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83
42 years, as the Vestry, however constituted, could never he advised to
merely purchase the cables of a company and he dependent upon the
company for the supply of current obtained from an installation station
outside the district
It is quite evident that the Vestry must now decide the main question, viz
whether the competitive supply which the Company are now evidently
most anxious to have the power to give to the parish should be left in
the hands of this Company or undertaken by the Vestry There is
now no alternative, as the present Company are not likely to fail in
meeting all the requirements of the Board of Trade with regard to
deposit or otherwise ; and unless an undertaking is given to the Board
of Trade of the intention of the Vestry to apply to the Board for a
provisional order next November, the order which is now formally
before the Board will most assuredly be passed during the present
session
From a communication received from the Board of Trade dated the 8th
January last, it appears that provisional orders have been granted to
the following local authorities within the County of London, viz :—
The Vestry of St Pancras
Ditto Hampstead
Ditto Lambeth
Ditto Shoreditch
Ditto Hammersmith
Ditto Islington
The Board of Works for the Whitechapel District
Ditto Backney District
The action taken by the Vestry of St Pancras is known to the Vestry by
the printed reports which have been circulated among the members,
the Vestry of St Pancras having obtained a loan of £60,000 for 42
years for their undertaking from sources outside the London County
Council, although with the Council's permission The Council up to
1892 had no power to lend money for electric lighting purposes for
a longer period than 30 years To obviate this difficulty the Council
in the session of 1892 obtained power to lend for a period of 50 years,
and in exercise of that power granted a further loan of £15,000 to St
Pancras for 42 years on the 31st July 1893
The Vestry of St John Hampstead contemplate expending £30,000 on an
installation, £9,000 for the building of the central station and £21,000
for machinery, plant, mains, etc; but they have been unable to proceed,
as the London County Council will only grant a loan repayable in
25 years It was this decision on the part of the Council that induced
this Vestry to appeal to the Treasury, the Vestry supporting the
Vestry of Hampstead by appointing Messrs Smitheus and Dawes as
delegates
The Vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch is now taking action to give effect
to its order, at a cost of £80,000
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