The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-20
MORE TALK OF TELEPHONES
COMMITTEE ON STREETS HOLDS
ANOTHER SESSION
Attorney d. ii. Heck Argues In Favor
OF admitting the Mississippi VAL
ley Telephone COmpnny-De-
votes His Time to Arguments Re-
fHfinE the Statements Made by
&. Il. Wanman.

L. 4. WanmRn,
for an hour and half LAWYER J. IT
Beck talked to the aldermanic commit
zee on streets last evening in behalf of
the application of the MississippI VAL
ley Telephone company for an ordin-
ahce granting it a franchise to oparate
in st. Paul.
Mr. beeks speech was mainly de-
voted to arguments refuting the state
ments of c. P. Wainman made the pre-
Vlois evening, that the new company
was not responsible concern and that
most of the Independent telephone com
panieS are failures
Toward the close Of the session the
argument became general and several
persons expressed an opinion that a
competitive telephone company would
be good thing for st. Paul. The COM
mittee did not arrive at any decision,
but adjourned until tomorrow evening.
The council chamber was we'll filled
with men interested, directly or as
subscribers, in the telephone contro.
Versy, when Chairman Kenny called
the meeting to order Mr.. Beck, who
was to deliver the principal speech of
the evening, had a formidable array of
kilograms and letters on the desk be-
fore him.
Mr.. Beck began by stating that the
telephone service In st. Paul was far
inferior to that in other cities in the
Northwest. The service in Milwaukee
was notably superior to it. A new
company coming here would be of vast
benefit to business men, though Mr.
Wainman had declared that two COM
panies would be nuisance to the peo-
pie.
Mr.. Beck then attacked the state
ments contained in Electrical Engin-
o. nf t1I, H.
the organ Of the Bell Telephone COM
pany. No article detrimental to the
interests Of the Bell company was ever
found in the Electrical Engineering"
though it made a specially of attacks
upon independent companies all over
the country
Mr.. Beck then took up the question
OF the financial responsibility of J. C.
Hubinger, the president of the Missis-
sippi Valley Telephone company, and
said that he had sent kilograms to
many points where he thought Mr..
Hubinger was known asking about hts
personal and financial standing. He
said that Mr.. Wainman had stated that
Mr.. Hubinger had been sued in Bur-
lington, To-, and that he had not been
able to begin business there
To ascertain the exact facts he had
wired to the county clerk at Burling-
ton for information, and he had receiv-
ed a reply that Mr.. Hubinger's tele-
phone company had been in operation
there six months and that there were
no suits against it. He had also inquir-
ed Of the editor of Keokuk paper
about Mr.. Hubinger and his replies
were all favorable. From number Of
business men In various cities in which
Mr.. Hubinger's telephone system was
in operation he had asked for Informal
ton and every one had answered that
Mr.. Hubinger and his telephones were
all right.
Mr.. Beck said further that last year
when the Mississippi Valley Telephone
company first applied for a franchise
in Minneapolis he was deluged with
copies Of Electrical Engineering
which contained articles attacking the
company and other independent tele-
phone concerns, but when the agitation
ceased the magazine stopped coming to
him.
Mr.. Beck continued with a number
Of quotations from letters which he had
received from business men in various
cities In which Independent telephones
were operated regarding the experiment
of competing companies. The mayor Of
Grand Rapids wrote to him that since
the. introduction of q new telephone
system in that city the Bell Telephone
company had not paid dividends, while
the new company was fiourisning. A
business concern in the same city wrote
that in every city in Michigan the in
dependent companies were doing we'll.
A national bank and several other
business houses in Grand Rapids sent
similar reports.
He said he asked the mayor of De-
troft whether the Detroit Telephone
company was a success, and the mayor
replied that its success was very graf
mr. 1a6 ynd
very beneficial for the public. Accord
ing to e. Earl, of that place, the COM
petition had resulted in a material re-
duction of telephone rates.
Mr.. Beck read a note from Hope &
Co., Of La Crosse, saying that the local
company was doing. well. that it had
1.-THE bulk Of subscribers in that city,
and that the service was good.
A correspondent in Cedar Rapids
wrote that the Cedar Rapids Telephone
company was on the road to prosperity
and that it had more subscribers than
the Bell company. Its rates were lower
than the old company's.
Reports Of similar nature were read
from parties in Des Moines, Fort
Wayne and other places.
Mr.. Beck said that these reports
showed conclusively that Independent
companies succeeded wherever they
were started against the Bell company.
For years the Bell company had a mo-
nopoly Of the telephone business, and
independent companies were not
thought Of. There are now, he said,
$500 Independent telephone exchanges
in the United States, and, If there had
been failures among them, the per-
centage Of failures was not greater
than the percentage in other lines of
business. Banks failed but that was
not considered an argument against
the establishment of other banks.
Though the Bell telephone had occu-
pied the field so many years, they have
given but few Minnesota towns tele-
phone connection. The independent
companies had done much more to ex-
tend their lines.
He read more letters and kilograms
describing the condition of affairs in
Faribault, Sioux City, Topeka, Vino
ma, and he quoted figures to prove
that the Bell company was making
enormous profits from it's monopoly.
He said that it was a strange fact that
in ST. Paul there were only 1880 tele-
phones in use, and he attributed it to
the high rates charged for the service.
Mr. Beck said that he had shown that
Mr.. Hubnger was a reliable man, and
that his company was in good stand
ing.
ut seems to me-" he said, that a
man who started in life without a cent
and now has an income of S10O, 900 is a
pretty safe man to trust. 1t is said
that no one wants a competing line in
this city. My telephone has been kept
busy all the day by people who said
they wanted to be here tonight and
hear arguments for the new company.
I saw a letter today from George H. |
A rcbor RI Secretary of tho