Weekly Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1908-1909, 1908-10-16
DECISION GOES
AGAINST ROAD
RAILROAD COMMISSION TO COMPEL
GREAT NORTHERN TO FURNISH
GOOD PHONE FACILITIES.
TAKES RAP AT STATE LAW.
Holds That Railroad Cannot Contract for
fcient for Purposes Required.
PULPwooD ca ON CALENDAR.

MADISON. Wis, Oct 14-rSpecial.
The railroad rate commission today
decided that the telephone facilities fur
nishcd by the Great Northern railroad
at Superior are inadequate for the pub
lie III transacting business with the rail
road and has ordered the company TO
install the Peoples Telephone companys
system i'll the ticket office on Tower ave
nue. and in its general freight office
Contract Knocked Out
The railroad company had IA contract
with the Douglas County Telephone com
pany. providing that the latter phone
should be used exclusively by the rail
road company and relied upon its CON
tract with this company as defense To
the proceedings instituted by the Poo
pies Telephone company.
The opinion discusses at length the
various questions arising upon the hear
ing. 1t calls attention to certain defects
III the recent act of the Legislature, re
Guiring telephone connection with the
railroads where none now exist and init
mates the possible iuyalidity Of the law.
The decision says:
Must Give Adequate Service.
while a carrier may select the agency
10y which to serve the public, it may not
select any agency exclusively, which for
any reason, is incapable of fully dis
charging the duties of the carrier to the
public, says the decision The right Of
selection or choice is limited by the CON
Sideration that those selected are adc-
quate and efficient for the purposes re
quircd. If one company is able to fur
nISh all the service reasonably required
for the public convenience. the railroad
cannot be compelled to duplicate the
service by installing the system of anOth-
er company, but the railroad company
cannot, by agreement with any phone
company for the use Of the latter'S Sys-
tenn to the exclusion Of all others, limit
its obligations, either in the extent or
The character of the service reasonably
necessary for the public convenience"
Rap at State Law.
The commission takes crack ut chap
ter GA, laws Of 1907 requiring telephone
connections in railroads, saying:
Some of it is probably not without
merit. Unless the act may be so con
strued as to limit the right to compel
an investigation by the commission, the
persons who are directly affected and
may suffer some injury or loss because
of the inadcquacy or lack Of telephone
connection with the railroad, there is
just ground for apprehension, that the
law may have provided means which the
INSCRIPTIONS will employ to harass rail
roads against which they may cherish
some i'll will.
ITO compel Il railroad to install telc-
phone service III all instances where none
at present exist and where they may not
be essential, would be an unreasp nable
requirement and yet the act commands
that when the commission. aScertaining
upon investigation, that no telephone
service can be had with any road. il
shall determine and by order fix n rea-
SOnable service to be installed. II must
follow from the mandatory language en-
ployed that the commission has no discrp-
ton to decide in such, or refusal to grant
an order requiring such service to be pro
vided. That such Il regulation is not rca-
sOnabe must be apparent to all. Never
thclesS, it is the business of the judiciary
and not Of this commission to declare
whether any statute, under the police
power, is reasonable and valid or unrea-
sonable and void. Until the supreme
court holds invalid statute, enforcing
duties upon the commission, its provi-
SlonS must be observed and enforced
Cashton Case Up.
The commission this morning listened
to arguments in the case of the Cashtou
Light and Power company against the
city Of Cashton. The company is ready
to sell out to the city, which is anxious
to buy. The case went to the commits
sion to have tile commission act as a
board of appraisers to determine at
what price the company shall sell for
Several questions were in dispute as the
result of the valuation made by the com
missions engineers, expressions on which
were heard this morning
This afternoon the commission took I'D
the case of the pulp wood company. All
the pulp wood manufacturers were rep
resented in the action. The pulp wood
manufacturers petitioned the commission
to reduce the freight charges on coal TO
the different pulp factories i'll the state