CORPORATION GASWORKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13926, 11 June 1907, Page 5

CORPORATION GASWORKS

THE PRICE OJ? GAS.

CR M'D'ONALD'S MOTION NEGATIVED.

Thero was over an hour's discussion at the meeting o f the City Council Inst night on a _ motion having referenco to tho Corporation Gasworks.

•,Cr M'Donald moved-" (1) That with a view to ascertaining the best method of effecting a reduction in the prico of corporation gas and an increase in its JH U . mmating quality, and goncrnlly to improve tho efficiency of tho department, a comrmttec bo set up to inquiro into tho manacremont of tho gas department, past and present, and to ascertain tho profits accruing to tho corporation each year, and tho basis upon which such profits lmvo been and are ascertained, with full power to call for all documents in the possession of tho council, or which may be obtainable from any other source, uid to cxamino witnesses and to report to the council on such date- as may be fixed herealier." Tho mover stated that so much prominencu had been given to Ihe claimed results of tho reorganisation of the gasworkß staff that ho determined, with the approval of iho ratepayers of High Ward, that ho would ,wk for a committee of inquiry to thoroughly investigate into tho truth of the matter of gasworks management in this city, past, present, and future. It seemed quite impossible to reconcile tho fact that two young men under 27 years of ago could conduct works such as these- a.s cflic.ontly as a man with 40 years' experience. Ho hud, as they all well know, prior to his present election to the City Council, taken a deep interest, in gasworks matters, and was [or 1?, months chairman of tho fias Committee. Mr Richards h;id placed on. record in his yearly manifesto the result of the year's workirp, and ho must now stand or fall by tho accuracy or otherwise of Ilia statements. Piigc 25 of that book contained a reference to II r Hiingcrford'e results, which road ns follows: — " Inter alia, he tins achieved results that havo not hitherto boon obtained, and it will bo interesting perhaps to oomparo these from the time ho assumed duty (July t. 1906) up to tho time of writing, ami compare same with those obtained for the corresponding period of tho previous yoar. This comparison shows arithmetically the financial results of tho pasworks to be at least £8000 nor annum hotter than those previously obtained." Mr Richards had entirely failed to supnly the comparative analysis by which .i'one they could judge of tho accuracy of his statement, and in this particular he had lost fho wholo point; in fact, when ho made that statement tho Ixxjks had not boon balanced, and it would lie absolutely impossible for him, or any ono mom conversant with tho subject, to oven venture an approximate opinion. A careful examination of tho two years (tho firet year entirely under Mr Courtis's direction, the latter year divided between that gentleman and Mr lliingorford, tho throe- bost months of thn yoar hejiw under Mr Courtis's dirootioh) rcvealnrl the inlorratiiie f n i>t that, with the exroplion of two or threo items, there was liti To (o niclc or ehoo=o between tho two results. Tho value of onals ns shown was very similar, but as !h"re had boon a material inrroas" in the year's oporaUotw amounting to 7.391,470 cubic feet over last vuar, ono y.-ould naturally have expected io find a tangible increase in the. coal account. This may be accounted for in several ways: lnraer vield per ton ot eon!, incorrect str.oktakintr, etc.—porliaw both. Larger violrfs woro invariably gained hv over exhaustion at the work?, or tho admission of air or straight wafer ras. Tfc would lin impossible to say definitely which of theso may lx> tlm cause without an independent export examination. Tho fact remained

that' tho gas had, ever since iho reorganisa- > tion, bcon disgraceful, except when used through tho modium ot a. mantle. Tho average yield of gas per ton of coal for the year 1906 was 10,360 cnbio feet of 18candle gas, and for tho year 1907 tho average ivae 11,655 cubic feet of, approximately, 15-emdlo gas. H<> multiplied tho quantity oE gas by 18 candles and divided by the lower cnndlo power, Bay 15 candles, and found that ho could increase tho quantity of gae from 10,350 to 12,420 cubio feet. Although they had tho repeated assurance of the late Mayor, tho chairman of tho Gas Committee, and tho town clork, that tlm new management was prodnrin?! 2355 cubio feet of p>9 per ton of coal in excess of the previous years, it now turned out thai there wag only a dilTcrcnco of 1306 ft in Iho year's working, and certainly not less than three candles lese illumination. In a return supplied by (ho Agout-goncral of New South Wales tho average yield of , gae per ton for tho several colonies menhoned was as follows:-Now South Wales 11,730 cubic feet, Victoria 9311 cubic feet, Queensland 9319 cubic feet, Wcet Austral ia Isew Zealand 9757 cubic foot. Now, if tho avorago for tho year from tho various gaswoAs ot tills colony only totalled 9757 ?t a& fGCt, ~0 soing to believe that 1.5,000 was being made hero? Shnlo oil and stokers' wages were both matters for dose inquiry. The latter had increased by £2H for 1907, notwithstanding that the ex-Mayor (Mr Lawrence) had said thero wae a saving- of £20 a week. Maintenance for 1507 showed a scrkms increase over that of 19C6, which itself exceeded previous years. The cost, of purifying material (£282) appeared to bo much higher than last year. Aftor dealing with a number of other items, Cr M'Donald ctalt'with the interest, which, he _ said, showed a drop of about £657, which, of course, increased tho profits bv that amount. This difference wan caused by a, loan having matured. Rofcrrintt to transfers to municipal account, it was satisfactory to note that tho Gna Committee had beon able to mai-otbeso. Tor the past two years this had boon found impossible, as tho works had had to bo increased to meet the evcr-increaains; demand for gae, thero beinsr no loan fund left from which (o draw upon. This, whilo it acted against further transfers at tho time, by absorbing all tho profits, would now speedily mako itself folt, and wherever _ large profit obtained in the future credit must in justice. Iμ dealt out retrospectively. Transfers of profits from this department must in future bo looked fn r more regularly and should bn larger, a? future extensions must bo paid for out of loan money, and not, as in the past, by taxing the. present consumer for tho benefit of posterity. Ho now etimo to tho revenue side of tho sheet, and found gas ratos increased by £1570 6s over last; year. This was explained by tho fact that 8,005,000 feet more (jus was sold this year, duo to the normal increase going on yearly. Last year tho increased quantity of ga,s madV over tho rear previous was 9,458,000, and tho monny value £2,298 7s 10d. The accrued sinking funds (£2245) showed an increase of £452 9s over that of last year, and indicat«l that tlio commiseionors had l>eon doing their work conscientiously. Finally, he would deal with the not profit. Ho would niako somo pointed remarks thereon, for the aotuil profits for 1906 woro £8058 15s lOd, and only £8010 153 7d nil told for 1907, and instead of some £8000 to £12,000 additional profits over Mr Courtis's year, fJioro was an aohral reduction of £848, notwithstanding that the item interest charge 'had been reduced as explained bv £637. The value of residuals increased, which had also assisted Mr Hunserford's year by £694, and an increased gas rental of £1570, due to tho normal growth of tho business and tho consumption of 8,000,000 cnbio feet of gas over last year. Had neither of thoec- factors obtained, then this year's profits would have Iwen reduced by £2900, to, say, £5109. At any rate, it was now qitito ondoirt that instead of their boinc anything from £6000 to £12,000, plus Mr Courtis's last year's profits, which would lievo left a total profit of £16,000 to £20,000, it only amounts to £8010. Tho cost of production for 1905-6 at the burner was 4a per 1000 cubio feet, whilo for 1905-7 tl» cost at tho burner per 1000 cubic feet was 4s 7 11-IOOd, with an in.' creaao of 8,000,000 moro gas consumed ' and a saving in interest of £637. Cr Keast seconded tho motion.

