These companies formerly discharged various public functions connected with their respective trades, and were once, doubtless, of great public utility. Every trading citizen, rich or poor, man or woman, could become a member, and was sometimes obliged to do The companies are bound to teach the trade to all who come to learn, and to So. PROVIDE FOR THE POOR, infirm, and decayed out of the lands which they were by charter permitted to acquire. It need hardly be said that the companies themselves recognize no such obligations. The Goldsmiths' Company still exercises a vexatious and unnecessary" hall-marking" of gold and silver; the Fishmongers' Company still inspects and condemns stinking fish; the Apothecaries' Company maintains botanic gardens and grants inferior medical degrees; the Gunmakers' Company tests and stamps gun-barrels; and the Stationers' Company sells almanacks and maintains (most inefficiently) a register of published books. But, these, with some feeble efforts of the Plumbers, Turners, Coachmakers, and a few other companies, practically cover the surviving public services rendered in return for the magnificent public property administered by the companies. The necessity for reform has long been manifest. In 1884 a Royal Commission presented an exhaustive report, signed by such moderate reformers as the Earl of Derby, the Duke of Bedford, Viscount Sherbrooke, Lord Coleridge, and Alderman Sir Sydney Waterlow, in which they recommended the IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION OF THE STATE "for the purpose of (1) preventing the alienation of the property of the companies of London; (2) securing the permanent application of a considerable portion of the corporate income thence arising to useful purposes; (3) declaring new trusts in cases in which a better application of the trust income of the companies has become desirable." They also recommended that the companies should be compelled to publish accounts; that their constitution should be reorganized; and that admission to the livery should cease to confer the Parliamentary franchise (C.-4073, 1884). But as the companies now fulfil practically no useful functions, and can no longer be made open to all London citizens, there is no reason why they should still be permitted to deal with London's inheritance. They must be dissolved, and their functions, rights, property and duties transferred to the County Council as the representative of the people of London. The first step is to pass through Parliament a bill to safeguard this public property from secret alienation, conferring upon the London County Council power to prepare a scheme for the management and distribution of the magnificent heritage of the people of London. GEORGE STANDRING, 7 & 9, Finsbury Street, London E.C. HE FABIAN SOCIETY consists of Socialists. TH A statement of its Principles, Rules, Conditions of Membership, etc., a list of lecturers, with their lectures and terms, and the following publications, can be obtained from The Secretary, at the Fabian Office, 276 Strand, London, W.C. "FABIAN ESSAYS IN SOCIALISM." (26th Thousand.) A full exposition of modern English Socialism in its latest and maturest phase. Library Edition, 6s.; or, direct from the Secretary for Cash, 4/6 (postage 4 d.) Cheap Edition, Paper cover, 1s.; ditto, plain cloth, 28. At all booksellers or post free from the Secretary for 1s. and 2s. respectively. FABIAN TRACTS. No. 1.-Why are the Many Poor? Price 6 for id.; Is. per 100. No. 5.-Facts for Socialists. A survey of the distribution of income and the condition of classes in England. 40th thousand. 16 pp., Id.; or 9d. per doz. No. 7.-Capital and Land. A similar survey of the distribution of property, with a criticism of the distinction sometimes set up between Land and Capital as instruments of production. 3rd edn.; 15th thousand. 16 pp., Id. ; or 9d. per doz. No. 8.-Facts for Londoners. 56 pp., 6d. ; or 4/6 per doz. No. 9.-An Eight Hours Bill. Full notes explain the Trade Option clause and precedents on which the Bill is founded. A list of literature dealing with the hours of labor is appended. 20th thousand. 16 pp., Id. ; or 9d. per doz. No. 10.-Figures for Londoners. 40th thous. 4 pp., 6 for id.; Is. per 100. No. 11.-The Workers' Political Programme fully explains the politics of to-day from the working class point of view. 20th thousand. 20 pp., Id. ; or 9d. doz. No. 12.-Practicable Land Nationalization. 4 pp., 6 for Id.; or Is. 100. No. 13.-What Socialism Is. 80th thousand. 4 pp.,6 for Id.; or Is. per 100. No. 14.-The New Reform Bill. A draft Act of Parliament providing for Adult Suffrage, Payment of Members and their election expenses, Second Ballot, and a thorough system of Registration. 15th thousand. 20 pp. Id.; or 9d. per doz. No. 15.-English Progress towards Social Democracy. id.; 9d. doz. No. 19.-What the Farm Laborer wants. 4 pp., 6 for Id.; or 1/- per 100. No. 20.-Questions for Poor Law Guardians. 4 pp., 6 for id.; or I/- per 100. No. 21.-Questions for London Vestrymen. 4 pp., 6 for Id.; or Is. per 100. No. 22.-The Truth about Leasehold Enfranchisement, Why Socialists and Radicals oppose it. 4 pp., 6 for Id.; or Is. per 100. No. 23.-The Case for an Eight Hours Bill. 16 pp., Id. each; 9d. a dozen, No. 28.-Questions for County Councillors. No. 29.-What to Read. A List of Books for Social Reformers. Includes all the best books on Economics, Socialism, Labor Movements, Poverty, &c., with suggested courses of reading._ 32 pp., 3d. each, or 2/3 per doz. No. 30.-The Unearned Increment. No. 31.-London's Heritage in the City Guilds. No. 32.-Municipalisation of the Gas Supply. No. 33.-Municipalisation of Tramways. No. 34.-London's Water Tribute. No. 35.-Municipalisation of the Docks. No. 36.-The Scandal of London's Markets. No. 37.-A Labor Policy for Public Authorities. Nos. 30 to 37 form the Fabian Municipal Program. The 8 for 1d., or 1s. per 100 No. 38.-A Welsh Translation of Tract 1. 4 pp., 6 for id.; Is. per 100. No. 39.-A Democratic Budget. 16 pp., Id.; or 9d. per dozen. No. 40.-The Fabian Manifesto for the General Election of 1892. 16 pp., Id. each, or 9d. per dozen. No. 41.-The History and Present Attitude of the Fabian Society. 3d. each, or 2s. 3d. per dozen.