The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1908-08-31
AS A SUGGESTION

The principal difficulty u.us met
with. both by the representatives of
The stat and the operator auI d..
,ol,pcrs OF tac tclcphou. ar, ts lnc
question of the proper basis for the
fixing of rates. by some b. is CON
tended that the Investment t,aurN or
the rate fixing should bc based upon
the replacement value %. the proper
ty in use leaving out of consideration
thu rapid development of the tcly-
phone business aud the fact tlt cN.
pcnsivc apparatus is constantly be-.
ing laid aside to be replaced boy 9th
crs Of later development, thus fixing
upon those devoting their time and
capital TO tho development of the arr.
penalty rather than reward for
their enterprise and Intelligence.
development of the telephone bust
II ,ss dates back less than "a dozen
years During these few years great
advancement has been made in the
art. and always of course. at the eN-
pcnse Of casting off aud discarding
apparatus upon which substantial inn
proyemcnt has beCn made. as in Ard
more two complete installations have
been abandoned on account of change
tHI d.
Can it be justly said that the fixing
Of rates should disregard this invest
ment of money. labor and skill which
has be n thrown aside by those de.
voting those elements To the develop.
ment of the art? Eva now tn alt
is in it's infancy. and there Is added
to the natural hazard of the business
a possibility or even a probability
that large per cent of the cNpen-
sive equipment now In use must nee
essarily be discarded within the next
few Yeas for apparatus of later de-
velupment, i'm order 90 furnish to the
public the best possiG service. The
rapid expension Of the business has
made il necessary for telephone com.
panies to invest large sums Of money
and If the theory is TO be adopted
that all d Velopmcnt Of the art Is to
be at the expense Of the telephone
investor and thus turn out to be g
drain on the capital stock of the com
panies. and that no sufficient sum Is
to be set aside from t.r current earn
/ Ings to replace worn out apparatus
or that which Is out Of date within
a reasonably estimated period of time
| investment in telephone construction
must necessarily BE- and remain a,
a standstlll on account OF inability
to secure funds.
When the true basis of rates Is
reached with reasonable certainty II
must necessarily include an income
to pay operating eXpensas, reason
able upon invested capital cnrr"nt re-
pairs and create a proper reserve
fund for rebuilding the plant at tn
expiration OF it's estimated If, and
this last element must not include
only tae natural decay and destruc'
tlon of the plant by time, but the
hazards from the elements and the
probaure necessity Of casting aside
expensive portions of the apparatus
in order to install that which repre-
sents higher development in the arr
and guarantees to the public greater
efficiency in the service. In justice
TO the telephone investor all ih'
above true elements Of cost must L'
taken into account and in justice tC
the public or telephone user compre
siye and efficient telephone service
must be furnished at proper an.
reasonable rates based upon above
elements OF cost.