the company's affairs and a consideration of the character of the expenditures made by it, and the resources which might have been available therefor had a different policy been pursued, the Board is of the opinion that, to the extent hereinafter authorized, the existing floating debt may be represented in capital stock.

The following was therefore adopted:

On the petition of the Clinton Gas Light Company, pursuant to the provisions of section 39 of chapter 742 of the Acts of the year 1914, for the approval of an issue of additional capital stock of the par value of $100,000 for the objects named in said petition, after public notice and hearing, it being deemed by the Board that the amount of stock hereinafter named is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which such issue is authorized, it is

Ordered, That the Board hereby approves of the issue by the Clinton Gas Light Company, in conformity with all the requirements of law relating thereto, at the price of $500 a share, as determined by its directors, of 120 shares of new capital stock of the par value of $500 each, the proceeds thereof to be applied to the payment and cancellation of an equal amount of the obligations of the company represented by its promissory notes outstanding on June 30, 1914, and to no other purpose.

And if any shares shall remain unsubscribed for by the stockholders entitled to take them under the provisions of law relating thereto, it is further

Ordered and determined by the Board that all such shares shall be offered for sale at some suitable place in the city of Boston, and that notice of the time and place of such sale shall be published in the "Boston Daily Advertiser," the "Worcester Daily Telegram" and the "Clinton Item," newspapers published in the cities of Boston and Worcester and the town of Clinton, respectively. (Jan. 6, 1915.)

Miscellaneous.

PETITION OF THE HAVERHILL GAS LIGHT COMPANY. This was an application by the Haverhill Gas Light Company for authority, under the provisions of chapter 197 of the Acts of 1910, to carry on the business for which it was incorporated in the towns of Groveland and Merrimac.

This company was chartered by chapter 8 of the Acts of 1853 "for the purpose of manufacturing and selling gas in the village of Haverhill." By chapter 163 of the acts of the same year it was authorized to extend its pipes into the town of Bradford, which since that time has been annexed to Haverhill.

The towns of Groveland and Merrimac adjoin Haverhill on the east, and are on the south and north sides, respectively, of the Merrimac River. Neither of these towns is at present supplied with gas. It appeared at the hearings that the company proposed to build at once distributing systems in Merrimac and Groveland, and to connect them with the works in Haverhill, supplying Merrimac by a high-pressure system and Groveland by an extension of the present low-pressure distribution system in Bradford. The selectmen in both towns have voted to grant the company the necessary permission to open the streets.

The following was therefore adopted: -

On the petition of the Haverhill Gas Light Company, a corporation established under the laws of this Commonwealth "for the purpose of manufacturing and selling gas in the village of Haverhill" and duly authorized to extend its pipes into the town of Bradford (now a part of Haverhill), for authority to carry on the business for which it was incorporated in the towns of Groveland and Merrimac, as provided in chapter 197 of the Acts of the year 1910:

Voted, That the Board of Gas and Electric Light Commissioners, after notice and a public hearing and upon due consideration thereof, hereby authorizes the said Haverhill Gas Light Company to carry on the business for which it was incorporated in the towns of Groveland and Merrimac, with all the rights, powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties. and liabilities, set forth in all general laws now or hereafter in force applicable to said corporation. (Feb. 18, 1914.)

SHREWSBURY DEPRECIATION FUND.

Upon a request to this Board from the municipal light department of the town of Shrewsbury by Edward A. Logan, manager, and in behalf of said town, for the approval of an appropriation of $2,060.46 for the depreciation fund for account of the Municipal Electric Lighting Plant for the current fiscal year of the town, said sum being a larger amount than 3 per cent. of the cost of the plant exclusive of land and water power, it is

Voted, That the Board hereby approves of the sum of $2,060.46 to be included by the town of Shrewsbury in its appropriations and in the tax levy for the current fiscal year for account of the depreciation fund of the Municipal Electric Lighting Plant. (Feb. 27, 1914.)

PETITION OF THE FITCHBURG GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGHT

COMPANY.

This was an application by the Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, under the provisions of chapter 197 of the Acts of 1910, for authority to carry on the business of generating and furnishing electricity for light and power in the town of Ashby.

This company was incorporated by chapter 208 of the Acts of 1852 for the purpose of manufacturing and selling gas in the town of Fitchburg in the county of Worcester. In 1889 it was duly authorized to engage in the business of generating and furnishing electricity for light and power in Fitchburg, and in 1895 the original name of the company, which was the Fitchburg Gas Company, was changed to its present name. It is now engaged in the supply of both gas and electricity in the city of Fitchburg.

