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proposal that the work should be done entirely at the
expense of public funds, although a contribution towards
the cost may be regarded as justifiable in the interests of the Colony's defence. A suggestion has been made that
the undertaking of the work at the expense of the companies
might be profitable to them if it were part of a scheme
of voluntary merger between them, but there are many
obstacles to such a merger.
4. The two companies, the Hong Kong Electric Company,
Limited, and the China Light and Power Company, Limited,
enjoy on the island and on the mainland, respectively, a
monopoly in fact but not in law of the supply of electric
current to the public. They have received from time to
time permission for the establishment of cables, overhead
lines, etc., and regulations controlling the quality and
operations of their plants, designed for securing the
safety of the public, have been enacted in the Schedule to
Ordinance No.18 of 1911 as amended by Hong Kong Government
Gazette Notifications Nos. 354 and 568 of 1930 and 39 and
882 of 1935; but the exclusive right to supply electric
current is not conferred by any ordinance, licence or
agreement. There is at present no general provision for
the regulation of their relations with the public or the
Government, although the supply of electricity to the
Government as consumer is the subject of a special agreement
confined to that subject. A proposal for an ordinance,
which would have granted the two companies legal monopolies
in their respective spheres and at the same time have
secured powers of control over their charges etc. was the
subject of long discussions extending from 1919 to 1929, but
the idea was finally dropped largely because the companies
saw no advantage to themselves in the acquisition of a legal