Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-11-25
Tho Teiephoro question.

y ne Telephone Question.
70 o., me Ed tor of the Yirginian-Pilot:
ne LEGALITY of imposing maximum
1 sCnarge Tor Telephone service never hav-
e i lng been doubted. as Indeed it could
NOT ne, the question before the public
- $50 Sas 10 the propriety OF doing so. and
TINS article has been prompted by
4 views expressed by many of our coun-
ciiInens to the effect that we should re-
9 ~ upon competition TO relieve us from
extortion in this line.
ne many trusts existing In this
country are but illustrations Of how
compe tition has played out as an ac-
. 1--WE force to insure reasonable prices
4 % many lines of industry. \ weil-in-
atrenehed trust very seldom fears COM
: nettton, but 1t always fears prices lin
aeSu upon a reasonable basis.
turthermore, contrary to the general
etief, competition is not always desir
Z aplef as 1t frequently means useless
& waste of capital, and, as was enunci-
court OF the State of New York. it may
/ ne carried on to such an extent as to
become q general evil. Let us take
Tor example this very subject OF tele-
phone. In many of our cities the high
charges for the old telephone have
been the cause of new telephone COM
:panies starting up. Two such compa-
MES In city cause double expense for
poles, wires and central Offices. The
efficiency of telephone service is les
&, between the two, and each are at al
most the same expense for Il small as
Tor q large list OF subscribers. To al
low the companies reasonable profit.
y their charges must be higher than
would be necessary than with a single
telephone system. The public would.l
therefore, be better off without COM
petition IL reasonable rates tccrc assured
I . ond !. az opportunity for ertostion uore
At this point some one will ask how.
without competition. can the quality OF
me service be expected to be improved
ana kept abreast OF the times? The
answer is simple. Under our decisions
the public cannot limit the prices so as
70 cause the company loss, but may
\ limit it SO as to permit the company to
earn only very small profit-say one
haif of i per cent. This being the case.
1t is easy to perceive how the public
can encourage and insure good service
according to the liberality of the profit
they allow.
Already We have here laws limiting
the charges for hacks. mills canals.
FERRIES, turnpikes. SOME of the tele-
phones, railroads, street cars and
pawnbrokers. These laws have been
S round necessary to prevent eXtortion.
II our councilmen are right in their
theory that competition is the best
= FORCE for the public to rely on to pro-
stect them from eXtortion, then hacks.
mills, ferries, pawnbrokers &c. should
he left free to charge whatever they
please.
In addition to the foregoing. the
lusury laws OF the several States afford
q familiar example of legislation to
{ prevent extortion. AS no one has pro-
posed to repeal these laws. we scarcely
Z realize their popularity. In but n few
OF the States, and these generally the
Z most remote and sparsely settled. do
the laws allow the money lender to
contract for interest without limit.
II is q significant fact that in our best
developed States there are usury laws
While in the nlkali and broomstraw
8 States full freedom OF contract is al
lowed. Generally speaking. as the COM
mnnity increases the rights of the in
divtduaI decrease. In n community
mo man liyeth unto himself" Exami-
nation reveals the fact that this same
voice against uSury was raised i'm the
& Laws of Rome, in the Koran of Ma
homet, and in the Laws of China and
in the Hindoo Institutes of Menu. Were
IT not for the usury laws the bankers
could. through their associations, make
interest rates almost anything they
chose. Just as the steel rail pools fix
the prices for steel rails to suit them
selves. In word, we scarcely appre-
clate how inpotent competition is, until
we reflect how long the public has been
signing in yain for competition to re-
lieyes them from the eXactions of the
tnritf associations of the fire insurance
81 companies.
y Moreover, at Baltimore and New
York 1t has been found necessary to
limit by law the price for gas; and
public policy has required in Ireland
:. that the tenants should have some e-
gal relief from the eXtortion of their
landlords. Here the landlords had been
in the habit of raising rents at their
pleasure, and in bad years wholesale
evictions followed. Now if a landlord
puts up prices" unreasonably. the law
H.. ~
q the court for commissioners TO APP
praise the rental upon rational basis.
V If a telephone company objects to
showing Its books on the ground that
their business is private we viii reply
that their business is public and II Is
lows price limitation in their case.
If a. company maintains sphinx like
silence as to its expenses the public
can go ahead and act on the best light
before them, and If the company COM
plains of confscation by being required
to operate at loss. let them show
what their expenses are and submit to
a cross-eXamination in court II a
company has lost money in the past
in q vain attempt TO cut the throat of
rival. the public cannot he expected
to pay ut the present time for its past
follies.
Equality is eduity, and. so far as leg
islation is concerned, all business RI
walls should be put upon the same foot
ing. 1t was in pursuance of this sense
of justice that our last Legislature en-
acted law requiring the Louisville
md Nashville railroad, operating in
y sonthwest Virginia, to reduce it's
charge for passenger travel from to 5
cents per mile, "as other railroads in
Virginia.
IL tie trust contention that competi-
fion is the true panacea for all forms
OF extortion appeals to our present
49,. *