The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-03-29
TELEPHONE HEARING
 STILL ON IN HARTFORD
DONALD T. WARNER GIVES HIS TORY OF THE s. N EFT
 COMPANY.

in 1S49"-He Has Nothing to sax About the Personnel of the Company. but the Controlling Influence. Was
 the Bell Telephone Company, NIo-
 nopoly of MOnOpoIies--Martin ". Lit-
 tleton, of New York, Who Nominated
 Judge Parker, Also Speaks for Inde- pendents.
 Hartford, March 2S.--Martin W. Lit tleton of New York, the man who non- mated Judge Parker at the last demo- cratic convention, was the princinal speaker at the hearing of the Judiciary committee in the house chamber this afternoon, and he was accorded 8 fne reception, loud applause frequently in- terrupting his remarks. The first speaker was Donald T. Warner of Sal- isbury. He went into details in ex- plaining the history of the Southern New England Telephone company, say- ing that at the time of the granting of its charter there was nothing in 1t which would be construed to mean that the field was not open. An amendment to its charter was granted later, which permitted 1t to increase its capital stock, Tn 1899. however, continued the speaker, ia law was grafted, and I do not use the erm opprobiously, whereby the open field was closed
 MT. Warner said he had nothing to say of the personnel of the Southern New England Telephone company. no man could say anything against these men, but the controlling influence, the influence which controlled fifty per cent. of it's stock, was the Bell Tele- phone company, a monopoly of monop- olies. Over all of these subsidiary companies is the quieting hand of the Bell Telephone company. The South ern New England Telephone company had covered the whole state, and had prospered, but in 1S99 like Saul on his road to Damascus, they saw great | light They saw rival company could enter the field against them, and so a law was passed which reversed the I policy of this state. It created the rankest monopoly of monopolies. Up l to 1899 the legislature had said that telephones were public necessity and convenience, but in that year the lehse islature closed the open door to all l but those who were in the lodge of I the Southern New England company or the American Bell Telephone com pany. He quoted President Tyler of 1 the company as saying before an asso- citation that the law which formerly i existed was obsolete, and an agreement was made before the new law was enacted" My God" dramatically said Mir Warner" who made that agree- ment was 1t made in conclave at Bos- | ton, the headquarters of the American Bell company" Continuing, he said that under the law it was incumbent to come before the legislature and es- tablish that it is public necessity and convenience before a charter is granted, and then you must get down on your knees in every town and ham, let, and get majority to say it is a public necessity and convenience. He insisted that the law was an absolute prohibition. President Tyler has said that no man has dared to make appli- cation for charter, "of course not be- cause he would have to tackle Judge Stoddard and the coterie that sur rounds the operating company" <
 q tackled Judge Stoddard once," said MT. Warner, land God forbid I should have to tackle him again" MT. War ner then likened the Southern New England company to the old saying, None but the elect of God shall serve,'' and said the position of the company was, We are the elect of God" Mr. Warner then described the advantages the Independent company had in the matter of mechanism and secretive service over the Southern New England company.
 The people of this state, he said, could not take advantage of these inn- provements because they were barred out. The greatest argument adduced against the Independent company was the matter of competition. In the town of sharon there were 300 independent telephones, and the Southern New Eng land company after seventeen years of protection had only nine telephones in that place. Don't let the good old state," he said, "put up the bars and forbid competition. Give us our GOd- given rights, our constitutional rights, l special privileges to none, fair play to all. Write it in the bond, if you will, that we shall not sell to other compa- nies. Let us try it out,and let us win or fail. Throw open the door to a company that will give better service and cheaper rates.'
 J. B. Ware of Grand Rapids, Mich, manager of the Automatic Telephone company there, next spoke. Mr Ware told of the telephone industry in his home town, saying that in 1894, in des- peration over the poor service, an agi- tation started which was productive of such good results that to-day an h.. dependent and Bell telephone can be had at the same price the Bell com- pany formerly charged, and the ser- vice was twice as good.
 When the people of Grand Rapids started the telephone agitation the rates charged by the Bell company were high, but not near as high as the rates charged in Hartford, which he considered extortionate. In Grand Rapids there were $500 telephones in service, of the automatic kind and the Bell company in the face of strenuous soliciting, had less than 5000 at this time.