The Delta independent., 1909-05-21

new lnetnou ol lpurllR loli Tdles, ouI
is an exhaustive treatise on the whole
rate problem. The letter follows in
full:
THE COLORADO TELEPHONE
COMPANY.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE.
Denver. Colorado, May %. 1909,
TO OUR PATRONS:
From time to time, it becomes neces-
sary to make certain important changes
in the methods of conducting the Long
Distance business of this Company.
The many rapidly developing communi-
ties, which heretofore have been with
out telephone communication with the
surrounding country, and the numerous
steadily growing villages and towns,
frequently require extensions to our
system, and often additional facilities
on already existing routes.
1t has been the comprehensive policy
of this Company to extend its long dis
tance lines to all parts of the State
where people needed telephone service
and to add new lines where the amount
of business done made such lines neces-
sary in order to furnish efficient and
prompt service.
You know the wonderful and steady
advance made in our State in agricul-
ture, horticulture, mining, stock raising
and the many other enterprises in which
our people are engaged. We have had
to meet this growth by providing ade-
quate telephone facilities everywhere.
Our system has grown piece by piece
following the settling up and develop
ment of the State of Colorado and the
Territory of New Mexico.
What We have accomplished is partly
shown by the following data:
1899 1909
No. of telephones in Colo
rado and New Mexico 6, 594 60, o,574
No. of miles OF Long Dis
tance lines in Colorado
and New Mexico -2 ,25s II POS
OF recent date We have connected our
Colorado and New Mexico system with
all of the important points IN the East
and South. We are thus able to reach
through our comprehensive t5ell System,
ONtl fshNNsNOb NSlt-
phones and S5. 600, 90 people.
To cover mountainous State like
ours, which is very sparsely settled,
with long distance telephone system
has been very serious financial prob
lem, and still continues to be so. We
provide for all such extensions by the
sale of our treasury stock to our peo-
pie, and in order that such investment
may be encouraged our problem has
been, first, to reach every part of the
territory and furnish first-class service
and second. to so manage that the Long
Distance system as whole may yield
fair profit.
We are now facing the situation OF
having covered our territory with a
long distance system constructed piece
by piece, connecting together not only
all parts of the State and Territory, but
with the population of the East; which
conditions have obliged us to make a
new exhaustive study of our Long Dis
tance rates as whole.
This study was undertaken:
First, to enable us to conform to
and maintain uniform method
throughout the system, and
Second, because the business in
our home company has so developed,
and methods of handling and routing
it have so changed. particularly with
the projection of new lines, that a
thorough study of the toll rates in
general has seemed to me imperative.
For year or more, experts from
the East, assisted by our Engineers,
have made complete study of the rate
problem. The purpose of this letter
is to make known to you their con-
clusiops upon this subject,
These are, in part, that an entire re-
adjustment of toll tariffs is absolutely
necessary in this territory in order to
eliminate all discrimination in rates to
the public.
1t is obvious that one town rs miles
distant in one direction, and another
town the same distance away in an OPP
posite direction, each taking an entirely
different rate to the same point in
question is discriminatory and unrea-
sonable.
shall give some little detail of the
present scheme of quoting rates, and
this will, perhaps, better explain why
a readjustment of the existing tariffs
is necessary.
All Long Distant rates have hereto
fore been based on pole line milage;