Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-02-14

by law restricting the rates. VIII tne
gentlemen advocating this charter for
the Eastern Maine Telephone Company
advocate the removal of all restrictions
on telephone competition? VIII they
Join in general law restricting tele-
phone rates to certain figure forever?
think not. | think such law would
not bring forth applause from all the
members, who favor this bill although
| it would from some of them.
Now il seems to me that there is dan
ger that the House may pass
| this charter and adopt the
| minority report of this committee
without fair and honest consideration,
| under the impulse of the moment ana
| with the idea that we are doing some
thing that is called for by nineteen
twentieths of the people OF the state Oh
| Maine. Well, gentlemen, | represent
| the people Of the state Of Maine as
| much as any other man on the roor Oh
| this House ] represent personally as
| intelligent Il constituency as any man
on the floor of this House. But | ven
ture to say. and believe that the gen
tlemen of the House know II IS So
that nineteen-twcntiethS of the people
of the State of Maine. despite their IN
telligence and newspaper reading, con
care a cent what the vote is on inns
charter and have not interested lh''lh
selves in il. Is there any puDIc can III
any section Of the state OF Maine LOT
the passage of this act? | nave not
heard 1t. And ii seems TO me that gen
tlemen take upon themselves an Au-
thority that should not lightly he as
sumad when they undertake TO say on
the aoor of the House that nineteen
| tWentieths of the people of the stat
are in favor of this minority report.
The people of this State have hal no
opportunity to judge of this matter. II
has never been discussed in public, II
has never been fairly discussed prior 70
this discussion even so far as the state
,, Capitol is concerned. Gentlemen had
upon their desks the other morning
this interesting pamphlet tshoWng'
bearing on the question of the Eastern
Maine Telephone Company. IL struck
me as good idea 50 far as getting
votes in the House was concerned. II
struck me at first as an original idea
| until it occurred to me that il must OF
| necessity have been borrowed from the
Democratic literature of the last cam
paign in Knox county and in all prob
ability some such circular was cir
culated there where my friend from
Rockland (Mr. Hix) saw it. 1t seems TO
me that this pamphlet was borrowed
idea and that ii might apply in many
directions as well as in the direction
in which il was intended to apply.
Don't make a mistake in this matter to-
day No general fight is on against mo-
nopoles no general fight is discovered
in this bill against trusts, il is purely
and simply an attempt to gain by :otr
in this House greater powers than a
corporation now has and to create in
the State of Maine 4 monopoly in tel
ephoning more powerful than now eN-
lists or ever has existed in Maine.
1t has been sad here that the New
England Telephone co. was charging
such enormous rates and refusing 70 60
into new country unless the people ac-
coded to such eXorbitant demands that
you could not get them To 90 any
where The New England Telephone
co. has gone into Washington county.
1t went in without guarantee 81 Il
dollars worth Of business. 1t establish
: ed exchanges in every town of any SlZ"
in the county. Three years ago ! paid
> in my office the first telephone ever set
: up in Machias. $4S a year for a long
! distance telephone. Today pay 50 Tor
the same telephone, the same service.
and there has been a mite OF competi-
ton to bring these rates down. | pald
e | $50 for my house for a long distance
/ telephone. and today | pay SIS. If mat
| is monopoly. if that is taking the public
4 by the throat and demanding Of them
3 anything unreasonable. | do not know
anything about business. These rates
have been voluntarily reduced in that
5 county and all over that county. They
2 have been voluntarily reduced in York
I. county as know. and ! believe in
Y every other county in the State, and
D the service has been excellent.
l AS to the telephone being the rich
mans luxury ana the poor mans
[ friend | confess that seems to me- a
little aside from the question. nave
found the telephone to be the business
1 mans necessity. 1t is not the rich
I mans luxury. The people who are us
ing the telephone in my county are
business people. and any time that
they have to pay one dollar more than
| they believe to be fair return to the
l New England Telephone Company,
that moment the courts are open 10
$ them for redress and the Legislature
has a right to legislate rates down II
it sees fit: but not legiSlate them up
by adding to the stock of the New
England Telephone Company as the
| pa sSage of this bill invariably would.
[ do not care whether the capital back
I of the New England Telephone Cam
pany is Maine or Boston capital. We
need outside capital. That capital
l whether Maine capital or foreign cap
I ital. has but one right under the laws of
I | the United States, and that is the right
10 receive a fair return upon the actual
D money invested. They may water their
: stock and it makes no difference. The
q courts will hold them down when you
4 make a demand for cheap rates.
: Now a joint committee of the House
/ and Senate consisting Of ten men. rep
= resenting as truly the people of the
State of Maine as do the gentlemen
e who have addressed the House this
, | morning, have considered the subject
with some care, considered ii a length
$ had extended hearings went into the
e question in all its bearings more care
fully than you and | go into it this
morning, and that committee by a ma