Cr Smith considered thjrf, the motion was somewhat premature and a reflection, on the prosont management. The monagor ought to havo bcon given an opportunity of shornng his qualifications for tho position he held. It ought to bo remembered that last year tho price of coal went up, which wag in itself a great difficulty that Mr Hungerford had hadtocantend against. In addition, the labour restrictions had been against him. Men had beou paid for days that they lrad not pretttooaly been paid for. Maintenance expenses daring the past year had baa considerably higher. Why so"? Becaose it was olmoet imposiWo to carry on |he works in their old state, so that some of &o works had to bo reinstated at considerable expense. The tof«l consumption of gas was about 600,000 cubio feet per day. Tho storage capacity was about 300,000 ci&io feet. Did that give a man. a fair show? No, it <Hd not Considering that Mr Hnngerford was a new man at tho gasworks ho had dono very well.

CounciUora: "Hear, bear." Cr .7. E. White thought tliafc if Messrs Huugorford and Nealo wcro given l≥ months' more time even Cr M'Donald would be satisfied. *

Or Walker thought the motion carried a gravo reflection on tho Gas Committee and on the gas management, though ho did not' suppose that Or M'Donald intended that when it was tabled. • Ho was chairman of the Gas Committee for th« last two yeares and lie took it as a gravo reflection on himself and members of tho committee. Cr. M'DonaJd had not given them nruoh information, although ho had qudtcxi a lot of figures. But the proof of-the pudding was in tiie oatin?. The gaem>rbi, when Mr Hungorford took thom over, woro practically in a, stafo of collapse, as quoted by Mr Courtis liiniwif. Sinco Mr Bungerford camo he had worked 16 hours a day, Sundays included—no light work for any man. To Mr M'DonaWs statement that ho wanted to make the gasworks second to nono in the Australasian colonies, he rcpiiod, "So do wo all—if H'e can." Ho believed, too, that it could be done. Mr R. English, tiio consulting engineer, to whom roforence hiitl bson made, was a gentleman of great experience, holding very many diplomas, In reference- to the statements a.nent the overof coal, he shonkl riko to know how that was clouo. The tronblo in tho past had been that the coal was undorcarbonised. Cr M'Donald was incorrect in his statements regarding the staff of tho gasworks. The present staff was not'so largo as \ns the staff in Mr Courtis's bimo. The maintenance charge was not largo. At the ■ present, t-imo tho gas management was get-i-riia; aa much out of tho five rotorts as was proviously got out of nine. It was tnio that they ha<l to r>ay an increased price for coal, but Mr Hungorford had had tho bonofit of using up all tho dross that had boon ihoro for a number of years, and his output showed that ho had worked it successfully. As regards complaints from gas consumers, thero woro snro to be these, but ho Ihmisht that the big majority of consumers were well satisfied. Tho gas was ns good as over it was, whatever might bo eaid about the candle-power. Thoro had been a reduction in tho prico of gas. If they gave their offirere full control thero was every ronson to believe that the city gasworks would lie ono of the finest, gasworks in Now Zealand. Mr M'Donald, in his reference to the wages of the stokers, had pormitted himself to be swayod by sentiment..

Or 'VnpUy Raid that after hearing Crs Walker and Smith ho felt it was unneco6snry to support the motion. It would bo an injustice* to Mr Hungorford, who ought to have a fair trial. ,

Cγ M'DonaW, in reply, naid thcro we.ro ninny questions in connection with tlio ?,m----works that could not bo properly Kono into nxcopt by a oommittoo taking up the matter thoroughly and examining officers and documents at, its leimiro.

Tho motion was negatived by 14 vofes to 3. The minority was composed of Cr? M'lfonald, Sullivan, and Keaet.