Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-12
President Caster of the NUM-
cipal League Makes Import
ant Recommendation
CITY COUNCILS TOO EASY
Valuable Franchises Given Away When
They Should Be Retained for the
People or Proper Revenue Derived
Observation-Disclosures at League is
Good.
Special to Times-Republican.

4 Special to Times Republican.
4 Des Moines, Sept. 12.-The annua
convention of the League of Iowa Mu'
nicipalities met here today for twt
| days session The meeting is one O.
the important ones of the year ana Ii
attended by representatives from oVel
1 a hundred towns and cities A number
of prominent men connected with mu-
! nicipal affairs In Iowa are on the pro-
gram. Among the addresses VIII DC
one nv Hon. j. G. Berryhill, who VIII
explain the Galveston system OF city
government, which is very favorapls
| considered by leading students OF mu-
| nicipal problems. The attendance was
not as large today as it will be tomor-
row. The principal business today was
| organization of the convention, APP
pointment of committees, etc. Attet
/. the address Of welcome by Mayor
| Matterns, President j. s. Carter, OF
1 burlington, delivered his annual ad-
dress. President Caster devoted large
portion of his address to the franchise
question and recommendation of legis-
| lation along that line. He contended
| that the city councils are giving away
| valuable franchises that ought to be
retained by the people or be taxed in
such manner as to give the city the
revenue from them to which they are
entitled He said In part:
VA question of justice for the con-
sideration of every municipality in
Iowa is that of the telephone fran
| chises. The Iowa Telephone (better
known as the Bell Telephone Company
and probably a few other telephone
companies that were doing business
prior to March, 1882, saws the great
| advantage it would be 20 them to be
| classed with, and have tile same rights
as the telegraph companies. The tele-
graph is public utility of the state,
as it cannot exist upon the support OF
any one municipality, and does not
| obstruct our streets ano alleys except
| to run thru the city and perchance d
local office in the city, while the tele-
phone companies cannot exist without
the municipalities. They must use
many of our streets and alleys before
they become elf-sustaining, therefore
are municipal more than a state util-
lily. The telephone companies secured
| the adoption by the nineteenth, gem
| etal assembly Of the following amend-
meflt:
IAN act to amend section 1924,
chapter s, title 10, Of the&code of 1873.
"'Be. 1T enacted by the general as
sembly of the state Of Iowa:
"'Section THAT section 1924 Of
the code of 1873 relating to telegraphs,
be, and the same is hereby amended by
inserting after the word telegraph"
in the second line thereof the words
"or telephone"
"tSection 2-This act being deemed
of immediate importance, shall take
effect and be in force from and after
its publication in the Daily State Reg
lister and Daily State Leader. news
papers published at Des Moines, Iowa.
Approved March 16, 1882
These two innocent words or te1e-
phone inserted in this section means
that the telephone companies doing
business prior to 1897 can utilize every
street and alley in your cities without
ever troubling themselves to consult
your wishes in the least.
But the competitors local telephone
companies who start an exchange at
ter the adoption of the code of 1897
must secure a franchise from your
municipality and be governed by it.
rs there any justice in this? Why
| should the Bell Telephone Or any other
telephone company, have any more
right to monopolize our streets and al
leys than any other public utility?
IF the law says the water and gas
works, electric light and power plants
street railways, new telephones and
other utilities must first secure fran
chise from the municipality in which
they wish to do business before they
remove one shovel of dirt, why not the
old telephone companies, when they
wish to make any extension in the
service?
1T is evident to my mind that 1t was
the intent of the law to protect the
municipalities against individuals hold
ing perpetual rights to public utilities
when section 955 Of the code of 1897
was enacted, part of which reads as
follows: They may also grant indi-
viduals or private corporations the
authority to erect, maintain, or pur-
chase such works, or plants or rail-
ways, street railways, or telephone sys-
tenn, for the term Of not more than
twenty-five years, but no exclusive
franchise shall be thus granted. ex-
tended or renewed, and no franchise
shall be granted or authorized until
after notice Of the publication there
of has been published once each week
in some newspaper published in such
city,"
Further evidence Is given Of this in
the enactment of section 776 of the
same code, part of which reads as fol-
lows: No franchise shall be granted,
renewed or extended by any city or
town. for the use of the streets, high
ways, avenues, alleys or public places
for any of the purposes named in the
preceding section unless a majority of
the legal electors, voting thereon vote
in favor of the same at the general or
special election
"But the old telephone companies
are not as yet affected by any of these
grants given cities or towns By the
code as the supreme court holds, they
are not required to secure q franchise
from the municipalities OF Iowa in
which they were doing business prior
to the adoption of the code of 1897,
because the bill requiring ell new tel
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