Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-05
COULDN' 7 RUN
THE TELEPHONE
Sold Out at Tremendous Loss and
Returned to Private Corpora
tlon-Status Of Lady Grad
yates of University
BY Alexander Gilmour
Special Cable to The Herald.

Special C1Dle TO 1ne Herald.
GLASGOW, Aug. 4-The committee
of the Civic Federation of America,
headed by M. e. ingalls, of Ohio, will
find it necessary to revise it's reports
upon municipal ownership so far as
Glasgow is concerned. When the COM
mittee visited Glasgow among other cit
les in search of intelligence regarding
municipal ownership the members of
the committee appeared greatly inter-
ested in the workings of the municipal
telephone This telephone was estab-
lished between five and six years ago to
compete with private company. 1t was
found that the municipal company was
not paying venture and the town
council decided to sell the business to
the postoffice at loss of $500 rather
than continue the undertaking. When
the sale was decided upon more than
81, 100000 had been spent on the equip
ment and a further expenditure of $780,
600 had been found to be necessary.
The Glasgow Herald asserted that the
undertaking was a mistake in the be-
ginning and that the citizens have cause
for being thankful that the loss is not
more. Telephone experts say that the
Glasgow experiments settle the question
ity successfully operating a telephone
exchange. 1t is admitted that the ma
tionalization of the telephone under the
management of the postoffice depart
ment may become a success, but that
the municipalization Of telephone in
any city is doomed to failure.
The lady graduates of Edinburgh uni
versity have sought in vain for judi
cial declaration of their right as MEM
bers of the university council to vote in
the election of parliamentary represen-
tatives. Women are now admitted to
graduation honors, and as graduates
they become members of the general
council of their alma matter. The men,
bers of council have the privilege of
electing a member of parliament. Par
lament has declared that every per
son" of full age and Subject to no legal
incapacity" entered upon the register of
the general council shall be entitled to
vote Miss Margaret Nairn, M. A., and
some sister graduates at the last gen.
eral election applied to the registrar for
voting papers. He refused their re-
quest In his view of election law, they
were not persons" and in any event,
being women, he told them that they
were legally incapacitated from voting.
Burning with indignation, they rushed
in the court of session, demanding
compensation for the expense and in
convenience to which they were put by
their refusal of voting privileges, and
seeking a declaration from the court
that, instead of trampling upon their
electoral rights in future elections, the
registrar should be ordained under
pains and penalties to issue to them
voting papers. That they were per
sons" could not be disputed. To say that
they we're subject to any legal incapac-
ity. when they were of full age, was
seemingly ridiculous. They naively in
structed their advocates seriously to
suggest that in using In the reform act
of 1865 upon which they based their
claim, the word "person" in dealing
with university elections and the word
"man" in regard to burgh and county
elections, parliament had in it's delib
crate contemplation the day that subse-
quently dawned when women became
entitled to enter the general council as
graduates This idea was secuted by
their opposing counsel, and Lord Sal
vesen has dismissed their pla1nt with
note to the effect that they are not
"persons," at least in the sense of the
statute they were pleading, and even
If they had been, as women they were
subject to the legal incapacity of voting.
Records in shipbuilding continue to
follow one another with almost monoto-
nous regularity. During last month the
output on the Clyde of 124, 544 tons was
far above that of any similar period In
the history of the industry. The half
years work of 336,25S tons was also one
hundred thousand tons above that not
only of the corresponding six months of
1905, but that of the previous highest
half year of 1902.