ELECTRIC POWER BOARDS

Hokitika Guardian, 31 May 1929, Page 5

ELECTRIC POWER BOARDS

THE THREE . CLASSES

HOW THEY FUNCTION.

(Nineteen Twenty-Eight Committee.) *>

At the recent annual conference of the Electric Supply Authorities both Mr H. F. Toogood, of the. Engineers’ Section, and Mf ’H. J. Beeclie, a delegate from the Waikato District, took the Nineteen Twenty-Eight’ Committee to task for having criticised the Hading activities of some of the electric power . boards. Mr Toogood cast his reproaches in a conciliatory, vein. Having assured the conference that he was nob at all apprehensive of the Government taking any action as the result of the Committee’s Representations, he reiterated the old, ■ old formula which pronounces -.that “ power hoards and other supply authorities have entered ’into trading because of the inability of ordinary trading concerns to supply the demand in the best interests of the authority and the consumer.” Having delivered himself of these apologetic phrasesj.-Mr Toogood hastened to explain that “in certain cases in closely settled areas, the ,trade, h ; ps r ..jjeen...able to ,cope ( .witli the detnhfid,” adt|sig “but in general 'throughout thefirural -'areas the only way to get the fload 'we require is to sell '.the consumer. the. equipment to use the current.” .Here, of course, is the whole secret of'M; power- boards’ doYnination. In certaiqj,cases iin closely. settled areas, ..the 'tU,ordinary trading poncerns ” rriay be; allowed to do ; business ; but, in, ,oJli.<§y areas, and. !pfiiflicttlarly in rural ' jfreas, the power -fioai’dSjlvffee- -froiff 'land' and j income taxes, free, in many cases, from local rates, free from statutory obligations, free from State interference, and free from the payment of current rates of interest, must have the field to themselves.

Mr Beeclie in his indictment of the Nineteen Twenty-Eight Committee was more discursive than Mr Toogood had been and, if one may say so without offence, less coherent. After reciting more or less accurately what tlie Committee' had done'and said and!implied in regard to’the trading methods of ijhe power) • boards, he admittediaccordiiig to the: newspaper reports l of his words, “ that Jie was not in apposition -to-state whether any boards* did.specialise, «,s stated:and restrict,jor prohibit the use oifpother appliances, hub certain results of unfair trading were claimed, and -it • would he a$ well to ascertain if these claims wej-ji justified.” At the conculsion •/ of Mr Beeche’s .indictment • the conference very properly decided by resolution to 1 * collect information which would combat the statements of the Nineteen • Twenty-Eight? ■Committeb?’ 1 Meamvhile it surely is passing strange that the members of the Electric Supply Authority Engineers’ Association* * assembled, in AVellin’gton' two months after the publication, of the latests-of the articles to which they take exception, hack not ascertained tyhsther suggestions offered by the Committee were justified - -OEivnot. At this latq stage they are going to “collect tion.” Perhaps in the circumstances it would be more convenient-?, to the Executive -of -.the-. Association ifijhe dis'"cussioii' bP t-life*' matter ' deferred for a week or two in order that it might make itself acquainted with the facts. The case is sub judice, so far as the Association is concerned, and no doubt both Mr Toogood and Air Beeclie would be glad of an opportunity to study their briefs. It is essential that they should at least, know something about the attitude of the Committee.

Towards this end it may he helpful to the two gentlemen immediately concerned to quote .briefly fi Pin the article in which the views of the jirivate tradbrstwere expressed*.'; “Ilie boards fall naturally into three classesJV it runs|ppirsf|y there are ‘boards .-whichtfboxifine ,theniselvcs strictly to thdlr of supplying 'power; '•tJiioA-^t^^.'or^'.^hose. .which, ;,in<hddltion;Td 'supplying! power; sell a :■limited! variety of electrical apparatus and fittings; and, finally, there are those which enter into aggressive competition in all branches of electrical ' trading.,y . .No exception

can be taken by the private trader to the operations of the boards included in the first of these classes. On the contrary, their attitude is greatly , to bo commended. The boards comprising the second class persuade themselves that they will increase the consumption of electricity by themsohes selling certain classes of apparatus . . . . The third class of boards function on a basis which throws then policy into the sharpest contrast w ith that of the other two classes. . In a word, they usurp tlie functions of the private traders witliout coneediiig any of the privileges to which they are entitled as a public body. In addition to accepting sole agencies and absolutely refusing any recognition to competing lines, ' they maintain show rooms for all classes of electrical goods and supply their own wiring installations. ,■ This is the policy which the Bight. Hon. J. G. Coates, as Prime Minister, described as ‘intolerable’ and which the private traders regard as a flagrant breach of every tenet of fair play and justice.” It will 'be time enough to discuss the grievances of the Electric Supply Authority Engineers’ Association when they are more apparent than they are at the present time.