HISTORY OF THE WAIPORI PURCHASE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13860, 25 March 1907, Page 2

HISTORY OF THE WAIPORI PURCHASE.

B\" J. BIIitTJIWAITE. I congratulate Mr.l , . Ditncan on hie statement of [acts which toil to the purchase of tho Waipori undertaking, and I believe tha.o in fairly interprets tho Taieri agrooment. i'lirthcr, I deprecate tho insinuation that tho corporation were taken in or that the company made sonic fabulous sum out of tho sale. The transaction was one of the elcaiicst and most straightforward tho city ever entered into, tho shareholders only making some 5 per cent, per annum on their paid-up calls. Moreover, tho Taieri agreement, and every other agreement, was lxjforo I lie Dills Committee, tho City Council's exports being present. They wore also before the Tramways Committee before tho council decided to purchase. Undoubtedly, too, Parliament forced the Waipori to sell, ami the corporation to buy. The corporation and the company wcro pushing on I heir respective schemes, tho company proving its sincerity by paying £5500 for tho water rights, £13,000 for fluming, sawmill, etc., and s'gning largo contracts for the delivery of electric machinery, and then approaching Parliament for permission to supply Dunedin with power and light. Tho corporation, felt, however, that a double capitalisation and double annual charges for one object would bo ruinous, and that tho success of the citizens' venture, upon which several thousand pounds were spent, consisted in opposing the Waipori Bill, ami that it was as unreasonable to allow tho construction of competitive gasworks or waterworks as to allow the Waipori power to enter Dmicdin. It would have been different had tho corporation not started its scheme. At first almost every member o[ Parliament favoured the ■bill. Jiy strenuous efforts, however, ihe corporation representatives at' Wellington altered this, hut discovered a. few liays before the voto was taken there was still a small majority against them. At this juncture, Jiad tho Waipori Company got iU bill it could have got its power into Dunedin 12 months' ahead of tho corporation, and havo secured tho best customers, and thus have made the corporation venture a. white elephant. To save the situation Sir Christie, as mayor, and myself, as chairman of the Tramways Committee, olfered tho company, subject to the City Council's ratification, £31,000 for its property—viz., £18,500 (more or less) for actual outlay on works and office expenses, £5500 to reimburse shareholders for cost of water rights, and £7000 bonus. On September 28, 1904, the ofi'er was refused, and when Mr (now the Hon.) Millar stated this in Ihe Lower House the members, by a. majority vote of 11, struck Dunedin a ml Cuvcrsham out of the bill, ami praetiriilly told- the company if must sell, and aho'liintad that it Ihn vorporat.ion.did not l)uv tho liii! wo'.ild lit! restored to' ils original state. After :i series of trying negotiations it was agreed the company slinuid repeat, (he offer it had refused, but that it must p:iy all the Waipori fiill expenses, ami thai, the corporation must take over .ill commitments. Tho offer was accepted by the Tramways Committee, nvcry agreement and commitment was iwfore it. and on October 8, 1904, a.ftcr a. spirited di-enssion tlie council confirmed tho purchase, favourable statements being mnde l>3 , Jio.«ars Hay and (ioodr.mi, Messrs iliiclircgnv and Allan alfo Iw-iiig present. Tho decision was sent to Parliament, which was waiting before passing the bill. Then l after u searching analysis of the company's hooks and documents by Air Brown, accountant, acting for tho ■ corporation, and furlher inquiry' into all the agreements tho purchase was completed. Thus Parliament forced the position, and two businesses that separately would havs ruined each other became oite, and it was generally thought at the time that tlio host had been done under the circumstance.;. Lot me add that, at thn mooting of tho council already referred to. and before the purchase was agreed to, Mr Goodman, in answer to a question by Cr Scott, stated that at the special request of Mr Christie and myself his hnd gone carefully into matters, and ih.it the power could bu brought to the Halfway Hush for Mr Stark's cslimntc of £56,000 (vide Times, October 10, 1904). If, however, the corporal ion constructs a duplicate instead of u single line, if a more elaborate power house at Wi'.ipori and extra houses and other appurtenances weie erected, and the estimate was exceeded, surely the Waipori Com pany was not to blame. Moreover, a good deal of misapprehension would vanish if it were realised that Mr Stark's estimate never at. uny timu professed to provide for street reticulation, convnrtor station in Dimcdin, or for tho line from Halfway Bush to Dunedin. As jfor the water power, nobody dreamt that an unprecedented draught would occur that would reduce it to 30 heads or to a dclivercy in Dunedin of 1500 o.h.p. Ur> to the date of purchn-e, friend and too, experts of every kind, and the press extolled (ho magnifier)!!-, proportions of the property. Twice in the driest of dry seasons the council visited ihe sito and saw not less than 80 heads in (lie flume, which would deliver WOO cih.p. in Dunedin, and another 30 to 40 heads in the river. The shriiikagn must nstonish everybody. Tint what of llic W Stream* Pad that fclieme been earned on! instead, nintiers would l:avn Iwn iiiflnitoty worse. And what of the Taiori. never before ro low? Indeed, every watercourse suffered. It was unfair, under such conditions, to jud"<> the Waipari. Tim 111-? cnunril must lmvo" ;i grievance. Homebody. Zudkicl-like, should have prophesied that an exceptional drought

would occur two and a-lialf years after tho purchase! Lastly, it is surely injudicious to needlessly decry the citizens' .vo'irturo.whon money is to bo borrowed and operations to supply power a.ro to l:e started. It was onbo sa.id m your columns that the tramways would not pay. T said they would, and my forecast, was verified. And this year tho -Municipal and the Wate.- and Citis Departments are again successful, m \ so ] n f "!" rt :, wi,l *""> Waipori, if economically and sitillnlly managed and vigorously pushed Exceptional shortages in power could bo met by., perfecting thosteam-pkiit or «rectm" additional power at tho gasworks, but this is a question for exports.