PUBLIC ELECTRIC LIGHTING

Abstract

MUCH attention is being given at the present moment to the operation of the Electric Lighting Act passed during the last session of Parliament. Under the terms of that Act, licenses and provisional orders will be granted to local authorities, companies, and private individuals to supply electricity for the purpose of electric lighting over definite areas. A large number of applications for licenses and provisional orders have already been submitted to the Board of Trade, in a few instances by local authorities, but in the majority of cases by joint-stock companies formed for working one or other of the different systems for electric lighting. A number of the “Provisional Orders” now being promoted lie before us, the majority of them being drawn in almost identical terms. A perusal of these documents cannot fail to impress the reader, firstly, with the great complexity of the question, secondly, with the extreme difficulty of striking a fair balance between vested interests and public convenience, thirdly, with the great amount of knowledge and skill displayed in the drafting of these provisional orders. It is an open secret that not only the main outlines but also most of the details of these orders are from the hand of Mr. J. Fletcher Moulton, F.R.S., whom we must congratulate upon the success with which he has applied himself to the task of preparing them. Now that Parliament is once more in session we shall probably hear of further legislative proposals; but if all provisional orders are as well and as wisely drawn as the majority of those before us appear to be, there can be little doubt that the necessity for separate further legislation and for the promotion of private bills for electric lighting will be removed.