- (In the press.) The Fabian Municipal Program, No. 3, THE MUNICIPALISATION OF THE GAS SUPPLY. (SECOND EDITION. REVISED DEC. 1893.) LIGHTING by gas has become a necessity of the life of a great city. Nevertheless some persons who advocate the public supply of water hesitate to apply the principle of municipalisation to their local gasworks. Few of such persons, however, can be aware of the rapidity with which the public supply of gas is increasing. Already one-half of the gas consumers in the kingdom burn gas which they themselves as citizens have made through their local governing bodies; excluding London and its neighborhood, the proportion is, indeed, over two-thirds. The number of local authorities undertaking the gas supply has grown from 148 to 182 in nine years. No public authority in the United Kingdom having once municipalised its gasworks has ever retraced its steps or reversed its action. But London, along with Liverpool and Dublin, Sheffield and Bristol, and a few other large towns, still leaves this essentially public service in the hands of private capitalists. These speculators have succeeded in arming themselves with large and far-reaching statutory powers, to the arbitrary and oppressive exercise of which the consumer is constantly liable. Against a powerful company the individual has practically no defence. No private corporation ought to be entrusted with such authority. It can only be safely vested in a representative public body, directly responsible to, and therefore capable of being effectively controlled by, public opinion. London's gas supply has now fallen, by successive amalgamations, into the hands of three colossal companies (in 1855 there were 20), whose capital outlay, including past competitive waste and lawyers' bills, exceeds £15,000,000. On this amount they manage to obtain a handsome profit, the annual surplus being, on an average, over A MILLION STERLING, or more than seven per cent. In London our gas proprietors are limited by Act of Parliament as to their dividends, according to a sliding scale, and any excess is now partially devoted to a reduction in the price of gas. Nevertheless the largest company regularly pays its shareholders 12 per cent. Particulars for the years ended 31st December, 1890, 1891 and 1892. (See the Annual Returns to the House of Commons, Price 3d.) Notwithstanding a net profit of nearly three-quarters of a million sterling, the Gas Light and Coke Company raised its price in 1890 by 10 per cent., and in December, 1891, by a further 12 per cent. (from 2/6 to 3/1 per 1,000 feet), in order to pay a 12 per cent. dividend to its ordinary shareholders. This involved an additional charge upon two-thirds of London amounting to over half a million a year. But the gas companies have no legal monopoly; and the local authority (in London the County Council) can obtain Parliamentary powers to construct a competing supply, unless the companies consent to transfer their works on equitable terms. The London works could undoubtedly now be constructed for much less than the total capital outlay of £15,178,365; but, assuming the whole of this amount to be reimbursed to the shareholders, the interest payable by the Council would only be some £456,000 a year, as compared with three times that amount now paid annually to the share and bondholders. The average profit for the three years, 1890-2, was £1,134,960, and the difference between this and the interest which would have been payable in interest had the London County Council owned the works amounts to £678,000. This sum would cover nearly one-half of the net expenditure of the London School Board. Even if the shareholders were given £25,000,000, which is about the present market value of their shares, the County Council could probably effect a saving of half a million sterling. In Manchester, where the City owns the gasworks, the Corporation, besides clearing off the capital cost by a sinking fund, has applied about a million of money, the profit of its gas undertaking, in aid of the permanent improvement of the town. In 1891-2, a net profit of £74,278 was made on gas supplied at 2/6 per one thousand feet. Birmingham, with gas at 2/3 per 1,000 feet, made £22,144 profit in the same way after paying interest on gas loans. Why should not London do the same, and ensure, at the same time, the fair treatment of London's ten thousand gas stokers? Here is the experience of Bradford. "The Gasworks of this Borough," wrote the town clerk in 1890, "belong to the Corporation, and the profits last year amounted to £18,000, equal to about 4d. in the £ on the rateable value of Bradford, the price of the gas being 2s. 3d. per thousand feet, with discounts varying from 2 to 12 per cent.; in addition to which the public lamps are lighted free of charge." The cost of street lighting in London, which is paid for by the ratepayers, is equal to a rate of twopence in the £; so that, in Bradford, municipal gas saves the pockets of the ratepayers the equivalent of a sixpenny rate. At The pecuniary profit to be made by completing the municipalisation of the gas supply is, however, of less importance than obtaining complete control over this essentially public service. The thousands of gas-workers ought to be secured fair wages, proper hours of work, and adequate protection against accidents. present but little is done to bring the comforts of gas, either for lighting or cooking, within the reach of the poor, and even in London only every other house has gas laid on. Little attention will be paid to lighting the poorer streets, the public stairways, or the slums and alleys of our great cities, so long as every cubic foot of gas is jealously charged for by a capitalist company. Our gas, moreover, is practically our winter sun, and no private considerations ought to be allowed to stand between us and our main source of artificial light. Whatever progress may be made with electric lighting, the use of gas for heating and cooking purposes will remain, and, indeed, experts tell us the consumption of gas must inevitably increase. We need not fear that our municipal gasworks will become obsolete for many generations to come. Hence INSIST ON THE MUNICIPALISATION OF THE GAS SUPPLY. G. STANDRING, Printer, 7 & 9 Finsbury-street, E.C. |