signified their acquiescence. A considerable agitation followed the passage of the Act, which was in the nature of things largely experi mental. Neither the private companies nor the public authorities were satisfied, and between the clashing of the two interests the Board of Trade was providentially kept alive. It may be admitted that the private companies did not get a fair chance. The supply of electricity was practically a new industry. If it were deemed best to let the speculator take the risks, he should at least have been given a chance to recoup his outlay. Section 27 of the Act gave the local authorities power to purchase the undertaking at the expiration of 21 years, the price to be paid being the "value of all lands, buildings, works and materials of the undertakers without any addition in respect of compulsory purchase or of goodwill or of any profits which may or might have been made from the undertaking, or of any similar consideration." This clause, obviously intended to protect the public interests, defeated its own purpose. The sinking fund charges were necessarily so heavy that the supply of electricity became financially impracticable. The effect of this clause is shown in the following table:

Of the orders granted in 1883 only 14 were to local authorities (St. Pancras being the only Metropolitan authority), and of these only six are now in operation, eight having been revoked.

The whole blame, however, must not be ascribed to the 1882 Act. The great electrical boom of 1883 saw millions of money invested in this infant industry. Of course, the company promoter reaped a rich harvest, whilst the daring investor came off scot free of any dividends. Several years later, in 1893, Sir William Preece remarked that the rapid development of electricity supply had been seriously retarded in England by the operations of a monster, called into existence by the Joint Stock Acts, the rapacious company promoter whose plunders in one year far exceeded in amount the sum of all the thefts of all the highwaymen and burglars that were hanged. But the promoter evidently has his appointed use in the scheme of life, for Sir William further declared that he (the promoter) had ruined the prospects of private enterprise and had rendered absolutely necessary the Acts of 1882 and 1888, which had thrown the industry into the hands of our local authorities.

The Act of 1888, mentioned by Sir William Preece, amended the 1882 measure, and extended the period of purchase to 42 years, with subsequent periods of 10 instead of seven years. This measure opened the door to the more responsible utilization of electrical energy, and since that date the supply has grown by leaps and bounds. The following table, similar in form to the previous one, shows this clearly:

Several undertakings are under more than one order, and of the orders granted 129 belonging chiefly to small authorities and 19 belonging to companies have not yet been acted upon, so that at the end of 1903 468 undertakings were either working or constructing as against eight working in 1888-an increase of 460 in 15 years.

Municipalities v. Companies.

It too readily supposed that the present installation of electrical plant throughout the United Kingdom tends more and more to come under the control of the municipalities. So far as mere tendency is concerned this may be true, but at the present time, and for many years to come, the private companies are in possession. The capital invested in plant for the supply of electricity is nearly £55,000,000, of which roughly 30,000,000 is invested by local governing bodies, and £25,000,000 by private companies; but when we consider capital invested in electric traction, we find that of nearly £80,000,000 invested over £60,000,000 is owned by the private companies. It is evident that the situation is a dangerous one, and demands immediate consideration. But the figures already quoted by no means indicate the powerful grip of the companies upon our industrial areas. The €55,000,000 invested in installations for the supply of electricity by no means discloses the real facts. It would be assumed that the municipalities are financially the more powerful. This is far from being the case. When we consider the parliamentary powers granted to companies to supply electricity in bulk, it is at once discovered that the private companies have picked out the industrial eyes of Great Britain. Excluding certain large municipalities, the private company is now legally empowered to supply electricity in bulk. practically over industrial Britain-the North-East coast, a large part of Lancashire, the West Riding, the most productive part of the Midlands, South Wales and Cornwall-and parliamentary powers are being sought for other rich districts. We shall later consider the

causes which have led to this undesirable allocation of power to private companies (most of them in close association, if not in actual financial combination) to control so largely an industry that undoubtedly ought to be completely under public guidance and governance. At this stage it is important to grasp the facts and realize their significance.

The Condition of Electrical Economy.

Turning now to another side of the problem, it may be desirable briefly to indicate the main factors necessary to the economical production of electricity. We need not linger over the purely financial aspect. One or two observations will suffice. In the first place we may note an advantage possessed by the public authority over the private company. The public authority, so to speak, builds for all time, and may therefore build on an enduring foundation; the private company knows neither the day nor the hour when its life shall be demanded. Its sinking fund charges are therefore heavier. Thus, though its initial capital expenditure may be less than that incurred by a municipality, its yearly costs are probably greater. Then, again, dividends must be earned, for shareholders when not inhuman are human. Hence the adage that good finance is bad engineering. In this connection it may be admitted that engineers are often extravagant when they are backed by the public purse. It is not wise to supply the workhouse with silver platters, and then save the rates by cutting down the rations. But other things equal, the local authority, being the residual legatee, is economically in the stronger position. So far as results are concerned, however, it is not easy to prove this. It is practically impossible to draw accurate comparisons between the operations of privately and publicly controlled electrical undertakings, because there are so many widely different factors in every locality. There are the various local costsfuel, water and stores, wages, repairs and maintenance, rents, rates and taxes, management, office and legal expenses. All this expenditure is naturally conditioned by the physical features of the district, distance from the coalfield, density of population, and many other considerations.

