ABSTRACT
In choosing the subject of to-night’s paper I was actuated partly by the reason that the subject is one which must be of some interest to each of us, whether or not we propose to make accountancy our profession. When we leave the City at night we become private citizens, and most of us as such have an interest in the undertakings which many of our local authorities control for the supply of our water, our gas or electricity, or the means of conveyance to our homes by tramway. We may sometimes speculate how, and in what manner, the undertakings were acquired by the local authorities concerned, and I will endeavour to-night to outline briefly—from the point of view of an accountant—the principles usually applied in assessing the consideration payable for undertakings supplying a service of public utility.
