The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-28
WILL TT CREATE A MONOPOLY.

OICSIllp So III illo lSdoOIS LII JPPNs'-
ine the proposed franchise to the long
distance telephone people. Mr.. AL
brecht las taken position SO sober
and reasonable on most of the 1ues-
lions that have come before the peo-
pie, and is, we believe, man of such
interest in the public welfare, that his
views are entitled to weight It is, is
he says, a purely business question. to
be discussed in business way. Ought
or ought not the proposed franchise
to be granted; not for the sake of the
company, but for that of the people of
st. Paul? That is what we are al of
us interested in determining
Mr.. Albrecht narrows the issue to
It is not the payment to be made to
the city that is the stumbling block, it
is the alleged monopoly that would
grow out of the giving of such a fran
chise We quote two sentences that
contain a strong statement of his posi-
ton: The deplorable condition now ax-
listing is rendered hopeless if the coun-
ell passes the proposed ordinance
which is Virtually an unrestricted fran
chise to 90 a local telephone business
for twenty five years. Under this ordi-
| nance the American Telephone and
Telegraph company would hold the key
Of the situation, because it could refuse
to give it's long distance service upon
|
that might hereafter seek TO operate
| locally"
Now. if We could see that any such
! consequences were to follow, we should
oppos: the granting Of IL franchise as
vigorously as does Mr. AlbrecEt. The
existing service is monopoly. which
we would like to see broken up. The
| instruments and connections used are
far inferior to those in use in other
parts of the country. The charges i'm
posed are clearly eXorbitant and I'M
reasonable. We hope to find remedy
for this, and we do not want anything
done that would perpetuate it. But
we cannot find the slightest connection
! lance company and the results which
MI Albrecht thinks would follow.
The, giving of that franchise would
not, as far as we can see, exclude any
ccmre ting concern that wants to do
business here. 1t could not objects Mr..
Albrecht, obtain long distance connec-
lions. Well, what of it? That would
not prevent it from doing a local bust
ness. which is the thing that it would
be organized for The new franchise
would not be exclusive. 1t would shut
no one out of the city And if the long
! distance concern is kept out, as it is
| now, certainly no competing company
coming in could then get long distance
! connections In this respect it is in
exactly the same situation that it
would be if the proposed ordinance
were to pass. The telephone business
| is a monopoly now, and it would still
/ be monopoly. We might not be any
better off as far as local business is
concerned; the Clio b cannot make
out wherein we would be any worse oil.
And in the meantime we are cut eff
altogether from telephone communica-
ton with points outside of Minnesota
and must remain so, apparently, For a
great many years to come
This is the question in a nutshell. If
Mr.. Albrecht's conclusions followed his
premises, if the monopoly that he fore
sees would be established by the grant
ing of this franchise then the G b e
! would fight it to the death. We can
find no reason for thinking that it
| would be so. The monopoly would not.
| because it could not, be any more COM
! plete than at present. The ordinance
| would not exclude any new company
seeking to do business here. If it did
that, it most certainly ought not TO
pass. But to say that another COM
pany would not enter here if excluded
from long distance connection, but
would enter if the long distance con-
nection did not exist at ALI as is the
case at present and will be until the
American Telegraph and Telephone
company does business in St, Paul, is
a contradiction in terms. Therefore
the question seems to be one of public
utility and the greatest good that can
be got out of situation which cannot
be wholly satisfactory because of the
existence of the franchise of the North
western Exchange company. We must
continue to think that it would be a
good thing for our city to have the long
distance service until some proof is Of
fered-and none IS before us now-that
the franchise would either make the
existing monopoly completer or exclude
other companies desiring to come in.
Whenever there is any reason to sup
pose that these results will follow, the
Globe will oppose the giving of a
| franchise with all it's power.
HOW ENGLAND "CAME DOWN"
A result of our assumption of eXciu-
sive Jurisdiction over Boring sea was
the capture of Canadian ssalers in
those waters as poachers, their con-
demnation and sale and conffscation of