Arizona republican., 1909-05-26

movement to obtain it was made il
response to the public demand for re-
lief from situation that had becom,
intolerable. The truth of this is evi
denced by the fact that no sooner
was the franchise obtained by the gen.
tlemen referred to than they at ono,
offered TO transfer the franchise thu:
obtained to any organized body of rep.
resentative citizens of Phoenix whC
would undertake to utilize it, anc
through it, give to the citizens Of
Phoenix that to which it is admitted
they are entitled, "a first class tele.
phone system
The result has been the organization
of the Home Telephone company. the
incorporators and directory of which
may be said to be fairly representa-
tive of the business interests of Phoe-
nix. To this company the gentlemen
mentioned have transferred the fran
chise referred to without compensa-
ton, and this company has received il
as public trust. to be used and ex-
ercised in the public interest.
Nor has this movement been the
result of hasty action or caprice on
the part of the citizens of Phoenix
In 1903, petition for a telephone
franchise was presented to the city
council of Phoenix by persons repre-
senting an Independent telephone COM
pany. The council, then, as now, rec
ogniZed the inefficiency of the service
rendered by the present company, but
listened to the protestations and prom
ises then made of improvements con-
templated. betterment to be made and
changes and additions already initi-
ated. The same changes were then
rung upon the evils of a dual system;
the waste of the inevitable conflict;
the probable defeat and absorption of
the new company; and the confisca-
ton of capital invested in good faith.
These arguments won The fran
chise asked for was denied, and the
citizens of Phoenix may judge from
the present condition of the service
how far those promises were fulfilled
then or can be relied on for the flu
ture.
The plan proposed by Mr.. Ran
dolph. whereby his company shall take
half of the stock of the Home COM
pany; sell the physical property of his
company to the Home company at a
price to be fixed by arbitration: and
control the directory of the Home
during alternative years. does
not commend itself to our judgment
for the following reasons:
With the ownership of 80 per cent
of the stock of the Home company in
the hands. or under the control of
one person. and the other so per cent
scattered among the citizens of Phoe-
nix, the acquisition of one additional
share would be easy. and the owner
ship of 81 per cent would give as COM
plete control as the ownership of the
whole OF the stock, as has been abund-
antlYs demonstrated, and the Home.
company would suffer the fate pre-
dicted by Mr.. Randolph for the loser
in a fight for supremacy, where there
are two companies in the field. An
a greement beforehand to buy the
of another at a price to be
fixed by arbitrators. as experience has
sown always results disastrously to
the purchased. particularly where por-
lions of the property which is the sub
iect matter of such contract is of
doubtful utility to the proposed pur-
chaser. And, lastly, the proposed al
formation OF control of the affairs of
the Home company would not tend to
that unity of purpose and continuity
IF design without which no success
IAN be attained. Each succeeding adj
would be principally en-
gagged in undoing the work of its pre-
iecessor, and the result would spell
failure.
1.-The Home Telephone company is
he result of a condition for which the
citizens of Phoenix are not RESPONSE
Die. Neither the citizens of Phoenix
nor the company desire to work any
toward invested capital, much
ess its confiscation. So far as the
physical property of the present COM
,any can be utilized in the establish
nent of the first-class and up-to-date
telephone system to which the citi-
ems are entitled. the Home company
s willing to purchase it and pay its
ull value, but such purchase must be
W direct negotiation, and not by any
ystem of arbitration.
"The organizers and the directors of
he Home company are not deceived
" any illusions regarding the ease of
he task to which they have set them
elves. They are fully alive to the
trength and resourcefulness of the
promoters of the company now in pos
session of the field, and to the fact
hat the fight threatened in Mr.. Ran
lolph's letter will, as he states, re-
ult in the survival of the fittest. But
We believe the Home company in such
! fight, If it must come, will have the
and support of every citi-
en of Phoenix who has the prosperity
# the city at heart. and we accept the
conditions of success suggested in the
etter referred to and will bend our
nergies to justify our survival upon
hose conditions. Yours truly,
THE HOME TELEPHONE COM.
PANY.
JOHN w. FOSS, President
FRANK r. ALK1RE, Secretary"