Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-12-05
AN ODIOUs MONOPOLY.
Tho Telephone Rival Of STANDARD oil ana
Western Union.
Nav York fTlmea

lctfHnbur AAlfhi OF STANDARD Oil and
wssern Unian.
New York Tlmen.
The contsst between the people OF
Rochester and the Bell Telephone com.
pany has reached the stage where rebelll.
Gus subscribers undertake 10 set up
competing company, which shall use a
/ telephone based upon patents that do not
Infringe upon Belts, Othrr cities have
fought the Bell monopoly ns Rjcnester Is
iightlnR 1t, sud have tried TO
set mp exchanges by using
telephones based ON patents not
owned by the monopoly. Thoy have
failcd as In oil probability Rochester Will
fall. Indianapolis mad the support Of n
state law limiting the rates, and tho law
wac sustained Nv the courts, bat now The
I citlzens who fought the company 80 bit
terly are paying rates greater than the old
once, and greater than those Bptcincd BY
| the law, aud there Is a dcmand Tor the re.
peal OF the statute. Perhaps there is no
better school In which one can learn the
power aud greed Of the great monopoly
than local contest like this.
Apgrieved users IT telephones may AZ
well look the matter squaroly in the face.
Tue Dell company ~ o strong for them
IL Is a good Hght which they were max
ing, and they have the sympa'hy Of al
men who hate oppressive monopoly, but
they cannot win. The Bell company in
an oppressive and odlous monopoly. IL
chmpels local companies To pay an an
nual rent OF Sl4 for the use OF inairu-
ments, whose entire cost is only S3.42,
In order that il may pay enormous dvl.
dends unon O capital seven times water.
- Nj hn arIu
from these exaclions, ~ has taken the local
c 'mpaules by the throat and compelled
them 70 surrender from 80 TO 81 per cent.
OF cnpital stock which They are forced 10
water In order TO meet this demand In
Ga 8 way " takes a double profit, aud
has extended It's power until now all OF
the local organizations are falling into It's
hauOs. with capital and assets amount.
lng TO nearly Si0,00O,000. II is rapidly
getting possession VI the entire telephone
business and building NJ an orgnnizatl N
Ike that Of the Western Union, but
stronger than the Western uaiOn, be.
cause no other company can even brgin
10 do business in opposition 10 IT, As It
extends us power ~ raises the cost OF
tolephonlbg BY the methods which we
have described.
Have tue people who have learned 20
use the telephone no remedy against
this great and OdlUus monopoly whose
existence they have made possible by en-
netting patent lnw,1 IL is plain That a
cont,st IKE that now going on In Rochcs
ter affords no remedy. Citizens will be-
iorced eventually ~ give up their t-le-
phones or pay the monopoly's price. The
experience Of Indiana in lcates that
stste laws restricting rates do not sup.
"a ta
have been led by series Of cor fully de-
vlsoh cOllusiyc suits 10 make decls-
ions upholdlng the Bell patents against
competitors decisions based upon
evidence prepared by parties ostcDsibly
hostile 10 each other, but actually friend
| lyi decisions That, once made by dis
| trlct judge, are confirmed by other dis
trict Judges, not upon evidence, but In
obedience to nm unwfittcn aud pernicious
law OF &C ,urtesy." Some OF the most
impor ant suits now pending before the
supreme court were CUllusiye in their ORR
| gini the Interference cases before tn,
| patent Office examiners have been collu-
nive; nearly oil OF these proceedings have
been only 80 many devices used by the
monopoly to buttross up It's power md
iorestau the ottacks Of ussailants who
are III earnest.
remedy may be furnished by a suit
| hrough by the government Itself To annul
BtlPs pamnt,a suit supported by evidence
mat the patent was procured by fraud
Ihere is such evidence in existence, and
Is Sufficient to warrant EuCh proceed
ing IL should be used without delay. IL
~ SUIT IN when not only telephone users
but the whole people are or should be
deeply Interested, for the growth OF great
patents mas put our pat mt system on trial.
Stilli H. should not DO forgotten that II inc
evidence In such o suit should be now
ertHl ehongn TO break down the Bell Pat.
ent, the corporation would even then on
able 10 control the business almost as
/ completely az II does now. IL owns
many other patents which It. has been
! puIllhg ASIDE Tor ralny day, aud il is
salu mat applications upon which action
mas been delayed In the patent office
would then yield patents that would piye
IL new lease OF power. At all evenis il
| would have grand piunt and eriuy tho
advantages OF being ia possession
NoVerthelrss The ALuulNcut on
main patent, frauGu-
lent Issue, would encourage invent.
OTIS and capitalists To enter
inc neldi and the people might gain some
lellel ny competition. A remedy may be
supplied, also, by the invention Of some
telephone instrument which even
colluslYe suits and complacent iudg,
could not euppress. II one bears IN
nhnn, however, the conrse n litigation
nus lar ana the attitude OF the cnnrts
he VIII not place much reliance nnnn tb,s
chonce, at least II he shall assume that
the government viii fail 10 win Its case
against q II patent.
Tho po@er which the telephone monop.
olists arc exercising Was given 10 chem
W tne people, and II is the people who
now suffer under the exercise Oft. what
Mlll thoy DO u, with evidence Of the fraud. |
ulent procurement OF tie patent before
tRlenl, thclr agents shall NOT be abie 10
sptGln lusuctg Surely there VIII arise a
ieonng OF great hostility toward our
patent tystem, and tnis feeling win be
manifested in legislation. Our patent |
sys.eul should not be oysrihrown, but The
abuse OF rs privileges by such corpora
' u"ns as we Ben company exposes IL TO
AAkk4fAA AHut