special Act) have permitted any part of their circuits to be connected with earth, or placed any electric line above ground; or

(b) that any electric line or works of the undertakers are defective, so as not to be in accordance with the provisional order or special Act, or the Board of Trade regulations; or

(c) that any work of the undertakers or their supply of energy is attended with public danger, or injuriously affects any telegraphic line of the Postmaster-General,

the Board may by order specify the matter complained of, and require the undertakers to abate or discontinue it within a specified period, and they may also, if they think fit, by the same or any other order, forbid the use of any electric line or work, as from such date as may be specified in that behalf, until the order is complied with, or for a specified time. Heavy penalties are provided for default, and the Board are empowered, in case of non-compliance, whether a penalty has been recovered or not, to revoke the provisional order or special Act on such terms as they think just.

PUBLICATION OF REGULATIONS.-Section 70 provides that the Board of Trade regulations, as made or last altered, are to be printed at the expense of the undertakers, and a copy is to be kept by the undertakers at their principal office within the area of supply, and sold to any person on demand at not exceeding sixpence per copy. Where the local authority are not the undertakers, a copy is also to be served upon them forthwith.

GIVING OF SECURITY.-Section 71 deals with cases where security is required, under the provisional order or special Act, to be given to or by the undertakers, and prescribes the form in which it is to be given.

MATTERS OF PROCEDURE.-Sections 72 to 75 deal with various matters of procedure in connection with applications to, and orders of, the Board of Trade.

Section 75 deals with the recovery and application of penalties.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEFAULTS.-Section 77 provides that the undertakers shall be answerable for all accidents,

damages, and injuries happening through the act or default of the undertakers, or of any person in their employment, by reason or in consequence of any of the undertakers' works, and shall save harmless all authorities, bodies, and persons by whom any street is repairable, and all other authorities, companies, and bodies collectively and individually, and their officers and servants, from all damages and costs in respect of those accidents, damages and injuries. MORTGAGES BY UNDERTAKERS NOT BEING LOCAL AUTHORITY.-Section 78 deals with the borrowing of money on mortgage of the undertaking by undertakers who are not the local authority. No consent or approval of the Board of Trade is to be necessary to the validity of such a mortgage. In the event of any sale or transfer of the undertaking, or any part thereof, under section 2 of the Electric Lighting Act, 1888, or under the provisional order or special Act, the mortgage is not to be a charge on the undertaking or part thereof thus sold or transferred, but is to be deemed to compromise all the purchase money paid to the undertakers.

NUISANCES AND OTHER MATTERS.-Sections 79 and 80 protect certain rights of the Postmaster-General and the Crown.

Section 81 provides that nothing in the provisional order or special Act shall exonerate the undertakers from any indictment, action, or other proceedings for nuisance in the event of any nuisance being caused or permitted by them.

Section 82 provides that nothing in the provisional order or special Act shall exempt the undertakers or their undertaking from the provisions of, or deprive the undertakers of the benefits of, any subsequent general Act relating to electricity, or its supply, or the price to be charged for it.

Electric Lighting Act, 1909. The Electric Lighting Act, 1909, is a somewhat miscellaneous collection of provisions amending the earlier legislation.

LAND FOR GENERATING STATIONS.-Section I empowers the Board of Trade, by Provisional Order, subject to confirmation by Act of Parliament, to authorise electricity undertakers to acquire compulsorily, or to use, for the

purpose of a generating station, any land specified in the order, either within or without their area of supply, and, in the case of a local authority, either within or without their district. The expression "generating station" where used in this Act, and where the context does not require otherwise is, under section 25, to include any station for generating, transforming, converting or distributing electricity.

Section 2 prohibits electricity undertakers from constructing a generating station on any land acquired by them after March 31st, 1909, unless the construction is authorised, and the land specified, in a special Act or Provisional Order, or the Board of Trade give their consent after the local authority of the district in which the land is situate, and the owners and lessees of land within 300 yards of the site, have had notice, and an opportunity of stating any objections. The prohibition is not to apply to a station for transforming, converting, or distributing electricity.

