The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-05-15

Ill OllC LllllG OL lliS NGIlll tbl OlllCtt pt PGI
 month. The charge for additional mile-
 age Is $1 per year for each additional
 half mile of distance or fraction there
 of.
 Regarding the rates in the first class
 exchanges, where they have not been
 been determined upon, 1t may be said
 that there will be a substantial reduc-
 ton in the rates charged foE business offices.
 The history of the telephone business
 has shown that there are some anoma-
 ious features in it when the question of cost is examined, An exchange of 1000 subscribers cannot, in the light of l experience, be operated at anything like the same cost per subscriber that an ex- change of 100 subscribers can be operat-
 ed. There Is an increase in every item
 of expense, and especially in what is
 classed as switchboardlo operating ex- lpense. Actual experience of fifteen years shows that the switchboard
 worR of an exchange of 1000 Is not ten l times that of an exchange of 100 sub
 scribers, but between thirty and forty
 times as great. It is also perfectly well
 demonstrated that the cost of plant per
 subscriber in an exchange of 1000 will
 be more than double the cost of equip ping the subscriber in a smaller ex- change, and it shows from these facts
 that the charges to the city subscribers
 must be larger than to the country
 subscribers, and of course no rate that applies to both classes of service can be fair to both the company and the subscriber A rate which will be fair to the company in its city exchanges will be burdensome to the country sub scribers, and a rate which is fair to the country subscribers if applied to the city exchanges, would compel the com pany to operate the larger part of its business at a. considerable loss
 Tt must also be borne in mind that this. increase of cost in the larger ex- changes Is not unreasonable because 1t is patent on the face Of 1t that the priv ilege of immediate connection with 1000 people is of itself of more value to the subscriber than the privilege of con- meeting with 100, and that the subscrih- CT so equipped will inevitably use these facilities more in the larger than in the smaller places
 "The demands of service in the larg- CT places are also more imperative and exacting than in small towns, because of its greater value On account of the larger number of possible uses the tel ephone subscriber comes to depend more on his instrument for the accom- plishment of his daily business, it be- comes necessarily of vastly more ser vice to him and he naturally and prop erly insists that the quality of the ser- vice he receives shall be the best. This makes it worth more to him and makes him willing to pay more; at the same | time 1t makes it more costly to the com l pany to furnish it.
 "The encouragement of rates has been | adjusted on this basis, and it will be | seen that the position assumed by the | company voluntarily is more advan- tageous to the subscribers in the small | exchanges than the rates mentioned in the proposed bills. An examination of the subject however, shows that to adjust the telephone rates and do it by statute justly is not a possible task. It is a matter which, upon the removal of patent restrictions, will inevitably ad- just itself The officers of the Southern New England Telephone company as- sure us that their present action is the outcome of a series of investigations and SLuuIeS WIllCn they tldNG OtNi | ed for several months.
 "The facts of the history of the busi- ness. presented to the committee do not show that any compulsory reduction of rates is called for by the profits of the The company which is op- arating Connecticut has an investment of over $2, 000. 900 In it's plant, from which ts annual gross income has never reach- sd $500,000 The dividend paid to its stockholders since 1888 did not average ], per cent. per year, and it's present rate ,f dividend is only 5 per cent. Its stan lard of service, equipment and construc- ion is acknowledged to be high. No complaints of the character of the ser yfce rendered have been presented to he company. The company declares it s their intention to maintain this stan- ! lard of service, and to render 1t to the people of the state at as a low figure ( $ is compatible with business success. -he company should be allowed to earn ' fair return to it's owners upon its in- | -estments and money enough to keep I heir plant in first-rate order, and to rovide against the inevitable contin- encies of such 0 business. It should | lso be allowed to keep itself in such a e ondition that when more capital is a eeded for the fair extension of it's bus ness it can be obtained in the normal fl ray; that is, by an increase of the cap- l! al stock This has not been the condi- i' lon of the company for ten years. It u as meanwhile been obliged to recast s entire method of service from the circuit to the metallic circuit ystern, and to meet the demand for lcreased facilities for communication q, etween it's exchanges TO do this 1t as been necessary to borrow money r' nd to roll up large debt This debt Isc ow amounts of $750,000 all of which si e are assured has been expended te what are strictly construction A larges. VI "It is claimed by the company, and te ith reason, that the application of the ties named in the proposed bills would ake 1t impossible for them to extend e business because they would not sa i've the money to do the work neces- w ny to meet the inevitable demand tn hich would follow such a decrease in Sc ices, and the reduction of their in- in me would be so great as to seriously dc - -