Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-09-25
FACTS ABOUT TWO PHONES
h, ]. Condos Offers Some More Light on
the Local Situation.
ANSWERS STATEMENTS OF INDEPENDENTS
Service - Best and Most
satisfactory Every
where.

L ne pdlu interviews recently nuDISneu DIV
A. B. Hunt, T. H. Pollock and other in
| terested parties in regard to the second
telephone proposition, are so full Of false
and misleading statements that she pub
LEGATION of the facts pertaining to the re-
suits Of telephone competition becomes
necessary TO set the public mind right in
this important matter. II seems to me that
the people will be more interested in the
facts-the actual results of competition in
cities where II has been tried out-shan
they will be in the extravagant promises
OF the promoters, especially when all these
promises are based upon a false founda-
ton.
So many false and m5leading statements
have been published by the promoters that
1t is possible to do little more than enum-
crate them in this article. leaving their
reputation for future articles, in which the
erroneous statements made by the promot-
ers will be taken up and disposed CT one
at time.
The statement Of the promoters that q.
second telephone company in Omaha will
reduce the rates and the telephone ex-
pense to the users is misleading, as will
be shown conclusively in a future article
In which the facts from a large number OF
cities will be given The effect of competi-
ton is to increase the expense OF the tele-
phone user by just the amount that he
pays for the second phone; competition
has had no effect upon the rates of the
Bell companies
The statement made by Mr. Hunt that
the business man. after getting a rev
phone, VIII order out the Bell Is con-
trary to all experience, as the facts will
show that in every city where there Is
competition the Bell company has greatly
increased the number of it's subscribers.
The statement that the new telephone
company will spend about s1,5OO.OOO in
Omaha is misleading. and the promoters
intend 1t to be so, for political effect Even
II the franchise is granted, and the COM
pany builds a plant to cost $500. 900, only
a very small portion Of the money will be
spent in Omaha.
The, statement that the absence Of the
so-called Independent telephone at Omaha
is keeping trade from our jobbers is merely
an imaginary trouble because there Is rot
village. town or city reached by the in
dependent lines that cannot be better
reached by the Bell lines. In cities where
the independent companies are doing bust
ness their most severe critics are the Sob
bers and other business men who have use
for the toll service
Inc statement made by Mr. Hunt that
the equipment and service of the Bell
company In Omaha is not as good as 1t is
In other cities is false, as will be shown
by publication of the facts
The statement made by Hunt that he
forced the Nebraska Telephone company
TO reduce It's rates for residence service by
agltatlng competition is entirely foreign to
the facts Whatever revision has been
maze In the rate schedules OF the Neb-
raska Telephone company has been made in
pursuance of the well settled policy of the
Bell companies to extend their lines and
Increase their revenues
The statement that a bond of s26 ooo will
be given to guarantee that the new COM
pany will not sell out to the Bell COM
pany Is absurd for the very good reason
that the Bell company will never want TO
ouy' and the promoters of the Independent
company ought to know this from the
FAILURE OF many other independent promot-
ers TO cash in at the expense Of the Bell
people. Independent telephone promoters
have long ago ceased to hold up the Bell
companies; their game is now to sell out
to innocent small investors in their stocks
and bonds, just as they are doing in Lin
coin.
The statement that telephone service can
be furnished in the city of Omaha at the
rates proposed by the promoters of the new
company. and with profit is false In the
cities of more than $4,000 population there
Is not one single independent telephone
company established on a solid financial
basis and the financial trouble with all of
them is that their rates are insufficient to
produce a revenue to cover their expenses
The statement that in cities where there
Is competition the independent phones
outnumber the Bell phones is exactly con-
trary to the facts, as l will show in a
future article by the publication of figures
that cannot be successfully disputed
Franchises for second telephone COM
panies have been granted in a great many
cities, simply because the people have ac-
cepted just such false and misleading state
ments as are being made by the promoters
In Omaha today. During the past year
the writer has personally investigated the
situation In more than fifty of these COM
petitive cities and is now in possession Of
facts and figures to show the actual results
of the competition. These facts and fig
ures, which will he presented to the people
of Omaha, prove that the independent tele-
phone movement in this country, generally
speaking, is a bunco game, pure and simple
H. ]. GONDEN.