Evening star., 1899-02-04
HEARING ON TELEPHONES
Communication Forwarded by Commissioners
to Promoters of Columbia Company.
Copy of Correspondence Upon APP
pIicatiOn for an Audience-Donrd
Ready to Report.

Mr. T Cushing Daniel. one of the in
corporatcrs named in House bill l1.12S. pro-
viding for the Incorporation in the District
OF the CoI4Ir ,ia Telephone Company, who
recently ilques ed q hearing on the meas
ure beforr The District Commissioners, has
Iee1 in nrlr-n.c by them that IL the hearing
is net now desired they will submit re-
port on the bill to the House District COM
rlittec Ii will be recalled that several
Gsvz ago Commissioner Wight recon-
r4ended TO his associates that they state 10
the com.liltte in view Of the fact that the
question of telephones and telephone rates
i rCw under investigation and cons.dera-
tion by Congress that they do not care to
recommend action on the bill. Subsequently
the -a,7.aSt for q hearing on the measure
was resolved by the Commissioners from
Mr. Daniel. and thereupon they informed
him that no report would be made ny them
until the projectors of the enterprise had
been given a hearing
Mr. Daniels Letter.
In response the Commissioners received
the following letter from MIR. Daniel:
We notice in the papers that Mr.. Wight
has already written his report on the bill
10 incorporate the Columbia Telephone
Company.
''Our communication requesting hearing
troduced but since he has written his re-
port we think ii useless to attend i Rear
ing at This time.
.srThe incorpora tors OF this company have
coutendsd3 for over five years that the only
yay TO reduce the price of telephones IN
the District = to charter 4 new company
They are borne out in this contention by
the present condition here and by the fact
that there is no instance where llcenSee
of the Bell Telephone Company has ever
been made to reduce rates in any way. Al
this time they are defying an act OF Con-
gres~ reducing their rates, and forcing SUD
scribefs to resort 10 expensive injunction
proceedings 10 keep their phones
Probable Delay.
1.-THE last move of the Chesapeake and
Potomac Telephone Company is to take the
attorneys of the citizens association on
iunketire tour to Chicago and other cities
to prove that they are justified in charging
twice as much for phones as others are
willing to furnish them for. After they get
through this they will no doubt appeal the
case to the Supreme Court. and by contin-
l.ances carry the suit an indefinite time. or
until the citizens get tired of spending their
money and give it up
The Commissioners have had over three
years in which to cooperate with the citl-
Zens in getting cheaper telephone rates
and We believe that il would be but snort
tine after the charter of our company pc
company rs We now have a three-year coh-
tract with d majority Of the Chesapeake
and Potomac subscribers. and with a num-
Ter of others who ara and have been with
CIc phOues.
a concerted effort TO get relief from the
present situation will be made in the near
future.
Text OF the Reply.
Replying to this letter. the secretary of
the board Of Commissioners wrote Mr.
Daniel as follows:
Referring TO your letter of the 1st in
slant. relative to a hearing on the bill to
Incorporate the Columbia Telephone Com
pany / am instructed to state that no use
has vet been made of the recommendation
of Commissioner Wight on the subject,
which was dictated before the receipt of
the letter to which you refer, and the case
was held open. no action being taken pend
ing the hearing you asked for and which
the Conn il sioners granted. If, in view of
these circumstances, You do not want a
hearing. the Commissioners VIII make re
.Inrt 10 Congress on the bilt.''
The bill provides that it shall be unlaN-
full fcg the company to charge more than
so per year for its regular business service.
and not more than $50 a year for residence
telephones The ircorpOrators are john ID.
I.anghor1+e. 0rrin G.. Staples, John A.
Baker Tallmadge y. Lambert. r. Cushing
Daniel J. z. Keelyn. ". @. Waggaman.
W. ). Knox. Lawrence Gardner, J. a. Blum
don ana Thomas ArnaT.