Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1909-10-28
The Telephone Question.

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phone Company. Is u much
greater significance to the people
q Oxford and Lafayette county
than = generally understood. II.
that suit succeeds. il means that
oxford is no longer - have the
benei, Of long distance telephone
service. and tina, ali farmers or
rsral lines established by thel
Cumberland Company must be
abolished.
Atpresent the people q Oxford
have the benefit u the Cumb-r-
land Company's entire long dis
lance system. not only extending
over the State % Mississippi ard
touching every point Of conse-
quence, hut also the states Ct
Louisiana, Tennessee. Kentucky
an parts Of Indiana. and through
its connections and affiliated lines
the states % Alabama. Arkansas
and other states. In other words,
n the matter Of long distance
service. Oxford IL on an equal
tOOiiug with the most important
points under the Cumberland
system OF the territory served
oy L. II this suit prevails. all
this i =, end. il in fact. the mere
institution II the suit does not
bring about this resui;. nOt only
ara the people u Oxford involv-
-, but also all rural lines con-
nectet with the Cumberland. n
fact, il involves the wiping out II
tire Cumberland Company in
Mississippi. What enormous
crime has the Cumberland Com
b pany committed which could en-
tsil such dire results upen it, and
upon the people, because the
z people certainly now have = d.
rect and substantial interest Of
me maintenance u A. extensive
long distance telephone system
as can be had.
The basis Of this suit. as xe
understand, = Il contract made
between the Home Company ami
the Cumberland Company where
~ in consideration u giving t1eI
Home Company connection with
the Cumberland. and the furnish
ing by the Cumberland 70 the
Home Company certain equip
nent, the Home Company agrees
not 10 extend is lIues outside Of
Lafayette county. or To connect
with other lines without the con-
sent OF the Cumberland COmpa-
ny. In other words. by virturs
Of this contract. the Home Com
p1ny becomes virtually a. o. long
distance business. ! part OF the
Cumberland system, and the peO-
pie Of Oxford have long distance
facilities which they would not
otherwise possess.
This contract. it i claimed. in
some way violates the Mississippi
antitrust act. In regard to The
nature and purpose Of this con-
tract We quote from a recent
communication to the jackson
Daily News.
There Is nothing peculiar
about the Contract between the
Cumberland and the Oxford COM
pany. The Cumberland has sim
Ilar contracts at over fifty other
places IN the state, ami has been
making such contracts in Missis-
sippi and IN other states where nd
operates since 1t began operation.
Is used by all other large tele-
phone companies all over the
United States where the tels-I
phone business Is extensively de-
vel0ped- IL Is by reason Of such
contracts that over fifty commu-
mites IN the state are enabled 10
have not only local ,e!ephOne|
service. but also TIE tenet. Of
the Cumberland long distance
system which extends to all the
principal places in Mississippi.
and also into other states. In
addition to- this there are over a
thousand farmers in the state
Who get the telephone service by
means OF similar contracts. Its
oy reason OF these contracts that
the telephone business has BEEN
developed in the state to the ex-
tent It Is today.
II the contract with the Oxford
Company Is declared invalid. itI
necessarily follows that all SINH
lar contracts are equally 80. and
It can be readily seen what q dis
ssirOus effect this world have.
not only upon the communities
which are getting service BY rea-
son OF these contracts, but upon
the telephone business in the state
generally. Not only would these
communities be deprived of long
distance service and telephone
communication with the outside.
but outside Communications also
would be effected.
There has never been any con-
cealment about these contracts
and the reason why they are
made can &c very readily under
stood.
In the first place there Is al
great demand upon the Cumber-
land Company u extend It's lines
and build exchanges throughout.
the state. a demand which the
Cumberland Telephone Company
has not the money 70 meet: so. 3
many small communities which /