The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-03-30
JUSTICE SUGGESTS A DIVISION.

IL Is only lair when one person Is the
cause of aiding another to make good
thing, that there should be division of
the profits. If this is the case with indi
viduals why should not the same rule hold
good with corporations!
There can be little doubt that the best
paying part of the telephone company's
business will be the returns which will
accrue to it from the suit with the street
car company; that is, it would have been
the best If it were not for the fact of the
patrons of the company refusing to submit
with the most perfect harmony to the in
crease of 1915 per cent in the rentals of
instruments. THE HERALD suggests that
under the oircums tances it would be the
proper thing for the telephone company to
divide with the street car company, in
stead of writing to the latter company that
it was the intention to hold it responsible
for the outlay caused by the recent judicial
decision.
THR HERALD hardly expects that the
above suggestion will be received with
thanks and acted upon by the telephone
company, but such action certainly would
show an appreciation of opportunities ex-
tended to the telephone company whereby
that corporation is able to greatly increase
the value of its present plant because of an
increase of earning capacity.
! The telephone company having been run
solely in the interests Of the public and
without any regard whatever for the
pockets of the proprietors of the company,
it is but reasonable to suppose that the
same spirit of generosity would have con-
tinued to characterize the corporation in
the future had it not been for the opportun-
ity which the street car company has given
it to make a few dollars in the future.
There is no sin worse than that of ingrati-
tude and 1t looks to Us as the quintessence
of ingratitude for the telephone company to
write that 1t will hold the street car COM
pany responsible for the outlay for i'm
proving the system instead of making a
distribution of the profits with the latter
company.
We find by count of the subscribers to
the telephone that the $40 increase will
bring an annual revenue of over ten thou
sand dollars, or s per cent. on S125,000. q
c. M. /. stock is hunted for at s130 share
and some sales have been made at S133
AT these figures the purchasers OF the
stock would get little less than pei
ceut. Deseret bank stock sells at three
hundred and seventy-five dollars to fou1
hundred dollars share, and the pur-
chasers at these figures also get less than
per cent. on their money. A stock in 6
company that is solid, with fair prospect
of growth, which will pay per cent. is il
active demand.
1t has been stated by some of the stree
car officials that the return wires which
the telephone company will have tt
put in will cost 5000, but we viii
say for the sake of the argumen
that they will cost six times thi.
amount, or $4,000. AT this figure the tele
phone company will be getting returns Oh
over four times the cost of the necessar,
Improvement, as the increase in rates give
per cent. on over one hundred ant
twenty-five thousand dollars. Four hun
bred per cent increase in revenue i
, pretty good; that is 81 in dividends, wher
81 would be a fair compensation for tn
, capital employed.
If there could only be two or tire
more decisions against the telephone com
! pany and each one of these decisions coul,
be taken advantage of to increase the rate
, pro rata what bonanza there would be il
stock of the company and what debt o
, gratitude the proprietors would be unde
to the parties who had caused the expense
, Several adverse decisions against the tele
, phone company would make its stock sbou
as valuable as that of the street car CON
pany on Broadway, n. Y, and fey
thousand per cent. in the selling pric
would be mere bagatelle Gentlemen
2 divide and show that you are of the Apr,
a ciative kindl