* * * THE RAILWAY MEETINGS.
As with the banks, so with the railways, it is striking to note the increasing interest of the public in the annual meetings. Nor, is the development surprising. Just as in the' case of banking operations' a much wider public than bank share- holders are concerned in the general situation reflected, so in the case of our railway results, we have an expression not merely of the prosperity or otherwise of railway shareholders, but of the conditions affecting the travelling public and also as affecting the general trade of the country. On the present occasion, moreover, interest in the annual meetings was quickened by the concern aroused in some quarters by the extent to which some of the companies had been compelled to draw heavily on Reserves to permit the scale of dividends recently announced, the total amount taken by the four leading groups being very nearly £7,000,000, which is a considerable increase over a year ago.
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