Abstract
THE eighty-fifth annual meeting of the Institution of Gas Engineers was held in London during June 8–11 under the presidency of Dr. Harold Hartley. It was a notable event in its history, being probably the last before the gas industry becomes integrated on a regional basis. Dr. Hartley reviewed the rise of the industry— the pioneer in the practice of distributing fuel and power as a public utility. He initiated a stocktaking of the present position and surveyed the prospects of the future. The papers presented for discussion centred round these themes. In the past, the industry experienced the advantages of competition as a stimulus to progress, not without the disadvantages of a multiplicity of independent local undertakings. For many years the need for reorganisation had been recognized. Progress in this direction had been made— some people had thought not rapidly enough. In 1943 a report of the Post-War Planning Committee of the British Gas Federation proposed geographical integration of its undertakings. This concept was eventually endorsed by the Hey-worth Committee of the Government of the time. Since then the Government has decided that the desired end shall be attained by nationalization, and the necessary legislation is now before Parliament.
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HODSMAN, H. The British Gas Industry. Nature 162, 440–441 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162440a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162440a0