The Evening Star TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2674, 12 September 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1871.

As a rule for Civic guidance, it may be taken for granted that Gas Works, Water Works, and Sewerage should he done by Municipalities • and on that ground we quite coincide with the resolutions passed by the meeting last evening. It is not that we anticipate any very great advantage in the shape of profit from the Corporation making its own gas. Mr Laknacii’s offer is a liberal one, and, as the late lessee said, no consumer need to grumble if he is well supplied on the terras proposed. We have not sufficient confidence in Mr Smith’s calculations, taking the Newcastle result and some other trans-' actions into consideration to lead us to

advocate any action being taken upon them, even if it were desirable for the Corporation to enter into competition. with a private company ; and the onesidedness of his report is shewn by the fact that a private individual considers himself justified in laying out some thousands of pounds upon works that Mr Smith pronounced useless, so as to be able to give an increased supply on moderate terms. But the objection still remains that, if the Corporation build new works, it will render a valuable property valueless or lead to the expence of two manufactories where one would do. We do not suppose the present lessee cares much about retaining the works on his hands, so long as he realises the amount of money advanced by him ; and, therefore, on public grounds, if the Corporation can purchase the works on fair terms, it would be advisable to do so. We do not see what reasons ble objection can be urged against this course. - The common one is that it increases taxation. But this arises from an error resulting from the misuse of the word, and to this mistake has arisen much of the opposition to the Government scheme of public works. If people will learn to think clearly on such subjects, they must realise the difference between war loans and loans for investment. A war loan renders taxation necessary to replace waste : a loan for investment should be reproductive, and therefore, so far from rendering taxation necessary for payment of interest and repayment of principal, it should recoup these with profit. Instead, therefore, of being an additional burden, it should be a lightener of burdens either directly or indirectly. Indebtedness never lies very heavily upon a firm where they have plant of equal value with the outlay, and a revenue from its use that pays a profit on working expences. The only question to be answered is what works should be considered municipal, and what should be left to private enterprise. The ablest thinkers have concluded lighting and water supply to be peculiarly municipal businesses, because of their affecting the well being of every inhabitant. The supply of gas is not a mere question of profit and loss. It is a question of police, good order, and morality. Nothing is such a deterrent to violence and vice as light; and the safety to life and property enjoyed by the inhabitants of well ordered cities, is much more cheaply secured when the police have the aid of good lighting, than when the streets are shrouded in darkness. And as for water, it is of great importance that it should he supplied abundantly, of good quality, and cheaply, and that no private company ought to be intrusted with the privilege. When, however, these necessary arrangements have been entrusted to private enterprise, it seems very harsh to speak of shareholders in terms of such unmeasured condemnation as are frequently used by public speakers. It is only when priygte interest clashes with that of the-public that the inconvenience is felt. The citizens of .Dunedin, from mistaken ideas on these subjects, have .allowed private enterprise to do what ought to have been done by the Corporation, and now when they are convinced of the lapse of duty they have insisted upon, they ought not to turn upon those who have stepped in to supply a want, and brand the proprietors as monopolists. They' have reaped the benefit of private enterprise entered upon under adverse circumstances, and although they may have paid dearly for their own want of foresight, they owe much to those who led the way. If the Corporation can purchase the Gas Works on fair terms, we think; it would be advisable to do so.