The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-04-06
THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GAS

THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON Gas
The report Of the Committee on Gas WA
nr;nted last week, and has been-or all i's CO
sen,ial parts at least-laid before our readers
The private consumers Of gas had 'oohe' ~. "a
ward to that report with much anA'ev -
with considerable hope that some suss
having in view Justice to them, ~ou'1
been made by the Committee. ihe IN,
been disappoin,ed-utterly disaPPo'n =.
committee very quietly tell the Coun''' .a.
81. vo,ks are in a fourishing condi''oh-'has
oa7 .onsuu, rs were paying clear proh' OF
over e,ekt per cent. on the cos'o' '"e "o'"' =,
!; .. ,bev paid for. all they consumed ior all
the public lamps consumed all the current e&'
n ,be works, and eight per cent. be-
80. an the entire cost Of the works This
-a.,,, r,be committee very much admire; but
:, does not appear to have entered their heads
tina, il was very hard case that those 937 pri-
yate consumers should pay all that, and the
civ a, large pay not one cent Of tax for the in
valuable blessing of lighted streets! Nor does
this fact SEE "a TO have presented itself to the
minds of the Council. They certainly have
maid no attention TO il; and it is strange if they
thought Of matter entitled so much as this is TO
their serious consideration, they did not make
j, the subject of some kind of proceeding
The public lamps in the city of Richmond
which are distributed with profuse liberality
10 the extremes of the corporate limits, con-
sumo very nearly as much gas as is consumed
by all the private burners put together. The
amount consumed by the private consumers
for the year, is stated by the committee at
1888, 300 feet, while the 597 public lamps con,
sumed during the same period l0,2O7 ,752. So
the difference in such large aggregates Is not
very great. Will any one-either in or out OF
the Council-say that the very large consump-
1ion of the public lamps should be charged TO
the private consumers We presume not.
Last year, when there was something said
on this subject, it was argued that the works
were yet in their infancy, it would be best te
wait another year and see what the result
would be. The Council could act more ad
yisedly al the end of this second year. The
second year has expired, and we have only
congratulations at the encouraging results
iuhuSohO NJ SCnt' pau ~ pr
vale consumers on the entire operations of the
works and the entire consumption of gas in
the city!
Il IS time for the consumers to demand jus.
tice at the hands Of the Council. The price
they pay cannot be reasonable so long as the
public lamps are charge to them. 1t could
be borne with little more patience il the pub
lie lamps were charge to the city at large,
and thus the revenue of the works be so enor-
snously swelled as to justify the prospect of a
speedy payment of the entire debt for the con-
siruciion of the works and the reduction then of
he cost of gas 10 the lowest price. But with
out this assumption by the city of the charge
for the public lamps, without this prospect of
of the extinction of the debt, they ought not TO
submit longer to the injustice they labor under.
But even with that view we do not see the wis
dom of the policy; it is fair that the debt should
be only gradually extingushed, and the light
tax should be regulated so as to accomplish
that.
We trust the Council to be elected to-day
may take immediate steps to do justice 10 the
private consumers of gas, by establishing tax
on the people generally for support ofthe pub
Tic lamps. The private consumers should in
sisl upon this measure.