THE SUPPLY OF GAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7773, 20 October 1886, Page 3

THE SUPPLY OF GAS.

TO THS EBITOR. Sir,—As the supply of gas is a matter of so much importance to the public as well as to the company, I feel no difficulty in asking yon to allow me space for the insertion of another letter on the subject. Sinoe the publication of my last letter in the Hebald of the Bth instant, ill has been several times said to me, " Admitting all you say to be true, how do you account for the price of gas being so muoh higher here than in other places ?" and in an article in the Evening Bell of the 16 th instant, a comparison is made with Sydney and Melbourne. It mast be plain that comparisons are of little value unless all the conditions under which the gas ie manufactured and distributed are alike. So much, however, do they vary in Great Britain for instance, that the prices range from Iβ lOd at Sunderland to 14b at Fortrose per 10)0 feet. No useful comparison with gas companies ' in Great Britain for this and other obvious reasons can therefore be made. Reference is made to Sydney as an example for Auckland. Let us then see how these places relatively stand in respect of some of the most important particulars which affect the price of gas :— The population of the Sydney gas supply area is five times at least larger than the population of the Auckland area, the consumption of gas ie at least five times greater than in Auokland, the price of coal from proximity to the coal field*, &o-, must be less, probably by nearly one-third, bub I have not the exact proportion. One reason given why gas should be cheap in Auckland ie that we have an abundance of coal. Now it is quite true that New Zealand possesses a practically unlimited supply, easily worked, cheap in price, and for many purposes valuable. The company has experimented upon and given trials to coal from the Bay of Islands, Kamo, Whangarei, Waikato, and Weatport, and the Grey, and for many years used coal from various pits in New South Wales. The result of this experience has proved that ooal from the Grey pits produces gas of a better quality, more in quantity, and better coke, and this at a cheaper rate relatively than any of the other mines mentioned, although coal from them ranges in price from 12a to 20s a ton delivered at the works, and Grey ooal cannot be placed there at less than 30s 6d a ton, at which price it is now being supplied under contract. But besides the cost of coal, there are many other conditions that materially affect the price at which gas can be supplied, and Auckland in many respeots is not favourably situate for the purpose. The large gas area, as fixed by Act of the Assembly, its undulating oharaoter, the length of the mains, the scattered population, and the low value of residuary proauots, all contribute to enhance the price of gas. But, after all, the true question for the Auckland consumer is not at what price gas is sold elsewhere, but whether he is supplied with as good an article and at as fair a price as under all the circumstances he has a right to expect. This is a point on which a competent man with all the facts placed before him would have no difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. No doubt it would be satisfactory to con-' Burners to have their meters properly inspected by an independent person, as well as the gas analysed, and if arrangements can be made the company will afford every possible facility for these purposes. In the meantime there would be no difficulty in the way of a committee, without much trouble to themselves, testing the aocuraoy of the meters. Let them obtain aa many meters as they deem necessary, say from ten to twenty, from oonsumers who are under the impression that they pay for more gas than they consume, and place these meters in a convenient room beside one or two others of admitted accuracy, turn on the gas for a number of hours, and an examination of the registers at the end of the time will show whioh, if any, are inoorrect. I will under* take, on the part of the Gas Company, to provide gas and all other necessary appliances to ensure the success of the experiment without expense or trouble to the committee. Another consumer, in the Herald of Friday last, says that notwithstanding my former explanation, " the great central fact that stands out upon the face of the whole controversy, clear and uncoatradicted, is the progressive increase of the gas consumers bills for the corresponding months of successive years." No doubt in somecases there has been an increase, but on the other hand in others there has been a decrease. He also tells us that the champions of the Gas company are reduced to the defence of attributing what he oalls "a remarkable phenomenon" to the vagaries of the mechanical contrivances recording the consumption of gas, or to some disturbance of the physical world tending to the decrease of solar light, and to the increase of darkness; and he trusts,to his imagination to put the company on the horns of a dilemma. Permit me to point out that the real, indeed only alternative, to the vagaries of the "mechanical contrivances" is that more gas is burnt or wasted on the consumer's premises than he is himself aware of. Means are now suggested by which the principal points in dispute may be cleared up and the true state of things ascertained ; and I trust that suitable men may- be found to do this public service. If I might suggest, I will say that I think it would be a very proper thing for the City Council to take in hand if the discontented gas-con-sumers fail to do so as suggested. This letter, so far as £ am concerned, closes the correspondence. I do not see that further discussion will convince any of those who have already made up their minds. What is wanted is to proceed to the proofs. —I am, &c, Fbed. Whitakbb. Auoklaud, October 18,1886. P,S.-~I natter myself that we hare at all events got rid of the notion that the share* holders in the Gas Company ever received 85 per oent. for their money, and I was in

hopes that I had been able satisfactorily to explain that they have not even been, receiving 17 per cent., but since the above letter was written I find I was mistaken. I will try once more. The company's shares are £5 each, on which £5—17 per cent, since 18 —has been paid, but £5 shares were purchased! from the company at prices varying between £7 10s and upwards of £10. Now, I think it must be obvious that if a £5 share is sold for £10, and interest after at the rate of 17 per cent, paid on £5 only, the purchaser of the share for whioh he gave £10 gets just one-half of 17 percent., or, in other word*, 8 J per cent, on his investment. In the name way the purchaser of a £5 share for £7 10a getd 124' per cent, for his money, and one to whom an original share of £5 wu allotted in 1862, 17 per cent.; but for four years after the establishment of the oompany an original shareholder got no dividend at all. As shown in the table at the end of my letter in the Herald of the 13th instant, the total amount of capital that had been reoelved by the company from shareholders in 1885 was £146,107, and the amount paid in dividends in that year on that sum was £15,471, so that the shareholders in the aggregate reoeived on an average £10 11b 9d per cent., which therefore is the rate of interest the publio paid for the capital employed in supplying them with gas.—F.W. Auokland, 19th October, 1886.