The Dominion. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1910. MUNICIPAL V. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1006, 22 December 1910, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1910. MUNICIPAL V. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.

Ratepayers and all who concern themselves with the subject of the municipalisation of public services, must'have read with much interest the report of Tuesday's ■ discussion at the meeting of the Hospital' Board on the question of whether gas or electricity should be used for lighting purposes at the Wellington Hospital. They will do well before coming to any conclusion on the merits of the question at issue to study the letter which we publish this morning, sent by the Gas Company to the members of the Board. There areone or two features of the competition between the municipality and the Gas Company for the Hospital Board's business . that call for comment. While it is generally recognised that the municipality, being in. competition with a powerful private corporation, mustendcavour to promote business by every legitimate means within its power, it must not be overlooked that City Councillors .are getting on to very dangerous ground indeed when they give rise to the suggestion that they are overstepping the limits of lcgitimate_ competition. . They are, indeed, _ in a much more delicate position in that respect than a private trading company; and for several reasons., In the first place they are carrying on a fight with ,the ratepayers' money and not their own. In the second plac6 they, are using the ratepayers' money to fight ratepayers. And furthermore, munici-. pal' trading enterprises .are not brought into existence to cut, prices below paying point, but to •' enable the public to > secure a necessary service at a reasonable cost. In tho iresont case the Hospital Board, by setting tho Gas Company and the City Corporation at ono another's throats, looks like profiting very handsomely at tho expense of the ratepayers. 'We write subject to correction, but Mk. London s remarks msjke it appear tjhafc tho : price at which the corporation proposes to instal and supply electric lighting at the Hospital will not pay the corporation. If this is the case we should like to. know what .advantage the". City . Council hopes t0... derive iii an indirect manner from this new customer.'which, it has cut'its prices so amazingly \to sccurc.. But there is another aspect of the matter and in-some respects a still less pleasant one. On the Hospital Board are a number of gentlemen who are 'also City Councillors. As City Councillors they naturally are' anxious to secure this lighting contract for.the City Council. Out of the seven members now appointed to.act as a subcommittee. to go - into this question of lighting and heating the Hospital no fewer than five are members of the City Council. What chance has a private competitor in such circumstances? Surely it is improper that where the municipality comes into competition with private., ■trading concerns, it should not only ; out rates below paying point; but should also utilise tho presence of its .members on another body to secure it business at ' the expense' of ... a reputable ..private company. Probably the gentlemen , concerned have not looked at. the position in this light; but it must strike tho public as involving a very dangerous principle, and one which should not,be allowed to pass unchallenged. We have not touched on the actual merits of the two. sets of tenders submitted to the. Hospital Board. It is quite evident that before a decision is arrived .at these should be very carefully gone into. Our concern, however, is with the question of principle. If _ private enterprise ife to be made liable to cut-throat competition by the municipality—if ratepayers are to .be fought to such lengths with 'their own money—it is not merely private enterprise. that is going to suffer. Private enterprise cannot be crushed or even too roughly handled without the whole community in the end bearing tho brunt of it. Private enterprise is just as essential to the progress, and advancement Of a community as municipal progressivcness, and private enterprise cannot be unfairly treated in'one quarter without arousing suspicion and fears and discouraging enterprise in other quarters. If ever there was a time when efforts should be made to encou'ragc -private business enterprise it is now. We do not suggest that the .municipality should not do its very .utmost to sccure all the business, it possibly can by legitimate means. But it should first of . all be quite certain that its actions are legitimate and in tho present case there are doubts on tiro point which certainly require clearing up.