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Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 603, 14 August 1858, Page 4

To the Editor of the LyttelionTimcs.

Sib,-—ln my former communication, I drew i attention-:t6 - the- inconveniences arid ' loss sustained by the.public of Lj'tteltonfromthe comparative 'expensiwness! and;inadequacy of the supply fuel, and also suggested that both these, evils might be. remedied by a well digested scheme of cooperation. Permit me now to elaborate that suggestion., It will be admitted that "what all men require, all men are interested; in obtaining- at the smallest cost of money and; labor, and that it; is inexcusable folly to fritter away-poVers which might be made all-sufficient for our wants. A. hundred individuals may, have each .'a; couple, of pounds sterling.at his command, and each want a cord of firewood. Not one of these has strength to pull a boat to Port Levy alone^ to obtain the fuel that he requires, andif he had-the strength it would cost him more than two pounds' worth of time, to do it.:USupposethe .hundred unite their capital, it will represent £"200, with which they might pay 8 persons liberally for 8 weeks, who in'that time, could supply, more than a hundred arid fifty cords of firewood, or 1| cords for each subscriber. r> It thus appears that cooperative effort accomplish ' what could not be achieved by isolated individual action. In this sense-.unibn.is strength, v What' has^ftiade; England!during the last 20 . years'ja: marvelito the world ? r'Her great physiciaL; achievements; her railways, her tvater- , works, and .her. gasworks. Not one of these giant undertakings'vybuld ever haye been accomplished but' for cooperative effort. - To men of large commieroiaVviews my manner of illustration will appear perhaps ridiculoiusly simple; but I: did not -think itl necessary to advocate the principle before them, and I have Written for the instruction of;persons, less conversant with such subjects: but who have a direct.interest in the object I propose. . ; lain not at all disposed to interfere with the legitimate exercise of capital by private individuals. I only seek to supply a'want which we all feel, iri the' Way' most profitable to all, nor should I have troubledeitheryou or the public with; ,my ■lucubrations if any individual or cbmpa:ny, had invested a sufficient amount of capital Jn the fuel trade to supply the town. Nor, indeed, would! I advocate tho application of the prihciple of cooperation to' any' commercial speculation per sc; that I would leave to private enterprise, as its legitimate field. But in this case.there is no speculation ; the market cannot fluctuate,*'for every man knows with tolerable accuracy what fuel his household wiH require during the year. He who requil<es most will profit most by cheapening its cost to the whole body, and the poor man, or small consumer, will be proportioniibly enriched by the cooperation of his wealthier townsmen. ■ •*' '."""' Assuming that there are 150 householders i» Lyttelton each consuming on tho average 0 cow}!* ot firowood in tho year— any 900 cords; aw

that 600 cords are used at hotels, merchants' stores and other places of businesss, we have a total want of 1,500 cords per year. How can this want be supplied in a cheap and certain manner ? ' ' \ : :. ' ' i t a i Vu ♦ ]?rora enquiries recently made 1 nna; that mrties might be found to contract for the delivery at the water's edge, at Port Levy, of a certain number of cords of wood at. 18s. per covd, and in the present state of the labor -market it seems desirable to adopt such a course in m-eference to a company sending men into the L-ih to cut wood for them. I would suggest the purchasing of. a sailing punt, to hold 20 cords of wood ; a cart and horse with which to convey the wood from the punt to the store yard, or to a purchaser's residence ; the leasing of'a' piece of ground for a store-yard; the employment of four men eleven months in the year to work the punt; one mart as a carter, with a o-ood business man partially employed in manathe whole concern. The following figures would'be found to approximate to the real cost of such an undertaking :— PLANT. Cost of a punt ... ... ...£4OO 0 0 Horse, cart, and harness ... 120 0 0 Stable and Manager's office ... 100 0 0 ' Total ... ... ...£620-0 0 WORKING CHARGES YEARLY. Four boatmen ... ... „..£SOO 0 0 Carter .!. ...... V.. 120 0 0 - Manager's salary .■;.,... 100 00 Printing and Stationery ... 12 0 0 1,500 cords of wood @ 18s. 1,350 0 0, Kent of ground for store ;.. .20 0 0 Interest on £620 ... .... 93 0 0 Miscellaneous expenses ... 30 0 0 Total ... ... £2,225 0 0 INCOME. £ S. ■ d. By sale of 1,500 cords °f 1 2625 0 0 wood at 355. per cord ... ) Shewing a profit on the undertaking of £400 for the first year, which would be swelled to double that amount in succeeding years, from the saving in- the cost of plant. The capital required-to commence operations would only need to be sufficieht to cover the cost of. the plant,'ahd the salaries for the first two months, —say in all £800; for as I would only sell for cash,:the company-would be self-supporting by that: tiroe. The capital I propose should be l'aised by 200 shares of £4 each, the property to be vested in trustees after the manner of the Canterbury Land, Building, and Investment Society.' ' ' ;■"' :; ; '.'.''■.. • "''; .'.■ ' V , I had wished to have entered more fully into the working-of-this scheme, rbut finding my letter lias'grown to such a length. I am constrained to break' off r;hbre;f hoping that you ; will allow me, Mr.:Editor^: to return to. the subject in a future paper, unless some abler advocate than myself should take the matter out of my hands.- * ■ V';-: rTj'- : • ' r : : \. ';.;■,:,;■; X '■>-„' ■ IPIJBLICOLA. ;