POWER BOARD PROFITS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 May 1938, Page 7

POWER BOARD PROFITS

SHOULD BE USED TO REDUCE CHARGES. VIEWS OF MR F. C. DANIELL. A wider distribution of profits in the direction of reducing power charges, was advocated by Mr F. C. Daniell, a candidate for the Wairarapa Electric Power Board, when addressing the meeting of electors in the Opera House last night. Mr Daniell said that since the board was constituted in May, 1920, it had spent £330.000, and had erected 630 miles of line and served over 5000 consumers. It had an annual income of £55,000 and reserves amounting to £45,000. After referring to his years of service on the Te Awamutu Power Board, Mr Daniell went on to deal with the necessity for reticulating the board’s outer area. He had no quarrel with the present administration of the board, which was in sound hands. If there were no members on the board, however, it would still carry on and make a profit, so stringently were the Government regulations drawn up. He criticised the conditions under which settlers within five miles of Masterton had no chance of securing a power supply. Present members of the board appeared more concerned with making a profit than giving service and it was for that reason that he was offering himself as a candidate. He favoured a better distribution of profits, which should be used for the reduction of charges.