Semi-weekly herald., 1909-05-24

and towns, frequently require extern
s.ons to our system, and often addi
tional facilities on already existing
routes.
A and G; pole line 200 miles, direct
1t has been the comprehensive pol
Icy of this company to extend its long
distance lines 10 all parts of the state
where the people needed telephone
service and to add new lines where
the amount OF business done made such |
lines necessary in order to furnish eff |
cient and prompt service.
You know the wonderful and steady
advance made in our state in agri-
culture, horticulture. mining, stock
raising and the many other enterprises
in which our people are engaged. We
have had to meet this growth by pro
yiding adequate telephone facilities
everywhere Our system has grown
piece by piece following the settling
up and development of the state of
Colorado and the territory of New
| Mexico.
What we have accomplished is part
ly shown By the following data:
1899 1909,
Number of telephones in
Colorado and New Mex
leo .6,594 70,574
Number of miles of long
distance lines in Colos
rado and New Mexico 2,25S 11,26S
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
Bell system, over thirty-five states
100000 telephones and $4,000 900 peo
Pile.
To cover a mountainous state like
ours, which is very sparsely settled
with long distance telephone sys-
TEN has been a very serious finan-
cial problem, and still continues to
be so. We provide for all such exten-
sions by the sale of our treasury stock
to our people, 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 man
age that the long distance system
as a whole will yield a fair profit.
We are now facing the situation of
having covered our territory with q
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 new exhaustive study of our
long distance rates as a whole.
This study was undertaken:
First, TO enable us to conform
to and maintain a uniform method
throughout the system. and
, Second because the business in
our home company has so devel-
! oped, and methods of handling
and routing it have so changed,
particularly with the projection of
new lines, that 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 a complete study of the rate
problem. The purpose of this letter
j is to make known to you their con
! illusions upon this subject.
: These are, in part, that an entire
readjustment of toll tariffs is abso-
1 lutely 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
: opposite direction. each taking an en-.
i tirely different rate TO the same point
t in question, is discriminatory and TN.
5 reasonable.
shall give some little detail of the
! present scheme, of quoting rates, and
this will, perhaps, better explain why
a readiustment of the existing tariffs
is necessary.
All long distance rates have here
tofore been based ON pole line mile
age; that is, the distance was figured
between any two points via the route
of the line. Thus. the route distance
at a given rate per mile. determined
the amount to be charged.
In following this rule, we have been
led to rates that in frequent instances
have made conversations almost pro
hibitiye between certain points; and
yet, based on the haul. these rates
to the company. were only producing
the same average revenue per mile as
all other rates.
Nr.... .o6vafN