The Cairo bulletin., 1908-08-01
straint of trade.

In its first mergers the Bell com
pany seems willing to grant almost
any terms to the Independent com
pauies that will give the Bell the long
distance or toll line business.
Key is Toll Line Control.
| 1t is an insidlous aud crafty APP
proach on the part of the monopoly
and is deluding business men. officials
and municipal authorities, who think
they see a gain to telephone users in
doing away with dual systems and
the necessity Of paying for two tele-
lpOnes.
But the ultimate end of the crusade
is plain The control of the toll lines
lis the key to the telephone situation
in the United States. 1t is for this that
the Bell is fighting, its officials believ
ing that if it can get all long distance
lines it can then swallow all local ex.
changes, one by one, and resume con
troll
Once the Bell is back in its own
position it will be in a position to
resume the old rates and to grind out
of the people and into the Bell Golfers
all the millions that have been poured
out in the twenty years war on the
independent telephone men.
1t is a mighty stake to fight for
enough to make the present struggle
battle royal.
independents Realize Danger.
On the side of the independent tele-
pone men the danger is realized. The
men in control of the international
Independent Telephone Association
realize that the more of the Bell com
pany is crafty and clever But they
propose to meet it in the open.
A fund OF $4,000 has been raised
It is TO be increased to $50, 900 and If
necessary S1,000,O00 may be at the
command of the association to pay the
expenses Of meeting the attack.
First. the Illegal mergers are to he
resisted in the courts. Plainly, a com
bination of telephone lines is as much
in restraint of legitimate competition
as a merger of railroads. gas com
paHies, oil companies or any such con
Germs.
But efforts to get to the court in the
proper way have so far been strangely
obstructed The tentacles of the tele
phone trust reach far and wide and in.
to high places. Several times the At
toruey General of the United States
has been besought to bring proceed
ings against the unlawful telephone
mergers in the name of the govern
ment but nothing has been done.
Roosevelt Aids Independents.
Roosevelt has shown disposition /
10 let the independent telephone men /
get a fair change to fight it out in the T.
past When Henry c. Payne of Wis /
consin was Postmaster General an or |
der was made that no telephone not |
having long distance connection with ]
should be rented by post
masters in the United States. Through
it's Congressman and Senators the
Bell had kept Washington entirely i'm
it's grip No company but the Bell
had long distance connection with /
Washington so in effect the order !
put Independent telephones out Of all /
postoffices.
At that time postmasters in Indiana |
Ohio Iowa and in other states could |
not talk TO their townspeople in scores
aud hundreds Of towns over anything |
but independent telephones. so the :
order was plainly an outrage. in keep
ing with the record Of the Bell monop-
ply. !.
No sooner were the facts put
straight up to President Roosevelt
han the order was rescinded over the
mead of Payne, who had been presi-
lent Of the Wisconsin Bell Tele
phone company before he became
Postmaster General.
Point to Charles p. Taft.
But plainly there is some power in
he administration now that is antag-
,nistic TO independent telephones
The same influence is felt at Cincin-
lati where the fight to get independ-
mt telephones into the city has so
ar been altogether vain.
Cropping about for possible causes.
be Independent telephone men have
Ouud that Charles .. Taft. who IS >,
.nCwn locally as big Bills brother
,Larlie." is one of the directors OF
he Cincinnati Bell The Taft family
s said to have good deal of money
invested in Bell telephone securities.
Nc secret is made OF Charles Tafts
opposition to the effort to get indie