THE LEGAL POSITION. 17 



lamps at a distance not exceeding 80 yards apart. The 

 sections in the 1847 Act are to a large extent permissive, 

 and not obligatory, but in the 1871 Act the word " may " 

 gives place to " shall." Section 24 states that the under- 

 takers " shall " supply gas to any public lamp within 50 

 yards of any of the company's mains, in such quantity as 

 may be required. While the 1847 Act makes it clear that 

 lamps, burners and pipes should be provided by the local 

 authority, the 1871 Act is far from definite on that point, 

 and it is very generally held that the obligation to supply 

 as above instanced includes the laying of the service pipe. 

 Many companies, at any rate, have thought that the better 

 course was to accept the obligation of supplying the service 

 pipe. 



As in the case of the private consumer, there are fixed 

 and definite obligations on the part of the gas company, 

 but no corresponding obligations on the other side. The 

 authority are simply to be supplied with as much (or as 

 little) gas "as they may require." In this respect, the law 

 presses more hardly on the small company, because it is 

 based on the conditions that obtain in towns and populous 

 places, and not on those usual in a village or small town. 

 In a town of 20,000 or more inhabitants, the suppliers are 

 fairly secure in respect to a consumption per lamp covering 

 3,700 or 3,800 hours per annum. But in small districts 

 there is considerable parsimony. Small and widely spaced 

 lights are considered equal to the requirements, and a very 

 short time schedule, say from dusk to 10 p.m. or n p.m., 

 for a period of six to nine months in the year. It is one 

 thing to lay a pipe for a large burner that will be in use 

 3,800 hours in the year, and another to incur a similar 

 expenditure to supply a small burner that will not be used 

 for half that time. The very meagre proportions of the 

 c 



