View report page

42
progress, and, having regard to the late period of the Parliamentary
Session, and also to the terms of a Memorandum issued by the
Board of Trade to the effect that no monopoly was conferred or
intended to be conferred by the granting of a Provisional Order, it
appeared to the Vestry to be premature to introduce a competing
element until they had gained some experience of the working of
the Order. The application of the Telegraph Construction and
Maintenance Company was, therefore, not granted.
The Board of Trade eventually settled the terms of the Provisional
Order for the Edison Company, but as some opposition was
threatened to the confirmation thereof by Parliament, the Company
offered to lay and maintain distributing mains in Piccadilly as if
the same was a specified street, on condition that the Vestry undertook
to support, at the expense of the Company, the confirmation
of the Order by Parliament. This offer was accepted, and an
agreement was subsequently entered into to give effect thereto.
When the Provisional Orders were before Parliament, the Metropolitan
Board of Works presented petitions against them, without
having previously ascertained the views of the Vestries or District
Boards,who (and not the Metropolitan Board) are the Local Authorities
under the Electric Lighting Act. It appeared probable that
if this opposition were persevered in, the whole of the Orders would
be lost, and the general introduction of electric lighting into the
Metropolis retarded by at least a year. As the Vestry were disposed
to favour the introduction of the electric light into the Parish,
and had spent much time in obtaining modifications in the Edison
Order, in the public interest, they at once memorialised the Metropolitan
Board of Works to withdraw their opposition, and presented
a counter petition in favour of the Order. Similar action was
adopted by many other Vestries, and the Metropolitan Board withdrew
their petitions.
The whole of the Provisional Orders granted by the Board of
Trade were referred by the House of Commons to a hybrid
mittee. The Edison Company's Order was opposed by the
Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, who desired to
obtain a portion of the Parish for an area of supply ; by the Strand