BRITISH ACHIEVEMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20208, 19 March 1929, Page 9

BRITISH ACHIEVEMENTS

JNINE BUSINESS JA/ONDERSj. j

FINANCE AND INDUSTRY. J

REMARKABLE INSTITUTIONS/!

To counteract any possible general belief in Canada that all the great achievements of business and industry are to be found in the United States, Mr. Herbert' N. Casson enumerates in a London letter to tbe Toronto Financial Post "nine things that are not to be found either in the United States or anywhere else," and each of which he declares to bo "the highest point of human achievement in its own line." Here they are:—

1. The Midland Bank. This is the largest bank in the world. The big banks of New York are not to be compared with it. It has deposits of 1 over £2,000,000,000. Its total assets now stand at the unparalleled figuro of £2,200,000,000. It is the most progressive British bank, too, as well as t.he largest.It is not a vast inert mass of capital.It is dynamic. It is constantly offering new services to the 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. These are the "Big Five" banks of Great Britain.They stand in a class by themselves. Their combined assets amount to more than £9,000,000,000. What five banks in the United States, or what ten banks, can make such a showing ?

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 Exchange lists about 1100 securities. The London Stock Exchange lists more than 4000, It hhs four times as many members as the Neiv York 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 finance.

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.

Magnitude of Lloyd's. 3. Lloyd's. 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 men. Individually, they are underwriters; collectively, they are Lloyd's. They have a reserve fund of over £6,000,000. 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 times the circulation of the New York Evening Journal, which claims to sell more copies than any other American daily paper. The great new building 5 of the Daily, Mail is one of the sights of the world. Nowhere else are there so many presses. As an advertising medium, too, the Daily Mail leads the world's press. Its front page for a day costs £1400; and it is often sold out for six months in advance. Great Railway Organisation.

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

The entire Midland Railroad is operated from a single room in 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. 6. 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 playground in comparison with these.

7. Carreras' Factory. If a prize were offered for the most perfect and unique factory it would not go to America. It would go to the new Carreras' 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 £4OO net profit a yekr per worker. It has created new standards of comfort and hygiene for its workers. "Flower of Industrialism."

8. Cadbury Factory.—ln spite of all the improvements that have been made" in the humanising of industrialism, this old factory is still at the top. This is the only factory, as far as I know, that is managed by the brain-power and heartpower of its rank and file. It is the only one that has received 35,000 suggestions from its workers. It has been practically self-governing for more than 20 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 December 10, 1928. Thero is nothing else like it in' any country. It leads to two subways that run 1500 trains a day. Tlio deepest of these subways lies 140 ft. beneath the surface. This station has 11 escalators. It has a vast booking hall with display walls that show 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 Loudon —the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square.