy of the Temple of Bubastis, a goddess of ancient Egypt. It manufactures its own climate.. Its machinery is so automatic that it makes £400 net pro-, lit a year per worker. It has created now. standards of comfort and hygiene for its workers.

8. Cadbury factory. In spite of all the improvements that have been made in the humanising of industrialism, this ild factory is still at the top. This ;.s the only factory, as far as I know, that is managed by the brain power and heart power of its rank arid file. It is the only one that has received 35,000 suggestions from its.workers. It las been rjraetically self-governing for more than twenty, years. If you want to see the ripened flower of industrialism you must go to Cadbury's.

9. Underground Station at Piccadilly. This is London's latest wonder. It was opened on 10th December, 1928. There is nothing else like it in any "country. It leads to two subways that run 1500 trains a day. The deepest of these subways lies 140 ft beneath the surface.

This station has eleven escalators. It has a vast booking hall with display walls that .sho.w the latest fashions. It handles ,50,000,000 passengers a year. It is a subterranean marvel, so deep that it could hold the highest statue in London—the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square.