More important than all these are the "diversity" and "load factors." When we speak of a good diversity factor we mean that the generating station is so happily situated that it meets a regular and constant maximum demand for diverse purposes. As example, we will take a thriving factory town. At six in the morning is a tram load to carry the workmen to the factories. A little later a heavier tram load is in request to carry the office population. At midday the factory load slackens and the tram load increases. Then in the evening or earlier the shops light up, and later the domestic houses. A continuous "diversity factor" makes a good "load factor," although this latter might conceivably be obtained by a constant demand from one source. But we must look to the diversity factor to enable us economically to produce electrical power. For not only is it essential to maintain a high average load factor; it is also necessary to secure a large output. Briefly summarized the economic factors are:

(1) Wise capital outlay; good finance wedded to good engineering.

(2) A good load factor. Wherever there is economical production of electricity it almost invariably happens that a good demand for light and power is allied with a heavy traction load.

(3) Cheap fuel. Pending a rearrangement of railway rates proximity to the coal-fields is an enormous advantage.

(4) The need for a large output. It is not necessary to argue this. There is one train of facts, however, which places the electrical industry in a category of its own. And that is the striking difference between possible and actual output of energy. Even in the most successful stations the load factor seldom exceeds 20 per cent. Bradford, Bootle, Liverpool and Salford seem to be about the only exceptions. Rotherham, which produces at a cost of '66d. per unit has an average load factor of only 16:58. Bangor, with a load factor of 6.98 costs per unit 3'97d.

We have described the local authority as the residual legatee of the private company. It is a great deal more effectively organized and complete co-operation secured between the governing units in any suitable area, the local authority becomes the most economical agent for the production and distribution of electricity. We have seen what an important factor in the cheap production of power is traction. Nobody, with the exception of Lord Avebury and the Hon. R. P. Porter, believes that the local control of traction can or ought much longer to be under private management. The public authority must obviously soon possess the key to cheap electrical production. We are, therefore, in this predicament: if we fail to organize the fabric of central and local government, the private companies will continue, and the community must carry an unnecessarily heavy economic burden; or, without delay we must adapt local government to the industrial necessities of the new situation. Our problem is to discover and bring to life the governing economic unit.

The Future of Electric Traction.

It is evident that the application of electricity to traction has but begun. Developments in this direction cannot with any accuracy be foretold; but we may be sure that not many decades will pass before electricity has asserted itself on light railways, suburban railways, possibly main lines, industrial motor car services; and there are experts who foretell the electrification of canals. Already the practical tramway manager is working out plans how to link up his system with light railways. Mr. C. R. Bellamy, manager of the Liverpool trams, and this year's president of the Municipal Tramways Association, devoted his presidential address to this question. He thinks that the Light Railways Act has failed for two reasons: first, because the authorization was not transferred to local authorities; and secondly, because local authorities have not attempted to provide the railways. He looks to the development of a goods traffic on tramways and light railways under joint municipal control. He states the problem succinctly: "For many years it has been apparent that some better method of collecting and carrying the agricultural and dairy produce of the districts surrounding large towns has been necessary beyond that provided by the railways, which cater almost exclusively for the traffic between the large centres. Considerable areas are wholly without any form of carriage other than the horse

vehicle; in fact, the abandonment of the canals of the country, largely as a result of their purchase by the railway companies, has reduced the distributing network." Our only comment on this is that if there is to be a growing co-ordination between the tramway and light railway systems, electricity will undoubtedly be the motive force.

Again, the electrification of suburban railways proceeds apace. Engineers are practically unanimous that electric haulage is considerably cheaper than steam haulage both as regards capital costs and running charges. The comparative running costs of the Manhattan Railway in the years 1901 and 1904 leave no doubt about it. In 1901, the last period of operation by steam, the total working expenses per car mile totalled 11977 cents. This year, the first period of complete electric traction, the expenses fell to 9:468 cents. In other words, this marks a reduction in cost of from 6d. to 4 d. And Manhattan is not famous for cheapness. But about £40,000,000 is invested in locomotives, and conversion is therefore a serious difficulty. The railway companies have, however, to retain their suburban traffic or suffer in dividends. They can only do so by supplying a quick and continuous service. To give this they have found that electricity is the only available agent. The electrification of the District Railway, the electrification of the Liverpool and Southport branch, a distance of eight miles, and the electrification of 80 miles of North Eastern track around Newcastle-on-Tyne, all point the moral. Even more significant is the curtailment of the Glasgow railway service owing to tramway competition. So complete is it that railway travellers had their season tickets cancelled and the balance refunded. As Glasgow is in Scotland, it is surely a miracle that compelled the refunding of a balance. If this local electrificatior of suburban railway lines is to develop, it seems only sensible that there should be co-operation in the production of electrical power between the companies and the local authorities.

Nor is it in the least improbable that long distance traffic will be propelled by electricity within an appreciable period. The experiments which have taken place in Italy, Scandinavia and America point this way. For example, the Union Traction Company of Indiana have electrified 200 miles of single track. It cannot be doubted that the steam engine on main lines has a very limited future.

The Revival of Canals.

In considering traction, sight should not be lost of our canals. It is well known that the policy of the railway companies has largely atrophied the usefulness of the British canals. It is argued by many acute observers that our canal system is capable of economic development. Broadly, we may divide our canals into two classes: those which still continue a semi-dormant existence in spite of the railways, and those which are the property of the railways and have purposely been disused. Now with canals, as with other carrying concerns, efficient haulage is the main consideration. Horse traction is palpably an anachronism; it is probable that electric haulage solves the problem. The use of an overhead conductor raises no engineering difficulties. On the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, 50 miles