The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1897-06-04
CITIZENS RALLY.
The Friends of the People Are In
vited to Assemble
At the Court House in Columbia on
Next Monday the Seventh Day
of June.

On Monday, June 18th, first Mon
day, there will be a mass-meetiDg
at the courthouse to discuss the
telephone situation. In the mean
time, the following facts are sub
mitted for the serious consid Grafton
of every citizen who feels an interest
in the welfare of our county:
A foreign telephone monopoly
charged our people $500, $500 and
$500 "A month for many years. In
addition to it's monthly rentals, it
realized enormous revenues from
charges for conversing from
one point to another in the
county, and for long distance COM
munications. These excessive and
burdensome charges existed all over
the State. The Legislature was APP
pealed to for relief: but every effort
to reduce and regulate telephone
rates, by legislation, have been
strangled in our legislative halls by
an overgrown monopoly. The peo-
pie must Judge for themselves what
persuasive influence stitied the pas
sage of wholesome laws to prevent
that monopoly from eXacting profits
that absolutely shock the conscience
to think of. In some towns, money
ed men put their money into rival
telephone companies, with reduced
rates, as matter of mOneyed
investments. These competing
companies were starved by y
powerful monopoly's cutting the
rates below the cost of operating,
and were then bought out. Prices
then went up again, and the people
We're once more at the mercy of
corporation, whose eXtOrtion was
limited only by the capacity of the
people to bear the burdens imposed.
A committee Of Columbia citizens
went to Nashville and appealed to
the officers of the Cumberland Co.
for relief. This appeal was as vain
as would be that of the lamb to the
wolf. Our people then determined
to submit no longer to a most heart
less eXtOrtion. The Citizens Tele-
phone Company was then organized
as strictly cooperative company,
in which every subscriber is stock
| holder. Every subscriber is entitled
to a voice in its management and re-
ceives its service at simple cost.
| Our list Of subscribers soon grew to
be double that of the Cumberland
Co., resulting in a saving to our
home people of some $4,000 to 10000
| annually, which money is kept at
home instead of flowing out from
our midst to swell the distended
Golfers of foreign monopoly. As
soon as the success of our local en-
terprise seemed to threaten to
| diminish the enormous profits of
this foreign corporation, it proceeds
to wage a war of determination,
which a strong, powerful and
wealthy monopoly usually in
augurates to crush every effort to
lessen its inOrdinate profits. But the
patriotism and public spirit of Maury
County have been aroused. We
have more than two hundred sub
scribers, nearly every one of whom
have signed a solemn and sacred
/ pledge TO stand by this cooperative
effort of our people to resist a mer-
, CHESS eXtOrtion. The Cumberland
Company is begging to place its in
strumentS in residences at 30 cents a
month. The Citizens Company
was inaugurated and pushed to sue
cess by the business men of the COM
munity; therefore the Cumberland
Company offers no terms to our
business houses; as to them, the
black flag is raised, and it is pro-
claimed that no reduction whatever
will be offered to them. The agents
of this monopoly state that the com
pany is losing money at the rate
offered to residences; but declare
that it "has an eye to the future -
Is it right for Maury Countians to
give any patronage to this foreign
monopoly and thus aid it in its un-
holy attempt to break down our
home Institution, restore its former
eXactions, destroy the value of the
property costing their friends and
neighbOrs $1,000 or 5000 in their
effort to give them reasonable tele-
phone charges, drive oat OF our
county 5000 or $4,000 annually.