THE CORPORATION AND THE GAS WORKS.

Evening Post, Volume XIV, Issue 49, 26 August 1876, Page 2

THE CORPORATION AND THE GAS WORKS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING POST. Sir,— lt appears by your issue of the 23rd instant that the negotiations between the Corporation and the Wellington Gas Company for the purchase of the compauy's works are likely to be successful, and it seems strange that none of the ratepayers have come forward to condemn such a course. It will be an unfortunate thing for the city should the gas works pass into the hands of the Corporation, for the simple reason that the price proposed to be paid for them is too high, and also they are no! capable of supplying the city without a further outlay, and therefore it will be impossible for the Corporation to supply gas at 10s per 1000 feet, and make the works pay ; the consequence will be, that having the monopoly they will charge a higher rate, and instead of every private household being able to use the gas, it will be confined (as it now is) to those who are obliged to use it, and the boon that it is supposed will be conferred upon the citizen will be a miserable failure. Any man of business purchasing a concern would not be so insane as to give the actual cost price, but would have' a proper valuation mnde and reasonable discounts allowed for deterioration in value ; but in this instance the Corporation are giving not only the full cost price, but also a bonus for the monopoly at present enjoyed by the company, the value of which has been greatly reduced since the starting of the new gas company, and will vanish altogether the day that their plant is landed on the wharf. Anyone who cares to go into the question will find that the present works and plant of the Wellington Gas Company cost fully £ 10,000 more than they can be erocted for In Wellington at the present time. The cry is— cheap gas; but what does cheap gas mean? Certainly not gas at 12s 6d, but at a lower rate, and which it can bo made and supplied at in Wellington at the present time, with properly constructed works and an able manager. And that is what the citizens want, so that each householder will find it advantageous to use it in place of kerosene ; and although every credit is due to the Corporation for their efforts to obtain this for the city, still it can never be at the price they purpose paying the Wellington Gas Company. The work of gas making by Corporations, as a rule, is a failure, and we need not look far from home to prove this. Nelson, to wit, where the gas works have been taken over by the Corporation, who not only charge a high rate for the gas, but are unable to supply the town ; in fact, it has been a common occurrence for the gas to go out in especially business hours, and for the tradespeople to have to take to kerosene and candles. These works have never shown a profit, and never will, at the price given for them. There is one fact which must not be overlooked, and that is, if the Wellington Gas Company could only pay a dividend of 12 tier cent, under their present able manager, with gas at 14s per 1000 feet, how can they pay in the hands of the Corporation at 10s, with a i largely-increased expenditure for additional plant? It simply means a loss, which the ratepayers will have to make up, and therefore the Corporation will be wise to take the opinion of. the ratepayers before they commit themselves to what will prove a white elephant. ' ' I am, &c, ! ;, No Monopoly. 25th August. [This letter would have been published yesterday afternoon, but was crowded out owing to want of space. — Ed. E.P.]