The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-28
THE TELEPHONE IN LONDON
STILL ALMOST a NOVELTY IN TIE
WORLDS LARGBST CTR.

ned business Appliancs-Dsnth of tn
Nan WHO Had Practically Supplied Tn
Civil Servants of India for Twenty Years
LoNpor. Aug. 23.--Some interesting infor
nation about tho telephone has Just beef
spread before tho British public IN the repor
Of a special committee Of Parliament which
hAs been investigating the subject OF tele
phone service for three months past. 1t is
~well-known fact that the British public hai
not taken kindly 10 the telephone. TIL num-
Der Of subscribers In london. for instance. II
much smaller than IN any other great city In
the world. Most persons assume that'the rea.
con. must be some defect or mlsmnnagemen
IN the system by which telephone service is
Onpplied. / am inclined 10 believe that one
important reason for baokwardness in this re-
speot is simple British conservatism. The lack
Of enterprise which keeps the telephone out
Of the principal banks and newspaper Offices of
London Is not TO be explained on the score OF
the expense involved. Telephone rates In the
metropolis are not high compared with those
Of large American exchanges. Twenty pounds
Per year for the unlimited use OF the telephone
IN greater London is not extortionate.
One OF the principal banking houses Of Lon
don installed n telephone In It's chief office n
few months ago. IL proved a great nuisance.
They were constantly called up about bust
ness matters which we're usually dealt with
By messenger. The clerk whose duty It was
20 answer the calls complained TO the directors
that his other work WINS much interfered with
by the telephone hell. SO the directors consid-
erately ordered the removal OF the offending
instrument. Less than n week later the bank
was mulcted In q. 200 by n clever swindler
with a fraudulent check. Another banker had
tried to send advance warning OF the fraud by
telephone, and the messenger whom he sent
subsequently arrived too late. But even this
lesson did not procure the rehabilitation OF the
telephone. As n matter OF fact. 1t is not con-
sidered quite respectable for n conservative
banking house IN London to include this new
tangled contrlvnnce IN its equipment.
1t ia. however. n serious reproach to the en-
terprise Of Iondoners that n facility which has
become a necessity In the modern life Of all
large:oivillzed communities still remains n lux
ury and almost n novelty In the worlds great
est capital. There are to-day more coll tele-
phone offices in Stockholm than there are In
London. with q population twenty-five times
rs great. This fact Is rightly regarded by the
special committee OF Parliament rs a serious
reproach 10 the metropolis. THE license
granted to the National Telephone Company
for operating local exchanges runs until 1911.
This company has enjoyed a monopoly thus
far. One OF the Eirst things considered by the
Parliamentary committee has been to discover
the defects Of the present system. On this
point It reports that the present plan Of SER
vice ia practically prohibitive Of its common
and popular use.
The committee points out that It Is mac
cessible TO those who only require TO use It
occasionally. It's full advan tages are only
for those who can afford to pay a
heavy subscription In return for n privilege
which. though exclusive. is very limited in ex-
tent. It Is practically inlthe hands of n monopo-
lat rnmpanv which has povvar IN nIarUa yubnf |
1t chooses and not only has no motive for
Increasing and cheapening the facilities It af-
ords, but has ''an obvious reason for limiting
he number even Of its subscribers" 1t does
lot pay to increase the number OF subscribers
within an area served by a common exchange.
The company has power to refuse service.
md thus to pick and choose its subscribers.
md thereby TO limit their number. and in do
NC this It is materially assisted by the grant
II extensive areas, which afford 1t n wide
Of the most remunerative subscribers.
nd at, the same time go far to protect It
Igainst competition" II is easy to see how
uch a system works in n vicious circle to re-
trict the number Of subscribers. 1t is prob
bile that before long all new subscribers will
70 refused. Mr.. Forbes. the Chairman OF the
ompany. specifies the year 9 0 as the prob
bile date Mt which the whole system will be-
ONE a close.anu inaccessible monopoly. But
he committee acknowledgements 1T is pos
ible that even an earlier date might have been
Iamed."
The working OF the present system which
lives access to-telephones only to subscribers
the committee says: .:
Just rs II the Post Office should decide to
kilograms only from persons paying
N annual subscription. and to allow such per-
ons. on payment of their subscription. tosde-
patch. without further charge. any number of
requiring at the same time that
Diagrams should be addressed only to persons
with tho Post ONCE telegraphs by
wlrea."
Company admitted that the present
ystem was founded on a wrong principle. The ]
'wiss plan, which was advocated by Mr..
'reece. seems better to the committee. '
Messages can be sent by non-subscribers !
rom call Offices and delivered to non-sub-
crihers by express messengers; but. in addi- ]
ion TO this. just as some persons In this coun- '
" hire private telegraph wires to connect t
hem with the general telegraph service and c
huB avoid the necessity OF delivering mes {
ages at or receiving them from n telegraph Of l
ICE. SO persons who wish 10 save the journey l
o q call Office to despatch q telephone message {
r to receive 1t direct, instead Of by u written :
nessaGe. can secure a private telephone In {
heir house or Office on payment OF latter two q
ears 81 II shillings. For all messages ac- l.
ually sent subscribers md the public alike 6
ay the same fixed toll. smaller II the message
n local one. larger II It travels over the trunk I
lire; the price for all distances over trunk
'ires in Switzerland being the same. Each Il
iessage sent by a subscriber ia numbered i
nd an account against him is kept. 1t fol- v
under this system that every telephone Il
IN be used by the general public instead Of s
cling confined to the actual subscriber, with l.
10 result that In many towns every shop or C
lace OF business which has a telephone be-
omes in practice a public call Office" 4
The committee finally recommends strongly =
lat com petition with the National Telephone L
ompany be encouraged In two ways-that
authorities. the Post ONCE. or both,
, licensed 10 establish and operate local ex- n
.anges In opposition to the present monopoly. d
is a dlscouraging situation. however. which a
axes resort to the slow, red tape methods OF O.
10 English Post ONCE Department seem an b
ovar fha awaiting avctam tf