The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-05-22
WANTS SLIDING SCALE
naryIand Telephone Co. Says Pres
ent Rates Are Too Low.
ORDINANCE IN CITY COUNCIL
Measure Repeats Provision Limit
tHE CharSes-President Bouton
Explains Why Change Is Sought.

tng Charges-President Bouton
Explains Why Change Is Sought.
An ordinance authorizing The Maryland
Telephone company to extend its lines in
territory not covered by the city ducts, for
the leasing to other parties of the space IN
the ducts not taken up by the company
and releasing the latter from the proVls-
Ion in the ordinance under which lt con.
ducts business, whereby 1T is prohibited
from charging more than S4s LOT pusl-
ness telephone and $50 for residence
telephone, was introduced in the first
branch of the city council last night by
Mr. Dieter.
In explanation of the ordinance Presis
dent Bouton of the company had this to
say:
when the ordinance was accepted by
the Home Telephone and Telegraph COM
pany, the predecessor of the present COM
pany, there were in service in the city OF
Baltimore, after about twenty-five years
of the operation of the Bell Telephone
company about 1000 telephones. Provls-
ion was made by the Maryland Telephone
company for a plant to accommodate
5000 telephones. This, 1t was thought,
would be sufficient to take care OF the
business for a great number of years. The
demand for telephones however, has been
so great that the Maryland Telephone
and Telegraph company has now in the
neighborhood of 1000 telephones in SER
vice.
SIT has been found that. contrary to al
most all other kinds of business, the oper-
eting expenses per telephone increase
with the number of telephones in service,
for the reason that as the number of tel
ephones increases the amount of use to
which each telephone can be put is cor
respondingly extended, so that the oper-
ating ex penses per telephone of the Mary
land Telephone and Telegraph companys
Baltimore plant are more than twice as
much as those owned by the same COM
pany in exchanges located in smaller
towns. The investment per telephone is al
10 increased, for the reason that greater
numbers of trunk lines between the ex-
changes are needed and the construction
OF the switchboards is much more elabor-
ate and expensive. This increased cost of
Investment means not only additional in
terest charges but increased maintenance,
an item of very large expense in the tel
ephone business.
Service at Less Than Cost.
zone of the reasons why the cost of
operation is expensive in a large city is
the enormous service to which the busy
telephones are put, such as those located
in express and railroad offices, banks and
large business houses. Many of such tele-
phones average fifty calls per day or the
Under the present ordinance not more
than $4S can be charged for such tele-
phones making an average in many cases
OF less than 1-3 Of cent call This is
far less than the cost of the service.
The company wishes to put in prac-
tice plan whereby the telephones which
are used but little can be graded, down
to a very small cost. There are many
small dealers to whom the telephone now
a-days has become necessity, but who
cannot afford to pay, and ought not to be
compelled to pay as much for it as the
large institutions which use their tele-
phones constantly. hTe ordinance as it
stands, however. would not only prevent
the company from carrying out this plan,
but would likely make it necessary for it
to abolish some of its present low service
rates. It cannot do business at a loss and
unless 1t is permitted TO charge a fair
price, based somewhat upon the amount
of use to which a telephone is put, it will
be prevented from giving the low rate
which 1t could in that case afford to give
to the small tradesman who uses mis- tele-
phones but little.
Burden on the Maryland.
FINDER the conditions existing in Balti-
more the number Of calls per telephone to
which the instruments of the Maryland
Telephone and Telegraph company are put
Is largely in excess of that Of any other
company II the country Win d Ike AuAl
Der Of telephones. The reason for this is
that a very large and increasing number
Of business houses and residences using
both telephones have measured service
contract for their Bell telephone and an
unlimited service contract for their Mary
land telephone, and in consequence ofat this
place the burden Of their telephone Ser
vice, as far as possible, on the Maryland
telephone.
THE enormous increase in the service
demanded is shown by the fact that in
November, 1901, when the Maryland COM
pany had 1851 phones in use, the peg
count showed 1880 calls for the day on
which the count was taken. In March
1902 there were 1922 phones in use, ar
Increase of Is per cent. whereas the calls
had reached 92,369, or an increase of q
per cent. One month later, T. e., in the
month Of April, 1902, there being Their
6,718 telephones in service, an increase o.
per cent over March, the peg-count
showed 100,155 calls, an increase ovel
March in calls of over s per cent. Since
last November the increase in the number
of telephones has been 18 per cent, where
as the increase in the number Of calls has
been 81 per cent. 1t now averages abou
Is calls per telephone per day, and at the
present rate of increase will soon much
exceed this.
Wants Sliding Scale.
1.-THE condition, therefore, which nov
faces the company is whether 1t shall
restrict the service to its present lines
and endeavor to increase its revenues bl
disseminating some of it's low-price ser
vice, or, by getting permission to increase
its rates so that they will be fairly pro
portionate, prepare for a greatly enlarged
business and provide facilities for thu
small tradesman by establishing tele
phones lower even than their present low
est rates.
''The interests of the community al
we'll as Of the telephone company, are tina
It should be put in position so that II cal
adopt the latter policy. The histtS o
the Maryland Telephone and TeleYA pl
company has been one of continued Vn
proved service and greatly increased ia
cilities for it's subscribers. It has invest
ed in Baltimore upward of $4,000, 600 in it
plant, and stands ready.if it's present linn
ttations are removed, to spend as mucl
more within the next three years. It
policy has always been progressive an
will continue to be so. It's success an.
continued growth are necessary for tn
best development of the telephone inter
ests, development which, as experience
has shown, is not possible except throug
an independent company such as tn
Maryland
1.-THE telephone business has been one o
continued growth and experiment 1t ha
been found that business cannot profitabl
be done in a large city under the presen
conditions and that the present condition
are not such as make the charges bea
emit ia h1v IIror, the large husinoss hone "a