HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16717, 20 December 1918, Page 2

HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

THE GOVERNMENT BILL. SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION. STATE S IUGHT OF PRE-EMPTION. The Electrical Power Boards Bill is described ns an Act to provide for the construction or purchase of works for the generation, transmission, and supply of electric power by electric power boards. The first operative clause of the- Bill provides for the constitution of eieotnc power districts and outer areas. First of all a petition ask r .ng for an area to be constituted an electric power district must be presented to the Gover-! nor-General, and before such a petition can "oe considered!'* must be signed by not less than one-fourth of the ratepayers in the district. If the Go-vernor-General considers that the petit:dn should be grsuiifed, lie may bv proclamation declare the arm to be an electric power district. By the same process the boundaripa any such district may be altered after it lias been constituted. For every d'str : ct there is to he an electric power board, a body which is to have -power to purchase, take, hold, or dispose of real nnd personal property, and whicli wiil be elected on the system at present in for lo?ol bodies. The total number of members of sncli a. hoard must not be less than five, and must not exceed 12.

'At the discretion of the. GovernorGeneral two or more districts may he combined, and the representation of any part of a com'oined district may oe altered by the Governor-General when any merger of districts is mads. As in the case of other local bodies, the elections are to l>e biennial, and are to be held at the same time as the elections for other local bodies in the district.

No person other than an elector of a u'siriet is to be eligible for election to the board in that district. There are certain obvious disqualifications enumerated. An alien, a bankrupt, a person convicted of an offence pun'shable by imprisonment (unless he shall have suffered the penaltv), a person holding any office in the gift of the hoard, and a person interested in eoutrarls mad p with the board, may not be elected. A member of the "ooard who subsequently comes under the disqualification definitions vacates his seat on the board. Proceedings for the removal of an offending member from office are to be taken in the Magistrate's Court in the district, or in the nearest Magistrate's Court to the district, and the proceedings may not by any process be removed to the Supreme Court. The chairman of the board is to be elected by the members at the annual me^t : ng. and lie may lie paid for his services such an annual amount, not to exceed £2OO, as the board mav detiprminp. POWERS OF THE BOARDS.

The board is to determine all questions coming before it, the chairman havVng a. deliberative and a casting vote, and all voting is to lie open. No member is to vote on any question in which he or his business partner is pecuniarily interested, and the penalty for a knowing "oreach of this rule is a fine not exceeding £SO- In such a case it shall be the duty of the Audit Office to take proceedings against the offender. The boards are to have power to borrow, but their borrowing operations are to be limited by making them all subject to the Local Bodies' Loans Act. Boards will have rating powers, and will have power to levy speeal rates to cover deficits on the year s working. Rates are to be collected by the local bodies on behalf of the board. Boards may establish tanking fluids or depreciation funds. The board is not to purchase or construct electric works without the consent of the Governo r -Ue n eral-in-Council. Boards will be given all the necessary powers to acqu'ire and control water rights, to alter the level or direction of water-courses, to erect plant, to purchase power an bulk from the Government, or from a local authority, or from a company authorised Ito sell it; and to erect transmission

lines, and to sell electrical energy to any persons or groups of persons, including local bod-es, wishing to use. itThe 'ooard is not to be permitted to supply current beyond the limits of the "outer area" of its district.

Provision is made for compensation under the "Public Works Act for any land taken for works, or for damage to land ■or property caused by works done. RIGHT OF PRE-EJIPTION. The Governor-General is to be entitled at any time after any works have been completed, upon giving 12 months' notice, to purchase the works at a price to be determined by valuation, the award to be made by a tribunal of three arbitrators, or any two of them, one arbitrator being appointed by the Governor-General, another by the Board, and a third by the two arbitrators so appointed. No compensation is to be paid in respect of goodwill. In certain cases compensation may be in the nature of an annual payment over a. i>eriod of years. When the Governor-General purchases any works he is not to ba entitled to require any person holding u debenture to receive any portion of the principal moneys due to him before the time of maturity of the debenture. If the board is guilty of any inexcusable delay in the carrying on of the work entrusted to it, the GovernorGeneral may assume control and possession of the works. But in such a case the board mar appeal to the Supreme Court aga'nst the action of t'ic Government. Under cerfca'n circumstances tho Government may retain possession and control of works taken from the bon.ru.

Among the miscellaneous powers given to boards is that of acting as agent to manufacturers' of electrical fitt r ngs and equipment.