The times., 1898-06-04
ECHOES FROM ABROAD.

Englands discomfort with its telephone
service is becoming acute. and immediate
action OF some sort is expected with the
object of remedying the existing abuses.
The Eng1insh metropolis, like New York,
complains that its telephones cost too
much, and it has the added grievance that
its telephones work very badly, and the
same state OF affairs is reported from all
over the country. Representatives of the
London county council recently met with
delegates from nineteen other cities and
discussed the matter at great length.
Then resolutions were adopted. The first
affirmed the principle that the telephone
service was SO much in the nature OF
monopoly that 1t ought not to be left per-
manently in the hands of a private COM
pany. Another explained that England
did not utilize the telephone for business
and private purposes to nearly the same
extent as other nations owing TO ex-
cessive charges and an inefficient service
The proposition that ''in the event of the
postoffice being unable to take over the
whole telephone service of the coun-
try, ii Is practicable and advisable that
municipal authorities should be empower
ed to provide such service in their respec-
tive localities" excited some opposition,
but 1t was adopted. Other resolutions on
which the delegates agreed were 10 the
effect that the only practical difficulty In
the way of a municipal telephone service
was the practical monopoly of the present
company; that 1t was just and expedient
that steps should be taken to protect the
public against that monopoly and its ef-
fects; that II was inequitable that in con-
! sequence of the watered capital of the
company the council should have to buy
at the enhanced price caused by that
/ swollen caDital. that Pa ri
| decide that no extension of the license
| should be granted to the company; that
municipal licenses should not necessarily
be terminable in 1911; and that such Il
censes should only be terminable on the
| payment by the state of the outlay on the
undertaking and that the power of break
! ing up the streets which was claimed on
| behalf of the National Telephone Com
pany, acting through the postmaster gem
eral was gross interference with the
rights Of municipal authorities.
Returned TO Paris from Madrid, the
| place to which searcher after informa-
! tion absolutely accurate, and opinions OBJ
viously disinterested, in regard 10 the
Maine disaster, would naturally 60 NJ.
julien Viaud alias Pierre Lott, has writ
| ten for Figaro an article, which France
| will doubtless accept as freeing Spain
from any completely in that great trag-
edy. Indeed, 1t may well be that his rev.
| elations viii lead to a turning inside out
| of American beliefs for not only does he
! present many facts wholly new to US
and we are people highly appreciative of
| facts-but he utilizes. in making his state
| ment of the case, the marvellous literary
| style whose influence over sensitive minds
! has been demonstrated more times than
a Philistine has patience 10 recall. Did
not the possession OF that style-and sew
| en- adjectives-enable NJ. Viaud to neglect
utterly his professional duties as q naval
officer, and to travel free all over the
world at the expense OF a nation little
noted for sentimentality in money mat
| ters? Was he not able to persuade the
guardians of Young Persons that those
tender creatures could safely read a book
describing in detair how NJ. Viaud bought,
adored. and then abandoned, a particular
ly gentle japanese maiden? II Is even so,
and none can Say what will be the conse-
quences Of his new. tale about the Maine.
He begins By saying that carelessness
aboard the warship caused her destruc-
tion. Then come the proofs. The vessel,
just before tine explosion, was cleared for
action; her powder magazines were wide
open, and in them Were melinite and a
greenish explosive of unknown compost
tion. Fifteen of the twenty officers were
absent, attending banquet. and nobody
was on watch. one of the officers said la
ter, before witnesses, II feared an acct
dent of this kind, for smoke had been
coming out of the hold for an hour" In
summing the whole matter up NJ. Viaud
declares: In any other navy a court
would have been appointed to inquire into
the responsibility of the commander him
self commission, to be sure. was ap-
pointed TO investigate the matter, but un.
der the responsibility of the commander
himself! In these conditions. how could
impartial conclusions be expected How
indeed! No wonder the Queen Regent has
decorated this gallant and able defender
OF her-salary.