The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-12 00:00:00

way to Reprieve, who carried on the running up to the dis-
tance where he was joined by Weazel, and a good race
ended in the defeat of the latter by a head; three lengths
between the second and third ; Romp beaten off. The
winner was bought by Captain Newbold, for 30 guineas.

THE METROPOLITAN GAS COMPANIES,

(From !he Journal of Gas Lighting, 4.e.)
The accounts from the Metropolitan Gas Companies,
" showing the actual state and condition of each company
as to capital, revenue, and dividends, for the year 1861,"
which were presented to Parliament pursuant to the 41st
section of the Metropolis Gas Act, have been permitted, awl
were issued on the 6th inst. We propose giving in our
next number a tabulated abstract of the principal items of
this important document; and, in the meantime, we select
from it the following details, which will be read with much
interest.

The total paid-up capital of the thirteen companies com-
prised in this parliamentary return, including the sums
borrowed and capitalised profits, amounts to no less than
£5,647,900. The total gas rental of the last year was
£1,385,592 7s. 7d., which was derived from the sale of com-
mon gas, cannel gas, and from public and contract lights,
in the following proportions:—
Common gag
Canel gas 110,821 4 7
Public and contract lights
The separate gas rentals of each company respectively
are thus specified :
Chartered (including lighting the pub-
lic lamps) ..............
*City of London
*Commercial
Equitable
*Great Central
Imerial
Independent;
London
*Phoenix
Ratcliff~
.
South Metropolitan .. 57,407 5 1
*Surrey Consumers
Western

The five companies marked with asterisks provided their
customers with meters without charge. The meter-rents
received by the eight other companies amounted to .£15,653
16s. 7d. ; and, if all the companies had charged for the
meters provided by them according to their proportionate
gas rentals, the aggregate charge on that account would
have been increased to £22,300. It appears that the cost of
meters and repairs amounted to about an equal sum to the
charge for hiring.

On the expenditure side of the accounts, we find £728,552
4s. 3d. for coals, including carriage and dues, but as the
sale of coke, tar, and ammoniacal liquor, produced £335,302
6s. 5d., or 46 per cent. on the cost of the coals, the net ex-
penditure on that important item was reduced to £383,248
17e. 10d. Of the other items of aggregate expenditure,there
are, purifying materials, £18,014 19s. 3d. ; supervision and
labour in manufacturing gas, £187,789115. 2d. ; repairs and
and maintenance of premises, tools, and implements,
£122,725 10s. 4d. ; rent, rates, and taxes, on works, officcs,
and mains, £35,974 4s. 10d. ; salaries of secretaries and
clerks in the offices, £45,651 13s. 9d. ; collectors' poundage,
£18,733 1 ls. 6d. ; stationary, printing, and general charges,
£18,083 7s. 2d.; directors, £16,435 17s. 4d.; auditors,
£1,213 ss. 2d. ; repairs of mains and service pipes, £69,016
6s. 7d. ; restoring and replacing meters, £20,922 13a 7d, ;
and law and parliamentary charges, £14,832 4s. Six cora_
panies return bad debts and allowances at £5,108 2s. 10d.
on a rental of £574,901 183. 4d., being less than 1 per cent,
but no notice is taken of these reductions in the returns of
the other seven companies. In the Great Central Company's
account there appear, on the expenditure aide, the sum of
£2,500 as the first instalment paid on account of the Wood-
street fire, and £1,035 ls. as "award re Croll."
_ _

