The Finance of Publicly Owned Utilities
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1926.tb02272.x |
| Date | 01 October 1926 |
| Published date | 01 October 1926 |
| Author | J. L. Mackenzie |
The Finance
of
Publicly
Owned Utilities
in
Relation to
the
General National or Local Finance
By
J.
L.
MACKENZIE,
M.A,
LL.B.,
J.P.
Town
Clerk
Depute,
Ghgm
UBLICLY owned utilities in this country may be classed generally
p
in three groups. In the first group may be placed undertakings
vested in the Government among which the Post Office and the Telephones
occupy the chief place
;
in
the second group undertakings vested in local
authorities of which there are various kinds;
and
in the third group
undertakings vested in public authorities, boards, or trusts, on which the
local authorities are not infrequently represented. With the first group
I
do not propose to deal. Some other contributor will
no
doubt discuss
the position of the Government undertakings.
The second group
is
by
far
the most extensive in range and number
of undertakings. There may be some difference
of
opinion
as
to what
constitutes a utility of the nature in question, but it will be sufficient
for the purpose
of
these observations to include within the definition
all
those undertakings carried on by local authorities, which, if they were
carried on by companies or persons, would be carried on for the purpose
of
making a profit.
While the beginning of publicly owned utilities has to be sought for
in
a
remote past, this form of trading, so
far
as
this country is concerned,
did not make much progress until the middle of
last
century, by which
time the era of industrial development which set in early
in
the century
had led to the expansion of the larger burghs. There
are,
of course,
instances that
go
back beyond that time, but these are comparatively
limited in number and concern chiefly markets, harbours, and water
undertakings. Since then there has been
an
extension both
in
range
and character of the undertakings carried on by local authorities, although
in many instances, if not the majority, the initiation of the undertakings
was
due to private enterprise, the undertakings being subsequently
acquired, either compulsorily or by agreement, by the local authorities.
The
first
and most important of
all
to be acquired
on
a
large scale were
the water undertakings, with the result that to-day the water supply is
for the most part in the hands of the local authorities or in those of boards
or
trusts on which they are represented. Not content with buying up
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