The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-04-29

rbe committee of the. Board of Trade
appointed to resist any raise in telephone
rates of the Peoples Home Telephone
company, of which Mr.. Oliver Chalifoux
is chairman, and Mr.. John T. Yeatman
is secretary, has given out the follow
ing statement. 1t will be remembered that
at the last meeting of the committee of
the Mayor and Board of Aldermen the
petition of the Peoples Home Telephone
company, to be allowed to raise its rates
was withdrawn but an ordinance was
afterwards introduced still raising these
rates, and making certain reductions in
the rates of the other company.
Rates for Peoples Home Telephone
company are as follows:
Business per month, 50; per year s36;
residence, per month, 81 50; per year, SIS.
Rates of Southern Bell company:
Business per month, 81; per year, $4S;
residence, per month, 50; per year, $36.
Rates by proposed ordinance to be
charged by each company;
Business, per month, $3.50; per year,
s42; residence, per month, $2.2S; per year,
ST.
It will be noted from the above that
subscribers to both of the systems will
still have to pay the same amount for
both telephones that they are now paying.
The total amount of the present rates of
both companies for business telephones is
now $S4 and for residence telephones is
1914 per year.
The rates named in the proposed ordi-
nance, If put into effect will make an in
crease in the rates of the Peoples COM
pany and a decrease in the rates of the
Bell company but as stated the combined
rate is not changed, because the business
man who takes both telephones under the
rev proposed rate will have to pay $50
for each telephone, or 81 per month, which
Is the same combined rate he Is now pay
ing and persons who use both telephones
IN their residences will have to pay s54
per year for both telephones under the
new proposed rate, but those who are
subscribers to the Peoples company only,
under the new proposed rate, will have to
pay $3.50 per month for their business
telephone instead of SO and $225 for their
residence telephone, instead of $3.50 per
month, the sum now charged. 1t will be
noted that this is quite an increase of
the rates now charged by the Peoples
company.
The local representative of the People
company says that as the number of tel
ephones increases the expense TO the COM
pany increases and that the value or ben
eft to the subscriber is increased. 1t Is
apparent to anyone that the value of a
telephone to the subscriber is greater as
the number of telephones increases.
I
has about 1000 subscribers and the South
ern Bell company has about 6O00 or three
times as many as the Peoples company.
Consequently a subscriber to the system
of 60O0 telephones receives much larger
benefit than a subscriber to the system
of only 1000 telephones, and according to
the local representative of the People
company, the subscriber to the system
having 5000 telephones should pay more
than the subscriber to the system of 20C0
telephones. But the proposed ordinance
makes the price the same for each sys-
tenn without regard to this difference in
number.
The Peoples company now has a con-
tract with the city fixing its maximum
rates. II has not presented any reason
from the citizens standpoint for chang
ing theg contract raising the rates and
inlicting two systems on the people.
AS citizens Of Birmingham we are sorry
to see that the suggestion has been made
that one OF the telephone companies is
composed of foreign capital and the other
II home company. Birmingham does
not SID for any war on foreign capital.
Il wei1omes all foreign capital here that