The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-21 00:00:00

REPORT.

'The committee have to report that they consider the terms
of Mr. Jackson's letter objectionable on various grounds :-
Ist. Because be proposes to make revenue alone the mea-
sure of value; whereas the mere revenne of a gas and water
company is no index of the actual condition of their works.
They may be yielding a very large revenue, and yet be on the
eve of rcquiriug very heavy repairs, which might absorb the
whole revenue of the works for years.
2nd. Because his proposal amounts to this :—That for
every £lO of ascertained revenue he is to receive a bond for
£250, bearing 4 per cent. interest in perpetuity, Thus,
supposing the net revenue of the works to be £lO,OOO a year,*
the company would have toi;reeeive from the commissioners
bonds to the amount of £250,000, as the price of the works;
whereas the capital actually expended on the works is stated
by the company themselves at £133,000 only. In other
words, Mr. Jackson's proposal involves a sale of the works to
the township at twenty-five years' purchase.; whereas your
committee have reason to believe that the ordinary term in
sales of gas and water works is about sixteen years' purchase
only.

3rd; Because the committee, on competent and reliable
authority, believe that an outlay of about £lOO,OOO would be
sufficient amply to supply with gas and water a population of
100,000; whereas the population of the district is at present
under 50,000.

Without entering into further objections to the proposal,
which might be urged, the committee deem it best to state
at once what they consider ought to be the basis of any
arrangement between the commissioners and the gas and water
company :

Ist. That an account be made out showing the:real outlay of
the construction of the works, year by year; the annual rental
from December,,lB42, to the 31st day 'of December, 1856 ;
and the not devisable earnings of the company on each year's
winking, after making due allowance for wear and tear and
renewal of plant: s.
2nd. That such accounts, after verification by accountants
chosen by the commissioners and the company (one by each,
with reserved power to add an umpire in case of dispute), be
handed over to arbitrators, one appointed. by the commission
era, one by the company; and an umpire chosen by themselves,
whose duty it will be to find the fair marketable value of the
property as between the commissioners and the company ; such
valuation to be binding upon both, parties, and to form the
capital stock upon which interest will become chargeable as
hereinafter provided,

3rd. That the •mains which the company have laid *down,
and the works erected by them, shall, at the time of such
valuation, be amply sufficient, as stated in Mr. Jackson's setter,
to supply the whole district, when fully built upon, with gas
and water, without any further expenditure of capital ; and
that the company 6 ball satisfy the arbitrators on this point.
4th. That bonds, in a form to be agreed upon, shall be
,o,ned by the commissioners, for the value of the property as
ascertained under article 2, bearing a fixed interest of 5 per
cent per annum, and that the due payment of such bonds, and
of the interest thereon, shall be secured to tho company by a
charge upon the property itself, and by a gas and water rate in
aid, of not more than one shilling in the pound, upon the
rateable property of the district, ench rate to he levied only in
the event of there being a deficiency in the net income of the
works to provide for the payments aforesaid, or for the.extension
or other absolute requirements of the works.

sth..That the commissioners shall have the power, by
re-borrowing on the same security, or otherwise, to redeem
such bonds at par, at any time, on giving six months' notice,
the amount redeemed under any one notice not to be less than
£5,000.

6th. That the bill alluded to in Mr. Jackson's letter as
having been read a second time in the House of Commons, he
at once withdrawn, and that the commissioners and the
company take steps to obtain the sanction of parliament, in
the session of 1858, to a bill for authoring the sale and
purchase of the property in question on the basis as above set
forth.

Your committee will not discuss with Mr. Jackson whether
his own interest is identical with the interests represented by
the commissioners in this matter, nor how fir his proposal will
contribute, as be states, to the ultimate ex,inction of all the
Ownship rates; but with reference to the concluding paragraph
of his letter, your committee feel called upon to express their
surprise that Mr. Jackson should have thought it consistent
with his position in this matter to question tho propriety of the
commissioners spending public money in defence of the public
interests, which are assailed by 011 of his company now in
parliament.

So far from such menu° having the effect of promoting the
object which Mr. Jackson proposes to have in view, viz., an
amicable arrangement; it can only serve, in the opinion of
your committee, to increase the distrnst with vrhleh the bill of
his company has'been regarded by the commissioners and the
public from the outset, and to confirm the commissioners in
their determination to persevere in the opposition which,
under advice, they are resolved to give to the bill in parlia-
ment, if it be not withdrawn.
[4l The net profits of the works for the year ending Sept.
30, 1856, according to the filed accounts by the company,
will be £9,418 155. 81]
On the motion of the Chairman, seoonded by Mr. Park,
the proceedings of the committee were unanimously con.
Armed,
The Clerk next read the following