28 NOVEMBER 1908, Page 3

The second portion of the commercial audit of the London

County Council's accounts—that dealing with the working- house dwellings and steamboats—has been issued. The auditors, Mr. Peat (president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants) and Mr. Pixley, note a very considerable loss in regard to dwellings, but the amount cannot be stated by us without an analysis for which we have no space. The proof of the economic risk of such experiments is patent. The steamboat scheme, now abandoned, shows an ultimate loss on working, upkeep, realisation of assets, and interest on the debt estimated by the auditors as amounting to at least £300,000.