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Southland Times, Issue 1571, 30 April 1872, Page 2

Thebe are certain industrial undertakings which are of the greatest value, to the public, and yet from their nature cannot be regulated by competition. They become virtually monopolies from the conditions which are necessary for their developement, and as such they require in the interests of the public to be very carefully watched, and prudently regulated, atthe time of their first establishment. In the list of such undertakings we would give a prominent place to works for the supply of gas. . Few I enterprises of the kind are productive of more immediate advantage to the public, and, we will add, few prove more uniformly profitable to the shareholders. From the nature of the case such ; works are always a practical monopoly, in which competition is all but impossible, even if it be_ not excluded by arrangements expressly made for that purpose. It is therefore of the highest importance that in granting concessions for the construction of such works the interests of the public should be carefully protected, 'with a view to the various contingencies Which may arise as time goes on-. Permission once granted to lay the pipes through the streets of a town, the proprietors oil

the gaswork have the matter very much in their own hands, and unless arrangements have been entered into before-hand on behalf of the public, the interests of the public invariably suffer, while the gains of the proprietary beco'me disproportionately large. Of the profitable character of gasworks there can be no doubt. As an instance, we may mention that the municipality of Manchester, which* many years ago undertook the supply of gas for that town, has been able to make gas of good quality and at a low price, and besides to expend from £40,000 to £50,000 per annum, derived from the profits of the manufacture, upon improvements in the town. The various gas companies of. London, representing a capital of £8,000,000, and that by no means economically laid out, pay dividends of about ten per cent. The price of gas in London is 4s or 4s 6d per 1000 feet, and the price of coal about 20s. Here it is proposed to charge 20s, while coal" can be had for about 35*, delivered at the works. The disproportion seems too great, and yet it can no doubt be accounted for to some extent by the fact that gasworks are expensive to start, while the demand for the commodity in the first instance is limited. But as the demand increases in course of time, the profits increase in a much greater ratio, the first expense being once incurred. Here then we see a reason why any concessions made for the purpose of establishing such works should be made for a limited time. In a Bill recently intro duced into the Imperial Parliament, but which the interest of the gas companies proved strong enough to defeat, provision J was made for testing the quality of the gas — a matter of the greatest importance — for periodical revision- of prices, for publishing the companies' accounts, for a compulsory supply of gas on reasonable terms within a certain radius, and finally, for tbe purchase of the undertaking, after a certain period of years, by the municipality, on terms to be -adjusted by arbitration. These conditions seem to us by no means unfair, and we commend them' to the consideration ' of the members of tbe Municipal Corporation. We are glad to observe from the resolution of last night that they are alive to the necessity of taking time for deliberation, and have decided upon proceeding with caution in a matter of so much importance.