62 
II.—PRIVATE FIRMS AND COMPANIES, 
June, 1912, their example had been followed by three other Gas 
Companies. It is of interest to note that these 33 profit-sharing 
Gas Companies manufactured between them in 1910 49 per cent, 
of the total gas produced by all the Gas Companies of the United 
Kingdom. The systems of Profit-sharing which are in operation 
in these undertakings are upon lines generally similar to the 
bonus and investment scheme of the South Metropolitan Gas 
Company, just described, but exhibit certain variations from that 
scheme, the more salient of which will now be indicated : — 
Conditions attached to Participation.—Participation in profits 
is almost invariably made conditional on the signing of an agree 
ment of service, usually for 12 months, but for shorter periods 
in the case of special classes of employees, particularly the men 
employed only in winter. Such a restriction is not however im 
posed, in practice, by the Rugby Gas Company, and is not provided 
for by the rules of the Watford Gas and Coke Company, the 
Epsom and Ewell Gas Company, the Plymouth and Stonehouse 
Gas Light and Coke Company, or the Aldershot Gas, Water 
and District Lighting Company. The Chester United, Wrex 
ham, and Dartford Gas Companies require that their employees, 
in order to be allowed to sign agreements, shall be members of 
Benefit Societies. The Gloucester Gas Light Company excludes 
from participation employees whose salaries exceed £200 per 
annum. 
Determination of Amount of Bonus.—In nearly all cases the 
rate of the bonus, as with the South Metropolitan Gas Company, 
varies inversely with the price of gas, and is not contingent upon 
any other factor. But in two cases (Epsom and Ewell Gas Com 
pany and the Watford Gas and Coke Company) the bonus takes 
the form of an addition to wages varying also with the amount of 
deposits with the Company made by the employee. 
The scheme of the Epsom and Ewell Gas Company provides 
that each profit-sharing employee shall pay to a fund created 
under the scheme Is. or 6d. a week, to which the Company adds 
an amount varying with the price of gas; thus, if the price of gas 
is 3s. Id. per 1,000 cubic feet, the bonus addition is at the rate 
of Is. or 6d. a week (i.e., an amount equal to the employee’s 
own payment); if the price falls to 3s. 6d., then the bonus addi 
tion rises to Is. Ofd. in the case of a man contributing to the 
fund Is. a week, or half that sum in the case of a man con 
tributing 6d.; and so on up to a maximum of Is. 6d. (or 9d., 
as the case may be) when the price of gas falls to 2s. lid. 
A scheme on generally similar lines is in force with the Wat 
ford Gas and Coke Company. 
Investment of Bonus.—While the rules of a large number of 
Gas Companies* provide, like those of the South Metropolitan 
Company, that one-half of each bonus shall always be invested 
in the Company’s stock, under the schemes in force with the 
* South Suburban Gras Company, Chester United Gas Company, Commercial 
Gas Company, Leamington Priors Gas Company, Tottenham and Edmonton 
Gas Light and Coke Company, Gloucester Gas Light Company, Grantham Gas 
Company, Longwood Gas Company, Liverpool United Gas Light Company, 
and the City of Waterford Gas Company.