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28

MR. A. W. FLUX, M.A., ON CITY GOVERNMENT AND

The Manchester Gas Department had a secured debt of £1,090,346 last March, an excess of assets of £1,068,183, and the total value of the property of the department, including land, but excluding stocks of material, stood at £2,050,813. The Copenhagen Gas Works Capital account stood at about £650,000 at the beginning of this year, and the book value of the land in use was £55,000. The value of the gas-works stood at a little under £900,000 in the list of assets of the city. The position of the Capital account is not quite easy to compare with that of Manchester. The revenue account is oharged with 4 per cent interest on the unredeemed Capital to the amount stated above and on the value of the land. A further 3 per cent is assigned to an extensions and renewals fund from which, in all, some £350,000 of the present capital has been provided. There are further complications in the capital account into which I shall not enter. The figures given may serve for the purposes of general comparison of the situation of the gas undertakings of the two cities. The sale of residuals brings in an average yearlv revenue of £90,000 in Manchester, and of £60,000 in Copenhagen. Interest and sinking funds have absorbed £53,000 per annum here, while interest charges and extensions and renewals fund have absorbed £39,000 per annum there on the average of the last five years. Electricity Works .— The electricity works of the city of Copenhagen, like tliose of our own city, have been established by the city, rather than entrusted to a private Corporation. They began to supply current on March 5th, 1892, our works opened on July 31st, 1893. As the accounts at my disposal for the former reach only to the end of 1897,* while for the latter they reach to the end of March of the current year, the period covered is practically of the same length in each, which adds some interest to the comparisons of development. In both the * Thø following figures for 1898 have been since received: Capital Outlay, December 31st, £255,000 ; Income, £87,900; Gross Profit, £26,900; Interest oharged, £9,740; Added to Renewals Fund, £6,570; Pald to City Fund, £10,600. The general charge for current for lightiug was reduced to 6^d. per unit.