Willmar tribune., 1908-03-25
|UNTENABLE,
ILLOGICAL
and UNJUST
Dr.. Johnson So CharacteriZeS
Tallman'S Position on the
Telephone Question.

Editor Willmar Tribune: It is
not very pleasant to differ with and
have dispute with your neighbor.
Yet there are times when you must
have these temporary contests with
your fellow citizens or sacrifice
your rights as men and citizens.
And when public questions are at
issue public discussion is the only
way to bring the matter before the
public which must ultimately settl,
the dispute one way or another.
Our Well-knoWn prominent citi-
zen and able financier, MIR. d. N.
Tallman, has assumed an attitude
towards tt is telephone question tina,
is untenable. illogical and unjuS,
to the public. Mr.. Iallman must
be corrected OF his error-he is toe
influential man to go around with
fixed delusions in his head on
great public issue-and so propose
to unmask his batteries and show
them to be only "quaker" guns.
The main delusion that lies at
the bottom of his peculiar conten-
tions is that the Northwestern Tele-
phone Exchange Co. has all the law
and right on. it's side and the NUM-
cipali:y Of Willmar has absolutely
none. He argues in his article in
the Gazette that the company has
three strong forts, either Of which
is impregnable. 1t has first the So
called Ordinance No. so, once the
property Of the Minnesota Central.
When Mr.. Tallman sold his Minne-
sofa Central stock to the Northwest
ern Telephone Exchange Co-the
latter company held large block
of Minnesota Central before-the
Northwestern acquired a controll-
ing interest in the Minnesota Gen.
tral, and also of course control Of
the supposed local franchise rights
conveyed by Ordinance No. 60.
Mr.. 1allman says this ordinance is
good, must be good because he paid
$4,000 to an eminent lawyer to
draw it up.
"But, says Mr.. Tallman, Should
the impossible happen and fort Or
dinance be taken, then the company
can fall back on its own permit to
enter the city on it's long poles. :"
That right is not granted by ordin-
ance but only by resolution, but he
says it will take at least 81, 900 more
to test that.
But should this second fort also
fall then the company can contend
that the city, or village as it was
then, had no right to grant any
franchise; that our streets are only
highways, and that the Northwest
ern Telephone Exchange Company
could occupy them without asking
any question. or asking for permits
land that, as Mr.. Tallman says,
"even if we win, WE LOSE.''
You see, gentle reader, according
to Mr.. Tallman's idea the city has
no rights, none whatsoever, in this
matter. Isn't that strange? You
know there are usually two sides to
any question, but not in this case.
1t is no doubt Interesting reading
to the general public Of Willmar,"
that the city of Willmar is entirely
in the hands of the Northwestern
Telephone Exchange Co. / see now
the inquiring looks Of the astonished
good people of Willmar, and hear
the exclamations, "You are wrong,
Mr.. Tallman! Your assertion is
not true! Why, haven't we kept
Senator Thorpe and Henry Feig in
St. Paul for these many years, and
do you mean to say that these
worthy gentlemen have made laws
that give the Northwestern Tele-
phone Exchange Company every
thing and the city OF Willmar moth
ing? Answer that!''
! But who, or what, is this North
western Telephone Exchange Com
pany anyway, that it should have
such rights, privileges and power
over the people Of Willmar?
| Twenty-Five years ago-March 8,
1883 Minneapolis Journal con-
tanned the following information
about this god of Tallman' who now
defes an outraged public of this
city:
lone of the most astonishing ex-
amples of the growth of value from
small beginnings is furnished in
the case of the Northwestern Tele.
phone Exchange. The exchange
was started with an original invest.
ment Of SIS, 900. From this the
projectors have just realized $780,.
1000 on sale to Lowell and Boston
capitalists, and these in turn ex.
panded their investment by a pro.
cess known as watering to $2,O00,.
900. This is an inverted pyramid
with a vengeance.
We used to talk about the poor
heather worshipping idols of golc
or silver. But here it appears that
Io,,r o.o,J o;&;,or Toi1,,oo,, xr,o,,1c