CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 220, 7 September 1876, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

: ■ To the v Editor op\THB N <EvENii«j; Mail.* £ir~Xou; may perhaps recollectjthat some months back ligajve ttotiee of; motioti in tbe OityiCouncill t£as thfe price of gas : should be reduced feJ3frtfr lighting and, I Wibt cookaagjgtoves^bfit:6^fe%Hyj.fookMii;intox «ie financial position of the gas works I found that such a course was impracticable, there being a heavy loss annually on the manufacture of the article, and lam still of opinion thai we cannot reduce the price all round without inflicting a very-great injustice on a majbrity.'of the ratepayer who caiinot get the gas, but have to contribute 'towards the "-■ money deficiency, it being by law a first charge on the city rates. I will ask your attention to the following' figures to show that it is impossible to make a sweeping reduction at present, while to encourage the use of cooking stoves by selling .at lQs_lod per 1000 feet will bring in an extra amount of revenue, and so enable the Council' to reduce the price for lighting purposes much sooner than it could otherwise do. The price I propose to charge for gas for stoves will bring (if adopted) coal and gas to about the same proportion towards each • other .that gas stands to kerosene for lighting purposes af 143-24 per 1000 feet, and during the summer months many would avail themselves of the gas stoves in consequence of its numerous advantages. The following are the figures for the mouths of July and August last: — Eeceifis. . , £ s. d. ..642,100-feefcqf gas at 14s 2d 454 16 5 Street Lamps r, 33 0 0 Coke and Tar : • 6 0 0 Hens of Houses^at Works .. 8 0 0 , Eent of Mefers - 12 0 o • ' ••. '..'-.• ■■>.' •.... £513 16 5 . Deficit .. " 135 9 9 -'■■ "••■' \ .■'•"■> V^: •••••/,;.) £649 6 2 Expenditure. £ s. d. Coals , 173 5 0 Lime 13 15 0 Miscellaneous Expenses ... 33 0 0 rWa^es; : 90 0 0 JPioportiori of Salaries ... £9 16 8 Collector, 3 per cent on receipts ... .„ ... 13 12 10 Interest on £25,000 ... 250 0 0 Portion of Interest on City Council Offices 2 10 0 Depreciation of Plant and Working Materials, say 1 percent 33 6 8 • . '. . £649 6 2. I will now give you the estimated profit on the sale of surplus gas: — ' . Cost. £ s. d. , 1 Ton Coal 1 11 6 Lime 0 2 9 Labor, Interest, and -all other charges ... \ Nil. Profit on Sale of 7000 feet.gas 2 1 7 £3 15 10 Ebceipts. - £ s. d. 1 Ton of Coal estimated to . make, say 7000 feet at 10s 10d - ... ... ... 3 15 10 £3 15 10 ' I trust by the foregoing figures that I have made it clear to all concerned that it is infinitely more to their advantage that the surplus gas should be sold -at 10s lOd than remain in the gasometer. It may be argued that an injustice is inflicted upon those who already pay 14s 2d by supplying it to others at 10s lOd, but even supposing those who use it for cooking will in no case be identical with those who consume for lighting, which is absurd, I fail to see what injustice is done, and it appears to me that consumers forget altogether that those ratepayers who cannot get the gas at all benefit by the sale of surplus for stoves, inasmuch as it decreases . the annual loss. In conclusion, I may say that since I have been in the City Council I have acted in the manner which I considered best for the interests of the ratepayers as a whole, and I should be one of the last to initiate anything to benefit one portion of them by inflicting an unfairness on the remainder, but in this matter I maintain the whole would reap a considerable advantage. I am, &c, F. H. Pickering.