MUNICIPALISING SERVICES

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7376, 30 January 1902, Page 2

MUNICIPALISING SERVICES

An interesting discussion is going on in Wanganui on the subject of municipalising services in connection with water and gas. In reference to the first, the Mayor proposed a scheme whereby the corporation would undertake the whole business cf plumbing, more especially in respect of sanitary plumbing, but after a long fight he was r eaten in the Council on this point, and had to be content with a resolution under whioh the Council would do practically what the Bawera Borough Council has been doing, make connections on a time payment system where a property holder de&ives it to do so. The basis of opposition had been that it was improper for the Council to compete with individual tradesmen. Now, a similar issue has arisen in connection with the gas service. The Borough is about to take over the gasworks, and, incidentally, there nas arisen the question of whether the Council should cot also enter upon the business of selling fittings, etc. The two interests of private business enterprise and munioipalieation have coma into unoompromising conflct, and after % a strong debate on the subject the Council adjourned further discussion. Of course the objections of private business firms need no re-stating. They are obvious. But the answer of the munioipalisers is of interest, because it raises a question which will ariee in many other places, possibly Hawera, before long, and the Wanganui Herald voices their case thus : " For years the Gas Company made little or no headway, as the private residences of the bulk of the burgesses were not fitted up with gas fixtures for lighting or cooking, the cost of which stood in the way, as people of limited incomes could not afford to go to the necessary expense of installing the gas, either for lighting or cooking, or both. To popularise the use of t gas in the homes of the people of Wanganui, the Company followed the example of other gas companies, and laid in a stock of gas fittings and stoves, which they put in on the time-paymenfc system, thus enabling those of limited means to take advantage of the gas supply. The result was, as elsewhere, that the consumption quickly increased, and with it the profits of the Company, which up till then had been very small. The boon of gas-cooking can only be appreciated by thoso who have had experience of that cleanly and economical process, as it lessens tho work of the housewife greatly, a mosfc important desideratum in small homes, where servants are not kept), and where the bulk of the household work fails on the wives, who too often are slaves to the kitchen, at a time when their maternal duties are heavy and exhausting. To such, a gas-stove is a real blessing, and quite as economical as one heated by coal, ooke, or wood. The former needs little or no attention, and can be made ready for use at n minute's notice ; it doss not require to be kept alight a moment after the cooking is done, and, whafc is quite as important, the heat can b9 regulated to a nicety and the consumption of gas correspondingly regulated. The opposition, therefore, to the Borough Council continuing to supply gasstoves and other fittings, as hitherto done by the Gas Company, strikes us as a retrograde one, which, if carried, will seriously restrict the output of gas in the future and proportionately limit the profits of the works. If the Council does not conduct the affairs of the municipal gas supply on strictly business lines, will undoubtedly fail to make a sucesss of the scheme, and give cause for dissatisfaction. There was no objection raised against the Gas Company supplying stoves and fittings on the time-payment system or any question as- to the wisdom of the practice. Why there should be any to the Council continuing to do so, we fail to understand, except, indeed, that a few interested private tradesmen are opposed to

the practice en purely personal grounds. The municipalisation of such important services as those of the supply of water and gas has long been acknowledged to be in the public interest and has been successful wherever tried. Why, then, should Wanganui refuso to give its residents the fullest benefits of a municipal gas supply ? To do so, the Council must continue to offer inducements to the borough householders to use gas for both lighting and cooking purposes, and this can only be done by bringing the cost and terms of payment for the necessary installation within the means of everyone." If, a3 the Herald holds, the deoieion to be arrived at will ga to the root of municipalisation, then the issue is proportionately important. Au aspect of the matter not touched on is that an individual or a compauy can traffic and bargain with customers in nil sorts of ways that borough officials could not do unless they were prepared for daily charges of making " fish of one and flesh of another."