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14
forward, each having a speciality real or pretended, and several of
these applied to Parliament this Session for power to supply
Electricity, for lighting and other purposes, in the same manner as
gas and water are supplied: that is to break up roads, lay lines,
and charge for the supply by meter or otherwise. To have granted
these powers, except upon some uniform and well defined basis,
would have either conferred objectionable monopolies or have led
to confusion and public inconvenience. To obviate this the
Government referred the whole question with the private Bills to a
select committee. A considerable amount of valuable evidenoe was
taken and a report made upon which a Bill was framed and
introduced by the Board of Trade. This is on its way through
Parliament,* and so far as it will affect the powers and duties of the
Vestry it may be summarised as follows:— the word Local
Authority means, in the City, the Commissioners of Sowers; on the
Thames Embankment, &c., the Metropolitan Board, and in the rest
of the Metropolis, the Vestries and District Boards. Any Local
Authority, Company or person, may apply to the Board of Trade,
after three months' notice by advertisement, for a license to supply
Electricity within any defined area for public or private lighting.
'Public' means to Streets, Churches, Chapels,Vestry Halls, Theatres,
&c. 'Private' means, of course, to private houses, shops, &c. No
license can be applied for by any Company or person without the
consent of the Local Authority, nor can the Local Authority itself
apply for a license unless in pursuance of a resolution passed at a
Special Meeting after one month's notice. The Local Authority
may attach conditions to its consent, which may be approved or
otherwise by the Board of Trade. A license will be for seven years,
but may be renewed with consent. If the license is given to a
Company or person the expense of opening and making good
streets is to be part of the undertaking. No wires are to bo carried
over streets or houses without the express consent of the Local
Authority, who may, in case of infringement of this regulation,
remove them, and even with such consent any person may complain
of them as a public danger, and a Court of Summary Jurisdiction
may order their removal.
* Now passed.