South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2922, 7 August 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1882.

The electric light is making its way by degrees. It appears, however, to have to fight, not so much against monopolies and vested interests, as against the impressions upon the public mind' which are created by its own imperfection. No one doubts that it is to bo the light of the future, any more than he doubts that the development and application of electricity are as yet but in the inceptive stage. Taking advantage of the present excitement on the subject of electric lighting, Mr Kelly introduced bis Electric Light Bill to the present Parliament. It may have been from a

deliberate conviction of the superiority of the electric, over all other forms of light, or a pare scientific enthusiasm and interest in the progress of science, that urged the hon, gentleman to bring forward this measure. But there are people malicious enough to assert that Mr Kelly is pulled by a wire which Sir Julius Vogel works, in his capacity of agent for an Electric Light Company. We are quite willing to discuss the Bill on its merits, but this outside matter is too important to be left entirely out of the calculation,since the reception of the measure by a good number, of people very much depends upon the bonafides of the introducer. Mr Kelly, therefore, may as well understand, at the outset, that it is generally understood that he is (“ not to put too fine a point upon it ” as Cousin Feenix used to say) a creature of the ex-Premier, and that, therefore, his Bill, which might • otherwise stand a chance of being well received, bids fair to not receive a moiety of the attention to which the importance of the proposal just entitles it. To come to the Bill itself, however, as embodying and seeking to establish, certain principles of considerable importance : with the movement in favour of offering the utmost facility for the introduction of the electric light, ;we have of course, the utmost sympathy. To place, obstacles, or to permit obstacles in the way of the advance of science is to revert to medievalism, and rob the community of its rights, and is not to be thought of. Therefore sections 1 to 11 of the Bill may pass unchallenged, since they merely provide for the proper carrying out of the work of electric lighting in towns, and lay down rules for the guidance of local authorities and introducers and consumers of the light. But when we come to section 12 of the Bill we are confronted with something very like a fatal flaw. Section 12 reads thus,

Section 12.—1 f the local authority within a borough shall refuse to issue a license to any person who has offered to supply electric light for the use of the inhabitants of such .borbugh, and for the lighting of: the streets thereof, it shall be lawful for the person whose application for a license has been refused to demand in writing of the Mayor of such borough a poll of the ratepayers as to whether they are or are not in favor of such license being issued, and the Mayor shall thereupon proceed to take a poll of the ratepayers in the manner prescribed by sections one hundred and forty-one to one hundred and forty-four inclusive of “ The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” substituting for the question of a loan the question of the issue of a license for supplying electric light; and, jf the Mayor declares the resolution to issue a license has been carried the local authority shall forthwith issue such license on the payment of the fee, if any, prescribed by the by-laws for the issue thereof; and in default the local authority shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds. Provided that if the local authority, within one week from the receipt of such demand, by resolution declares its intention to proceed under section eight of this Act to supply electric light'this section shall not apply, and the poll shall not be taken.”

Are we in Eussia ? Is this a abase ? It is one thing to encourage the progress of science; it is quite another thing to cram it down people’s throats. This clause has, naturally enough, evoked a chorus of indignant protests. The Bill seeks to compel Boroughs to adopt the electric light. It has been suggested that this arbitrary provision is intended as a finishing blow to monopoly ; that it is well known gas companies have a good grip of the Boroughs generally, and it is thought desirable to furnish electrical science with a weapon by which to break down opposition from that quarter. This will not hold water, however; the attempt to impose a thing on the community by arbitrary enactment will never be countenanced by Parliament; or, if so countenanced it would encounter so tremendous a resistance that the law would very soon have to be altered. The Timaru Borough Council deserve credit for being the first to expose the attempt made in this Bill to coerce local authorities into granting great powers to any bubble company that may spring up. The Bill has not yet been read a second time, and if Mr Kelly is wise he will have it withdrawn from the order paper altogether, or amend it by striking out Section 12. If the inhabitants of any Borough want the electric light introduced, they can do so without special legislation.