ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 369, 21 April 1910, Page 8

ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANY

Stuati'ord coi'xty couxcil's I'usitiox. At the meeting of the Stratford County Council yesterday considerable discussion took place as to whether the Council should sign the deed of concession as bi-Ui.c.i i.ir Mi.uiurd Electric Supply Company and tile Borough Council. A Idler was received from Mr. X. J. King. chairman of the Electric Lighting Company. lie pointed out that tncre was evidently some misapprehension on the part of the Council as to the request and the attitude the company has taken up with the Stratford Borough Council. .Some councillors suggested that tile company wished to yet something for nothing, hut he pointed out that under the deed of concession the County Council was entitled to exactly lite same concessions as those granted the liorough Council. They arc considerable, as would he seen from a comparison of the rate the company is entitled by the Act to charge and the rate they agreed to charge under the deed. All the privileges enjoyed by the Dorough Council will bo enjoyed by the County Council. Of course, if it was tile Council's wish that none of its ratepayers should be supplied at the reduced rate, those ratepayers can be disconnected. "So far as the Borough Council is concerned the position is that the company maintains that the right of purchase given by the Act must be exercised jointly by the 15orough and County Council, but the Borough Council claimed that it alone can exercise this right. If the right of purchase is a valu;'.'/c one, you will see that the action of the company has been to preserve the County Council's rights as against th> cxihoivr claim of tiie Borough Council'. The company knows that the light of jiiu,-!...,e is a privilege of considerable value, and one that will increase with the growth of the borough land that part of th-e '.ounly which immediately joins it. The Borough Council also knows To an equal share of these prolits the County Council is also entitled, aim it it i« decided to join with the borough in purchasing the undertaking of me company, the ratepayers of the county w.'uLl soon be realising the benefits of their lights under the Act. We do not thlal; necessary to say more on this point, as the advantages of tlie County Council's position will be at onto apparent. If your Council, of course, decides to part with its rights to tb<- Borough Council, it csu do so. That is a question of policy for ! your Council; but the company, acting | under legal advice, cannot, under /its i Act, deal with the Borough Council 1 alone. We think it fair play to the i company that its real attitude should : be explained, and that you should know that it is really the Borough Council I and not the company which is seeking j something for nothing. Any further I information will he supplied with plea--1 sure."

! At the liist meeting of the Council, it wilf Tse remembered, a letter was received from the Borough Council asking the Council not to do anything in the matter until the two Councils had conferred on the subject. ilr. R, H. Cameron, a director of the Electric Light Company, interviewed the Council, and stated that he could fully endorse what was stated in the letter. The Act allowed the company to charge Is per unit, but by this concession they reduced it to 9d per unit in the borough. The concession should have been fixed at the same time. The company had nothing lip its sleeve. It simply wanted the Council to endorse the agreement with the Borough Council so as to put them on an absolutely safe footing. They were supplying a very wide area, and would be extending mains. If this concession was signed the Council would have the same privi-' leges as the Borough. Mr. Cameron replied to numerous questions from councillors. He stated that the Electric Light Company had obtained concessions from the borough for twenty-one years, of 'which about eight or nine had yet to run. The company had only been paying dividenus for the past four or five years. On Mr. Cameron retiring, the Council discussed the matter at length. Members were of opinion that the Council should be very careful what action it took. At present they were not tied in any way. There was no doubt that in future the electrical supply required for Stratford would be very great, and they wanted to be careful about giving anything away to a private company which would be better for the ratepayers to be in the hands of a public 'body. At tho same time, they recognised fully the large amount of pioneering work that the company had done. At the same time, they could not see why the Council had' not been approached in the matter sooner. They felt, however, that the time was not now opportune to sign the concession. A resolution was proposed and seconded that the Council do not sign or grant any concession to the Electric Supply Company. An amendment that the words "at this present juncture" be added was lost, as was the original motion, on the chairman's casting vote. A furtner resolution th:it the Council as a whole hold a conference with the Stratford Borough Council in reference to the concession asked for by the Electric Lighting Company was also lost. The matter thus remains as at present.