The dividends of the several companies vary consider-
ably, as the per-centage paid on portions of the capitals
raised at various times often differs. The total capital of
the Chartered Company is stated to be £719,460, raised
under the authority of four Acts of Parliament, the first of
which was passed in the 50th of George III.; and the
dividends paid during the year 1861, amounted, on an
average, to 7 per cent. The share capital of the City Com-
pany is £364,000, and the average dividend was 6 per cent.
The Commercial Company's share capital is £289,239; on
which they paid, in 1861, the maximum dividend of 10 per
cent. The Equitable appear, from their account, to have
paid dividends in excess of 10 per cent., for the share
capital is stated to be £240,000, and the dividends amounted
to £26,211145. 7d. The Great Central, notwithstanding the
adverse circumstances which diminished the profits of the
company, shared last year 6 per cent. on their capital o f
£172,160. The capital of the Imperial consists of
£1,072,500 in shares ; of money borrowed at 4 and 5 per
cent., £124,000 ; profits capitalized, £338,402 15s. 9d.; and
a sum received in anticipation of calls on shares amounted
to £44,852 10s. ; making together, a total capital of
£1,579,755 ss. 9d, Exclusive of the interest paid on the
money borrowed, and on profits capitalized, the dividends
paid were 10 per cent. on £1,007,435, capital-stock, " and 2
per cent, on £812,500, capitalized stock, to raise the divi-
dends to the 31st of December, 1857, to 9i per cent."
The Independent Company were also in a position to
pay a portion of the back dividends, besides paying 10 per
cent. for the year, on £120,000, capital-stock; the short-
paid 1854" amounting to £1,500. The average amount of
dividends of the London Company was 6 per cent, on their
capital stock of £547,427, a balance of £5,085 being carried
to this year's account. Phoenix have no borrowed money ;
and, on their paid-up capital of £495,000, they paid an
average of 9i per cent. The capital of the Ratcliff, which
is the smallest of the metropolitan gas companies, is stated
to be £90,000 ; and the dividends amounted to £6 17s. 6d.
per annum. The South Metropolitan paid 10 per cent. on
their capital stock of £152,090, leaving a balance of £9,901
—and made a further reduction to their customers of 2d. per
1,000 feet of gas, from Christmas, 1861, The dividends on
the Surrey Consumers share-capital of £149,924 was 8 per
cent. The Western, the only metropolitan gas company
not incorporated by Act of Parliament, have a paid-up
share-capital of £216,000. Their dividend account shows
"distribution out of profits earned previously to the passing
of the Metropolis Gas Act" amounting to £5,250; the pay-
ment of dividends, at the end of 1861, of 9 per cent. ; and
a balance carried to next year's account of £lO,OOl 185. 4d.
It will be seen from the foregoing statement of the
dividend accounts of the several metropolitan gas com-
panies at the end of last year, that they were all then in a
prosperous condition, their rentals having, in nearly every
instance, been considerably greater than in any year pre-
ceding ; and we believe that, when the accounts for 1862
are published, they will exhibit a still further increase of
revenue. The operation of the Gasworks Clauses Act has
caused the South Metropolitan Company to reduce its
price, and they are now supplying gee of great purity, and
of higher illuminating power than required by the act, at
4s. per 1,000 feet in the home district. None of the other
companies have yet accumulated reserve funds sufficient to
ration of the limitation clause of
are approaching the point at
tbhreinagett,hbemut wseivthiernaithoef ration
is much , difficulty in analysing the re-
which gas consumers will be enabled to share in their pro
stunrenrist, se
Yfor There
al of the gas companies have not complied
strictly with the form in which the Secretary of State for
h
for instance, has included "retorts" .under
the head of " tools," and four of the companies have not
t
Onee Homeeorop Department required the accounts to be made.
onn
separated the item of " tools" from that of "ordinary re-
pairs and maintenance of premises." In several instances,
the rates and taxes paid on the works have been blended
with those paid for the offices ; while some companies
have a separate account of the rates and taxes
paid on the mains. In some cases, also, the salaries of
inspectors and lamplighters wages have been included
among the expenses of distribution, which appear to have
been placed by other companies under the head of expenses
of management. This want of uniformity in the account e
diminishes their value as the means of comparing the
relative conditions of the different companies, and there are
other defects in the returns which we hope to see corrected
in future years. Several important items are classed toe,
gezher that that it is important should be separately stated.
It is, for example, very desirable, at the present time, wheat
the question of public lighting is a bone of contention, that;
the rates charged on the works and mains of the gas com-
panies should be distinctly brought forward, apart from
rent and taxes, so that the amount extracted from them for
the privilege of breaking up the streets should be known.