THE GAS QUESTION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIX, Issue 156, 4 July 1895, Page 3

THE GAS QUESTION.

To ihe Editor of the 'Evekino Mail.' Hie— It is not my intention to efater Intel a long controversy with Cr Akersten. I simply exercised my right in rising to A point of order, when I thonght Cr Akersten was leading the Council off the snbjeot into a mazy dance after 2500 toDS of coal, which he and he alone supposed bad gone astray. If Cr Akersten has the head he. supposes himself : to havo he would have allowed tbat what he calls "Bundles of errors " to get into print, and then he wonld have had a fair mark for the shafts of his criticism. Talk oi damaging CoUingwood Coa l . No one in the Council hiis done so much towards that as Cr Akeraten. So far as myself and colleagues of the Finance mittee are concerned we stuck to the text of the first petition, wbich was in respect to the light, and never went into the comparative merits of the ooal but in a very minor decree, as the * evidence taken and report of the Finance Committee showed. It was Cr Akersten himself in a letter te the Town Clerk wbo Uk& fdr the figure that show' the 'com■pMaiive merits of tfie two coals, an*i it' is a poor compliment to the Town Clerk titer three weeks of very hard labour to - characterise them as a "bundle of errors," Bnt that is nothing new. In April, 1887, when defending Brunner against Colliog- , -freed ooal he ofiarged tie then Gu Mana-',.•-1 ' r-^,° " "' Uf-C'* W^r,' my, .AAA

ger with incorreot statements both as to coke aiid candle power. But 'he is not on that side now. Personally I have been now six years a member of the; City Council. During that period I have given the very best of my ability to the servioe of the citizens of Nelson, and have, endeavoured to do my duty without fear or favour. No one oan charge me with seeking my own private interest or the private interest of any other man in any publio position that ever I have "held, and do hold, and this I can bring abundance of evidenoe to prove: and in this gas question I hold a brief for no one. lam entirely indifferent whether Westport, Collingwood or Brook-street coal is used. My sole aim has been, as it is my duty, to do my best to get the best results out of the Gasworks for the oitizeus generally. Collingwood ooal will not give the best result, as is amply proved by the addition of half West Coast coal, and the Town Clerk's figures thereon, which show sales of gas 500 cubic feet per ton of coai from mixed, in excess of Collingwood, aud the ordinary published balauce shows that no more than 1100 per annum was received for residuals from. Collingwood coal, and £500 was obtaiued from tbe mixed in 1895, and with Westport coal, I have not t'je slightest doubt with tbe splendid coke we are getting, and the increased product of tar, we should get at least £700 a year for residuals. Aud as to light, the photometer has been put in thorough repair, and still shows the same average, 20f,.the best light given in New Zealand. If those citizens who honestly signed the petition will look at the light in their churches and the light in the street lamps, then they will understand that the fault is not in the light, as it all comes from one source. As to' the gas bills being 60 per cent higher, that may be true ot individuals, but it is not true in the aggregate, as the takings for the month of May were somewhat less than the corresponding month last year. The whole question resolve* itself into a nutshell. Are the gasworks to be run in the interest of a private company of comparatively wealthy men, or in the interest of the public? Is the boon of good and cheap gaa. and ot good and obeap coke to be continued or not? whicn by the way is not cheaper in price than the Colliogwood ooke, but is better for the consumer, and as in bulk we have one-third more of the former than the latter, it is more profitable to the Council. As to the heating quality of the gas, strange that coal which through its great heating power was oredited with enabling H.M.S Calliope to steam out of Samoa in the teeth of a hurricane, and whioh yields such splendid heating coke, should give off gas of mnch leBS heating power than gas from Collingwood coal. In conclusion, my time of service expires next September. I shall then offer myßelf for re-eleotion, I have gfven in the past good honeßt service. Ihe Queen's Gardens, the Church Hill, the reclaimed land, the ventilated sewers proclaim that. If the public don't want honeßt service, let tbem deolare it. I can give no other.— l am, &o, J. PITEB. I