The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-12-08
WAR TO The END
Independent Telephone Companies Plan
to Fight the Trust
MAKE NATIONAL FIGHT

They VIII Appeal to President Taft
and VIII Invoke the Aid Of the
Courts In Their Campaign Against
the Billion Dollar Telephone and
telegraph Merger.
Declaring that President Taft and
tho highest courts In the land Will
be invoked to check the monopoly
OF communication that Is threaten
cd by the billion-dollars combine
recently announced By the Bell tele-
phone trust. representatives OF the
independent telephone interest,"
through the country are planning in
New York a national fight for the
principle Of open competition.
With s4OO, 100000 of the savings
of the people Of almost every LOCAL.
ty invested in the independent teie
phone plants that the new wire trus
"a determined to rule or ruin. lead
ers in this movement assert. the
interest of the public demand tha'
the government take immediate &C
ton against the giant merger.
At a convention of the Indepen'
dent Telephone association that has
been called in Chicago for Decem'
Der z. representatives Of the l2.o00
companies, that With 100000 sub
scribers are now competing With
the telephone trust. will make a for
ma, protest to Washington against
the restraint Of trade that they De-
lisve will be effected BY the aosorp-
ton Of every telegraph interest BY
the Bell system.
To the attorney general Of every
N of the many States in which
they assert Wall street money is now
being used to Illegally force a Bel
monopoly. the independent tele-
phone forces are proposed TO appeal
for protection. Suit to prevent the
acquisition by the telephone trust
Of important systems built by the
people Of Ohio, Indiana, Missouri
Iowa and Michigan, have already
been instituted in st. Louis anc
Cleveland, and the independent lead
ers declare every similar move to
throttle competition will be fought
to the last ditch.
Unless the new wire trust is al
once prevented from carrying out Its
scheme to illegally absorb all COM
petitors throughout the continent,
the Independent telephone men
prophesy. the people Of tho country
will. soon be forced into the power
OF q monopoly greater and more ar
b!trary than that Of either the OIL
beef or sugar trust.
AS q possible rival to the billion
dollar communication trust IN the
telegraph and long distance tele-
phone fields, independent forces aTt
preparing to build a trunk wire
System that will reach from the
Atlantic seaboard to the Missouri
river. for the benefit of the people
who use the telephone exchanges
they have built independent at home
as we'll as for general telephone bus
mess. Unlike the Bell system. this
enterprise will seek not TO Kill COM
petition but to foster and increase
it, 1t is declared. Already $50,U00,-
900 have been subscribed towards
this plan for preventing the pro-
posed monopoly of the wire trust
That the cost Of both telephone
and telegraph service will be in
creased If the new wire trust obtains
a monopoly is proved already by the
past history Of its promoters. the
independent telephone men declare.
Exorb.tant rates and either poor
service or none at all were offered
BY: the Bell combine in all the years
of Its former monopoly through pat
emf rights. 1t Is pointed out. AS
these conditions brought about the
birth Of the Independent telephone
movement, they must resume on the
instant Of its death. 1t Is urged.
I'VE feel We owe a moral az
we'll as q business obligation to the
army Of Americans throughout the
country who have placed $400.000,-
900 Of their earnings in the home
telephone plants. built to rid them
Of the Bell monopoly" said E. H.
Moulton. president of the %Indepen-
dent association. I'VE shall exert
ourselves in every possible way to
show the government that 1t. too,
has an obligation 10 protect these
investors as we'll as the 20.000.0 900
customers in Independent telephone
systems. We shall not stop our fight
for the right Of competition, even
with all the Wall street capital Of
this new billion dollar trust array
ed against US; but will push it to
the highest courts and administra-
tive authority"
Young Man Drowned.