MAINS FROM GENERATING STATION OUTSIDE AREA.Section 3 provides that, for the purpose of enabling electricity to be brought into an area of supply from a generating station belonging to undertakers outside that area, the Board of Trade may by Provisional Order apply to any roads, railways, or tramways situated outside that area the provisions of the Electric Lighting Acts which authorise, or enable the Board of Trade to authorise, the breaking up of any road, railway, or tramway, so far as those provisions do not already so apply. So far as any road is concerned, such a Provisional Order is not to be granted, except with the consent of the local authority in whose district the road is situate, unless the Board of Trade, where the authority refuses consent, are of opinion that, under all the circumstances, the consent should be dispensed with, in which case they are to report to Parliament the grounds of their decision.

BULK SUPPLIES.-Section 4 authorises the Board of Trade to grant by Provisional Order certain powers with regard to the supply of electricity in bulk, if the matter is not, in their opinion, of such character or magnitude as to

require to be dealt with by Private Bill. The Board may by such Provisional Order:

(a) authorise any local authority or company to supply electricity in bulk;

(b) provide for any supply so authorised being compulsory; and

(c) meke such other provisions as appear to them necessary for adapting the Electric Lighting Acts to any case where a local authority or company are authorised to supply electricity in bulk, including the application of the provisions as to the breaking up of roads, railways, or tramways.

The same provision applies under this section as under section 3 with regard to the consent of the local authority being obtained or dispensed with, so far as the Provisional Order authorises the breaking up of roads outside the area of supply of the local authority or company by whom the supply is to be given.

The section further empowers the Board of Trade, by order, not requiring confirmation by Parliament, to permit undertakers to supply electricity in bulk to other undertakers in cases where the supply can be given without breaking up any streets, except such as the undertakers giving the supply, or those receiving it, are already authorised to break up. Notice must be given of intention to make the order, and an opportunity allowed for persons affected to state objections thereto.

The expression" to supply electricity in bulk" is defined by section 25 as meaning to supply electricity:

(a) to any local authority, company, or person authorised to distribute electricity (the supply being for the purpose of such distribution); or

(b) to any local authority authorised by any general or special Act to undertake or contract for the lighting of streets, bridges, or public places (the purpose of the supply being the lighting of such streets, bridges, and public places). SUPPLY TO RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND CANALS PARTLY OUTSIDE AREA.-Section 5 makes provision for enabling undertakers to afford supplies of electricity to any railway, tramway, or canal, situate partly within and partly without

the area of the undertakers. The supply may be given at any point within that area. If it is to be for purposes of haulage or traction, it may be given merely with the consent of the Board, but notice must be given of the application for consent, and an opportunity afforded to parties affected of stating objections. Where the supply is for other purposes incidental to the working or lighting of the railway, tramway, or canal, it must be sanctioned by Provisional Order of the Board, requiring confirmation by Parliament.

FRINGE ORDERS.-Section 6 is a section mainly used for enabling undertakers to obtain what are called " fringe " orders, that is to say orders enabling them to give supplies to particular premises outside their area of supply, but on the fringe of the area, and thus conveniently supplied from it. The Board of Trade may grant such an order on such terms and conditions as they think fit, provided that consent is given by the local authority in whose district the premises are situate, and by any undertakers authorised to supply electricity to the premises. If any such consent is unreasonably withheld, the Board may proceed as if the consent had been given. An order under this section may, for the purpose of enabling a supply to be given under it, confer any such powers, and impose any such duties, on the undertakers as would have been conferred or imposed by the Electric Lighting Acts, and as might have been conferred or imposed by Provisional Order if the premises and the route along which lines are to be laid for the purpose of giving the supply were within the area of supply of the undertakers. If the undertakers on whom the powers are conferred are not a local authority, the works and lines are, so long as the order remains in force, to be deemed, for the purpose of the provisions as to purchase by the local authority, to form part of the undertaking within the district of the local authority which comprises the area of supply of the undertakers, or, if that area is comprised within the districts of more than one local authority, within such of those districts as the Board of Trade may determine.

If it should happen that the premises are in the area of supply of other undertakers, within whose area the under