Talk:Royal Mail Case/GA1

GA Review

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The article is well written and sources look good. However I noticed a few problems.

1. The lead says: Lord Kylsant, had been falsifying records, accounts. However they were acquitted from falsifying, were not they? So this sentence should be changed to something more consistent with facts.

   Fixed, I think. Ironholds (talk) 15:14, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

2. The lead contains the following statement:The company was then liquidated, and reconstituted as The Royal Mail Lines Ltd with the backing of the British government. However, the main text does not mentions this fact. Per WP:LEAD the lead is just a summary of the article and should not contain any information not mentioned in the main text. I think in the last section you should write in more detail how the company was reconstituted.

   Fixed, but I've got no idea about "more detail". If I understand correctly they probably did a typical trick of declaring bankruptcy, selling all the assets to a "new" company as a way of getting rid of debtors and then started up under a new name, but I've yet to see any RS on the matter. I'll do those items below in the evening when I get home. Ironholds (talk) 15:14, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

   Amend that - found some stuff, but doesn't seem to be a reliable source. Ironholds (talk) 00:28, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

3. The should answer the following questions:
   • When did the practice of using secrete reserves begin? (As I can guess from the article somewhere between 1921 and 1925)

     I don't have anything more precise than that, I'm afraid. Ironholds (talk) 00:28, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

   • What were reserves at the beginning of the practice?

     The reserves hadn't been dipped into, so £1 million. Ironholds (talk) 00:28, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

     But they withdrew 750,000 in 1926 then 478,000 in 1927 then something in 1928. The total is bigger than 1 million? Ruslik_Zero 13:10, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

     Gah, there was a Bank of England loan I forgot to weave in. I have a book on the matter, I'll try and find out the when, where and amount of the loan. Ironholds (talk) 13:31, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

     Added in - appears to have been a direct government loan. Ironholds (talk) 19:19, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

   • What was the state of the company (debt, annual losses etc) when reserves were depleted? (in 1929 I suppose.)
     • Added in. Ironholds (talk) 00:28, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
4. The article should provide some information about the life of Lord Kylsant after prison. What did he do after his downfall?

   Added all I can find - none of the source I've got available list what a "return to the public eye" entailed exactly.

5. Are any photos of Lord Kylsant available?
   • • Not any we can use. We can't really justify fair use here, so PD is what we need, but I can't seem to find any images of him with attached author information. Ironholds (talk) 00:28, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Ruslik_Zero 14:57, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I satisfied with the current state of the article, and will promote it. 08:25, 20 July 2009 (UTC)