The town of Ashby adjoins Fitchburg on the north, and it has been supplied for some years by a plant owned by Mr. W. O. Loveland. Mr. Loveland has recently sold to the Fitchburg company the distribution system of his plant, subject to favorable action by the Board upon this application, and also subject to the grant to the Fitchburg company of locations for the existing and its proposed lines in Ashby. It appeared at the hearing that at a town meeting in Ashby action favorable to this arrangement had been taken, and that applications for the necessary pole locations were about to be filed with the select

men.

The following was therefore adopted:

On the petition of the Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, a corporation established under the laws of this Commonwealth for the purpose of manufacturing and selling gas in the town of Fitchburg (now the city of Fitchburg), and duly authorized to engage in the business of generating and furnishing electricity for light and power in said Fitchburg, for authority to carry on the business of generating and furnishing electricity for light and power in the town of Ashby, as provided in chapter 197 of the Acts of the year 1910:

Voted, That the Board of Gas and Electric Light Commissioners, after notice and a public hearing and upon due consideration thereof, hereby authorizes said Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company to

carry on the business of generating and furnishing electricity for light and power in the town of Ashby in this Commonwealth, with all the rights, powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties and liabilities, set forth in all general laws now or hereafter in force applicable to said business and said corporation. (May 1, 1914.)

MIDDLEBOROUGH PETITION.

This was an application by the municipal light board and the manager of municipal lighting of the town of Middleborough asking the consent of this Board to establishing the price of $1.50 net a thousand cubic feet for gas, this price being less than cost as defined in section 22 of chapter 34 of the Revised Laws. After due notice a public hearing thereon was held in Middleborough.

The town owns both a gas and electric plant, which it has operated since 1893. Up to 1911 it made and distributed an oil gas. In that year a water gas apparatus was installed, and the plant has since supplied more than 2,500,000 cubic feet a year. The maximum price has been $1.75 a thousand cubic feet, with a discount of 5 per cent. for prompt payment on bills over $1. For a consumption of 2,000 to 5,000 cubic feet a month the price is $1.68; for 5,000 to 10,000 cubic feet, $1.60; for 10,000 to 25,000 cubic feet, $1.50; and over 25,000 cubic feet, $1.40. Over half of its total output was sold during the year ending June 30, 1913, for $1.68, and over four-fifths either for $1.75 or $1.60. The proposed price now under consideration will eliminate all of the existing differential prices, and allow all consumers who pay their bills promptly to have their gas at $1.50 a thousand cubic feet.

There can be no question that $1.50 is less than cost as defined by the statute. Not until the introduction of water gas has any serious attempt been made by the town to develop the gas business. Since that event the pipes have been extended rapidly, and gas will soon be available to a large proportion of the inhabitants. This policy has been followed by a corresponding increase in the sales of gas. The cost of the new water gas apparatus was provided, not by the taxpayers, nor by the creation of any additional debt, but from the trust established for the benefit of the town by the generosity of the late T. S.

Peirce. This is also true of a substantial part of the cost of the extensions of the street mains. Nearly $5,000 has been expended for the same purpose from the proceeds of an award for the taking by the city of Taunton of a water privilege acquired by the town in connection with the electric plant. The result has been that, notwithstanding the important expenditures upon the gas plant, the debt of the town has not been increased thereby.

The section under which this application is brought is clearly intended, on the one hand, to guard the taxpayers from having their property exploited in the interest of consumers of gas and electricity, and, on the other hand, to prevent such consumers from being overcharged in the interest of the taxpayers. The Legislature, however, in prescribing the limits, necessarily adopted a method of determining cost which is somewhat arbitrary and artificial, and gives little consideration to the assumption of such risks as may be reasonably necessary to develop the business. For this and similar reasons, doubtless, it recognized that conditions might exist where the rule that "the price shall not... be fixed at less than cost" should be relaxed.

The prices at which most of the output is now being sold are so high as to give little encouragement to the use of gas for light, heat or cooking. The price which is proposed compares favorably with prices prevailing elsewhere in communities of the same size, and is low, considering present output. Price is necessarily an important element in developing output. Lower prices will often yield larger net profits than higher but less attractive prices because of the greater volume of business resulting. Just what price will secure this is a matter of judgment whose soundness can only be successfully determined by experience. While the Board believes that it would be unsound and unwise for the town to adopt a policy of selling gas permanently at a loss, yet it is not disposed to withhold its consent to the taking by the management of what seems to be no more than a reasonable business risk. In reaching this conclusion the Board has been influenced by the fact that the town has been so fortunate as to acquire, without the creation of any debt, what is substantially a new gas plant. The new price must of course be regarded as experimental, and should be later aban