Willmar tribune., 1899-09-27
SAYS line WAS SOLD.
Central Telephone Company Gives
Some Reasons for Selling tho
Willmsr. Minneapolis Line
to tho Bell Monopoly.
DIRECTORS GIVEN PoWERIN the BYLAWS
Claims tho Mississippi Valley comps'
Central In Securing City Con-
nections, While that Com.
pany Claims tho Reverse.
REPORTS AND INFORMATION
REGARDING the BIG DEAL

! REGARDING the BIG DEAL.
Early in October last, nearly year
ago, the stockholders of the Minneso-
ia Central Telephone Company re-
ceived letter from President T Tallman,
notifying them that deal had been
made with the Northwestern (the Bell
Co. by which the lines were to re-
ceive mutual benefits. Nothing, how
ever, was said about the sale of any OF
the Company's lines. On the contra
ry, the stockholders were led to be-
lieve thattheir system remained intact.
Here is one paragraph from the letter
referred to:
GAS stated; we maintain our organ
izatiOn, no transfer of stock is made
and no complication of any kind en-
tered into whereby our company is in
debted to the Bell Co. We simply
form an alliance with them which gives
us better and stronger position as a
Company and adds a large number OF
valuable connections and terminals to
our lines.''
Accompanying the letter, however,
was printed extract from the Mime
apolis Journal of Sept. 20, 1898, which
gave details of the deal, and which
was published with the approval OF
the officials of the two systems. We
will quote two paragraphs from this
Journal extract, which surely ought to
have made the stockholders the Min.
nesota Central apprehensive, as fol-
lows:
''The Independent people are to al.
low the Northwestern people to putthe
Bell. instruments on the Independent
lines from end to end. The rental
charged for them includes the cost OF
repairs and is SO small that the Inde-
pendent people say it is about as
cheap as they can keep their present
instruments in repair.'
"This issaid to bethe firsttime Bell
company has ever entered into such an
extensive arrangement with an indie
pendent system. Generally it has been
the Bell policy to ignore or fight the
independent companies. On the other
hand, there is no transfer of stock and
the lndepenpent companies maintain
their own lines, the adoption of the
Bell instruments PRACTICALLY BRINGS
THEM INTO THE BELL RANKS and
makes a great inroad on the strength
of the independents.
The annual meeting of the company
which ratified the deal was held at
Minneapolis, although Willnar is
supposed to be the headquarters OF
| the Minnesota Central, and the stock
holders residing here whose individ-
ual holdings are small. did not care to
incur the expense of attending.
On Sept. 10th inst. there appeared a
report of the sale of the Minneapolis
line of the Central company to the
Bell Co., in the Minneapolis Times,
which we publish in full elsewhere.
This report created great surprise and
indignation among the local stock
holders, as we'll set forth in the dis
patch from Willmar to the St. Paul
Dispatch, published elsewhere in this
issue.
The editor of the TRIBUNE addressed
a letter to President Tallman last
| Saturday asking for Information, OF
which the following is copy:
Sept. q, 1890.
| D. N. Tallman, Esq,
President Minnesota Telephone Co.,
Willmar, Mimi.
Dear Sir:-Would you kindly favor the
| TRIBUNE with signed statement for pub
| lication regarding the alleged sale Of your
| company's Minneapolis line as reported in
| the Minneapolis Times in its issue of the
| 10Th inst. under the head of Phone Line
Sold Out" The report has caused some ex-
| iteme Mt among stockholders along the line,
and the people generally are interested to
know the true situation. The TRIBUNE
wishes to be able to give authentic inform
alton from official sources as to the present
status of the Minneapolis line OF the Mime
sofa Central Telephone Co., in its treatment
of this subject.
If this line has been sold how does the
sale affect the shareholders right, Of this
! and other lines of the company. to use their
! passes In communicating with Minneapolis:
In order to be available for our next issue
reply should reach us by Monday at noon
Very truly yours,
TR1 BUNE PTG. Co.. by V. E. Lawson,