GAS MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1926, 27 February 1885, Page 2

GAS MEETING.

The statutory meeting of the;'Masterton ratepayers was held-iti-lhe Upper room of the Institute last ' evening, his Worship the Mayor .being in the chair. ' Mr Woodroofe asked the Chairman to' delay tile meeting, as ho. tliought moro people wore likely to come. , The Chairman agreed to wait ten minutes," and'.ilien '.hi bponirigHth'e..proceedings explained that all-necessary stipulations of the Act had beon complied with. . If of the loan proposal,- it would behis duty to take a poll for or against the proposed loan He would ask gentlemen present who wero not ratepayers, to refrain from voting. Mr Eenall held that they wero bound ;in any caso to take a poll. The object of the present meeting was merely to place the question before the ratepayers, The Chairman replied that the Act stated that the .Mayor may take a poll, giving him a discretionary power so that, .if a strong feeling were expressed against the proposalj it would not be his duty to put the Borongh to the expense of a poll. The Clerk, at the request of the Chairman, read the Clause of the Act bearing' on this point. Mr Eenall' argued that the Chairman had no power to veto the decision of the meeting. He held thai the Chairman's construction of the law was an erroneous one. Mr Woodroofe: I differ from Mr Renall. The Chairman: Order! Ido not propose to exercise any despotic power. (Applause.) Mr Eenall moved, That in the opinion of this meeting the time has arrived when it is desirable to raise a loan to establish gas works inMasterton. Mr Vile: I have much pleasure.in seconding the resolution. |' Mr Eenall said that during a recent visit to Wellington he had been told by an old official in that town that it would be a disgrace to Masterton if they were not able to establish gas works themselves (applause). Take Wellington for example, which declared 13 per cent, dividend the other day, and carried a considerable sum to a reserve fund; The first proposal in Masterton for pas asked the town for a monopoly. He argued that any company which established gas hecame a monopoly without any guarantee. Ho did not go the length of advocating making a profit out of gas for the reduction of rates, and considered that even if their first year's interest liad to be paid out of loan, tho conscqucnco would not be serious, as lie did not expect every ratepayer to make use of gas at once. He believed that they could raise the loan in Wellington at 6 percent, There might be some timid people amongst them who were afraid of the project, but he hoped there were not many. He thought the matter was within the scopo of the members of the Borou?h Council, and they would neglect an important duty if they missed the opportunity now offered. A gas company must pay, because it charged consumers a rate that would yield a profit. In London, gas was charged at 2s Gd, and in Wellington at 12s. (The Chairman: Eight shillings.) Their conscience in Wellington had pricked them, and so they had reduced it to Bs. He believed the special gas rate which would have to be struck would never have to be collected, (Mr Woodroofe: Question!) Mr Woodroofe would perhaps put him right presently (Laughter).; He would have liked to have seen some more business men or older men in the Council, but these had shirked the collar. 1 He was informed'that £IO,OOO would not be required for the introduction of gas into the town, and if so, it would be - unnecessary .to raise the whole of the loan, ■ 'The Chairman at this stape invited Mr Woodroofe to speak-. ' Mr Woodroofe explained that he had a good deal to say, but he would prefer to wait till others had spoken, Mr J. Vile said his opinions in favor of gas had been expressed years ago when he held a seat in the Council, and they had never changed, The Chairman"said supposing only £5,000 or £6,000 were required, the Council would be unlikely to raise tho whole loan till tho town had increased in size.

Tho Chairman was about to put the resolution when Mr Woodroofp rose. He objected to only two days notice having been given of the meeting. His experience was that no Borough Council judiciously expended large sums of public money. He prophesied that if £IO,OOO wero borrowed, £20,000 would be expended. Wellington was now sunk low through borrowed money. If the Borough went in for gas works, useless, worthless officials would go in for salaries and would never be rooted out. (Hear! hear!!) In America in almost every enterprise of this kind the officials absconded with the money. (Laughter), He stood alone formerly in opposing the £B,OOO proposed to be borrowed some years ago, and if necessary he would stand alone against the present proposal. He quoted the Act to show that if thero was a deficiency the Council might appropriate any portion of tho Borough funds to meet it; the Council could also levy a gas rate, The Act was made in the interests of the Banking community, The Chairman pointed out that Mr Woodroofe was misleading the meeting by quoting portions of the clauses only. Mr Woodroofe read the clause in full which shewed that the special rate. was one which could be levied for lighting streets. (Hear, hear). He urged keeping out of debt, Some peoplo were interested in gas. He heard that lime was used in gas works (a lauE[h). He thought a score' of officials would come in with gas works. (A voice; Thirty)! The Chairman thought Mr Woodroofo was too diffuse—he would not say rambling.

