The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, October 14, 1909. THE GAS WORKS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 494, 14 October 1909, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, October 14, 1909. THE GAS WORKS.

Our readers are aware that negotiations are goiugforward between the Borough Council and the Gas Proprietary for the purchase by the former of the local gas works. The proprietary has offered the works to the Council at actual cost plus interest. The Council at its last meeting appointed the Town Clerk to go into the proprietary’s accounts in order to ascertain the actual cost of the works. When this information has been ascertained and laid before the Council, the whole matter can be thoroughly discussed and the price compared with the approximate sum to be paid if the Council desire to municipalise the works at the expiry of the five-year period. If the purchase is made now, the question of “ good will” will uot be a factor in the bargain, but as against this we presume there will be other items of “unearned increment ” which the proprietary have been compelled to pay, and which will be included in the price they will ask from the Council. A huge blunder was made by the ratepayers in not carrying a loan for the purpose of erecting gas works when they had the opportunity. At that lime, 1906, they had uot the data to go upon which they now possess, and no engineer’s estimate ot the scheme was submitted to them by the Borough Council, consequently they were in the dark. Some of our leading public men were then of the opinion that it would be in the best interests ofthe borough for a company to do the experimenting, and the Council to take the works over at a later stage, it they proved a success. This journal at the time strongly urged the ratepayers to construct its own works, and we were backed up by the present Mayor and Messrs Jenks and Win. Ross. But the loan proposal was snuffed out by a majority of the few who took the trouble to record their votes at the poll. Had that loan been carried, we have the best authority for stating that works, equal in every respect to the present, would have cost the borough under £6OOO, We question now whether £7OOO will municipalise the works. It is useless now to cry over spilt lacteal fluid, but, other things being equal, we still urge the taking over of the works.