Canadian National Railways.

The operations of the above system last year showed an operating profit of nearly £10 millions. The improvement in its financial position since 1920 has been remarkable, for in that year its total earnings were about £7 millions less than its operating expenses. Great credit is due to Sir Henry Thornton, to whose progressive management much of this improvement must be attributed. It should be remembered however, that the Canadian Government's investment, amounting to something like £240 millions (made up of loans and various forms of advances) has not been provided for in the above figures. If the operating profit of about £10 millions is reduced by the amounts required to pay all fixed charges on securities held by the public, a credit balance of about £1½ millions is left. The total mileage operated by the Canadian National lines is 22,681, making it the greatest of any railway company in the world.

The “Boston Evening Transcript” describes the system as a great national asset. “If its position continues to improve at the same rate, it will shortly be, instead of a millstone, a bonanza, which will be paying a large portion of the country's running expenses. Industrial history will be searched deeply to find a more dramatic example of salvaging a huge bankrupt organisation.”