Mr Woodroofe recurred jagain to former borrowing in Masterton and the fate of those who advocated it.

Mr Bacon said he thought Mr Woodroofe was entirely out of order and very porsonal.

The Chairman: "He is too diffuse!" Mr Renall: "He is taking a broad margin. (A laugh.)

Mr Woodroofe knew that Mr Bacon was hungry for the £IO,OOO. He maintained the loan would be swallowed up by local management. A private company should start gas works. He called in conclusion on lus fellow settlers to vote against the loan. Mr Kibbllewhite said he came there to get a little insight into the cost of gas works, but if Mr Renall and Mr Woodroofe went on the way they had, they would go away as wise as they came. The Chairman said they had only been skirmishing, the real business had yet to como.

Mr Kibblewhitc: "A good deal of time is being wasted,"

Mr Renall: "The information has all been published and been before you for months." The Chairman said the estimate of the Wellington Company was under £6,000 and the price of gaß 15s, ; They were, however, supposed to be familiar with all this,

Mr Bacon said he could give data of cost to Mr.Kibblewhile or any other ratepayer who desired it. AtAshburtonthe: last years balance sheet returned a profit of £1193. A practical engineer who -was: in Masterton the other day had estimated the cost of gas worjes at £5,000

and that the prico'of gas would be 12s 6d. ' .

Mr Kibblewhit'o asked what the price of coal would be. Mr Bacon'replied thatthe cost of coal in-Mastertonwonld bo half-a-crown a ton less than in Ashburton. • •■-,

Sir Hogg said he-was 'invAshburton when the gas .company there-was. formed. The change from kerosino to gas gave the town a new appearance and advanced -its trade and interests, property would increase in value in Masterton if gas were introduced. The-fact of- speculators visiting Masterton to endeavor to obtain the right of Bupplynsj the town should be' sufficient to induce ratepayers to make gas at their -own' cost.' He mentioned that within the last four days the -TiiuarQ company had held its annual meeting; Four or five years ago when he was in that township the dividends were 10 find 12 per cent. . This last year it amounted to 15 per cent besides 10 per cent carried to a reserve fund. Ho did not think Masterton ratepayers should allow 25 per cent to be made by a company out of- the people (Applause). Gas would be a cheap light and a safe one and, after a few years, it might be expected to be contributing to the improvements of the place. He denied that a solitary instance could .be found in the colony of unproductive gas. He felt sure that with good business men like Mr Caselberg and his colleagues taking part in public affairs there would be no fear as to the result.

Mr W"oodroofe asked if the construction of Worksop road would.be taken out of the borrowed money. The Chairman said he was building a house on Worksop road. This road was No 3 on the schedule and would not be made that year. He wished to explain that he was not opposed to the Borough undertaking gas works. Some years ago he thought the time had not arrived for them but since then the town had improved. He had thought that a company could introduce gas more economically. However, he now believed that the loan would be carried. He had also travelled lately and found that the town was singular in having no debt or loan, (a laugh). Mr Vile denied that ho had any interested motive in seconding tho resolution, It was immaterial to him as a lime morchant whether gas was carried out by the Council or by a Company. It was certain to be introduced ny one or the other, Mr Rfliiall replied to Mr Woodroofe in ironical terms, He informod Mr Kibblewhite that meetings like the present one did not usually go into details. Ho held that tho Borough of Masterton offered cheaper facilities for establishing gas than any town in New Zealand. Ho also maintained that the town had been the cheapest worked borough in New Zealand. Could they not do for gas what they had done for their streets? Mr Woodroofe said only about twenty shops and two or threo churches would take gas,

The Chairman : You are out of order now Mv Woodroofe. It is a pity you did not think of this before (a laugh), The Chairman in putting the resolution said non-ratepayers must not hold up their hands, • Mr : And defaulters ? . Mr Eenall claimed that defaulters could vote.

The resolution was then carried' amid applause by twenty-four votes to nine, and a vote of thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings.