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Order and include in their Order the Parish of St. James, we do
pay that the competition, to be even friendly competition,
should be based upon the same terms which have been accepted
by their competitors, because competition on unequal terms
ceases o be competition, and certainly ceases to be friendly
competition on both sides.
There is another objection which possibly may have some weight
with you, Sir, and it is this—that speaking from the point of
view of a local authority, if we have got three Companies supplying
electricity in the Parish, and the three Companies are
working under two different forms of Orders with two different
kinds of obligation, it will cause an immense amount of inconvenience,
both to the local authority and to the consumer; and
I think, Sir, that that point is one that I ought to urge with
some strength. I trust you will appreciate it at what I consider
its proper value. I do not know that I need trouble you with
any further remarks, but I have thought it right to speak at
some length upon the policy of the Vestry, because as Mr. Loyd
says, the compliment was paid to the St. James's Vestry of
taking their objections as typical of the whole Metropolis, and I
was anxious that it should be seen that the objections were not
lightly taken, but that we had good ground for every one that
we did take. I have every confidence, of course, in leaving it to
the decision of the Board of Trade, and to Parliament, in their
wisdom to settle as best they see fit.
A copy of the Report of Major Marindin upon the various
applications for Provisional Orders and Licences which
formed the subject of the Inquiry was received by the Yestry
on the 20th May. The following extracts convey the salient
points of the Report:—
The relative advantages and disadvantages of the high pressure Transformer
system and of the direct system as used by the Chelsea
Company are thus concisely stated by Major Cardew, who bases
his remarks upon the evidence given at the inquiry:—
"The Transformer system carries the high pressure up to the
houses. The distributing mains, therefore, are of small
size. A large district can be served from one station, and
the regulation of pressure in the distributing mains can be
very good. There should he no great difficulty in