Arizona republican., 1909-03-02
New Phone System Argued
 al Council Meeting
TROLLEY FRANCHISE WANTED
Petition, Signed by Fowler, Hahn, King, Bennitt and
 Doris, Asks For Franchise
 For the Suburban R. R. Go. Glendale and Orange Belt.

Whether Phoenix Will have an op- portunity to vote on the question of another telephone system will not be known until the next meeting of com mon council. The subject came up at the regular meeting last night and was argued by J. L. B. Alexander, United States district attorney, and L. H. Chalmers. representing the pres ent system. and Dr. John W. Foss for the new company. According to MT Chalmers, nothing but the presence of F. H. Hartman in this part of the world prevented Epps Randolph from attending this important meeting and assuring the people of Phoenix in person that they are to have an ade- quate system of telephones in the fu- ture.
 When the ordinance providing for a popular election to determine wheth CT a franchise shall be granted the new company was brought up, MT Alexander took the floor. He said that he appeared for certain parties who objected to the granting of the fran chise.
 Before this council shall grant per mission for such an election" said MT. Alexander. which shall determine whether a public utility, which will require considerable capital to oper- ate shall be installed, the council should ascertain whether the parties promoting the new system are in a position financially to install and op- crate it. In many cases. franchises are asked for with the sole desire to sell out at the first opportunity to the old company It is your province and right to investigate and take pre- cautions to see that the parties are acting in good faith and that they have the means with which to carry out their plans"
 AIr. Alexander gave some new and interesting data in regard to the gen eral satisfaction the patrons of the present system are said to have ex- pressed concerning the service.
 Every sixty days the company asks each patron if his phone is giving sat isfaction. A record of 537 patrons out of 800 or 1000 subscribers altogether shows that 326 answered that the system was satisfactory: 115 said it was good; 2S fair, and 27 that it was slow. Only q made serious com plaints."
 He then explained that owing to the rapid growth of the system and the demand for more telephones, new and larger cables were being installed to meet the demand. He said there were no complaints on single lines but that owing to the rapid development, the company had been forced to place ten patrons on a party line. By their new equipment in the near future this number would be reduced to six or five.
 Another reason why the franchise should not be granted" continued Mir Alexander. "is that if any large num- Der should take the new system, it would require two phones and entail double the expense. The rates.of .serv- ice are much lower here than in Los Angeles, where they have a double system
 He spoke of the inconvenience of having two phones in the same house or office. and then referred to the matter of poles. He said there were enough poles on the streets now. He GOnCluutu DE Sd1 HE AlN pi tSthl system is a good one and is better by 50 per cent than any other town in Arizona has today"
 Dr. Foss said that the new com pany expected to put their wires un- derground. as any other up-to-date company would. In regard to two phones in the same office he cited Pomona. which has both systems, but where the old Bell company has 15O subscribers the new company has 2.5OO. He referred to Mir. Alexanders statement that the price for the two phones would be double. 'The present company charges $4 and the new one is bound to charge but $2.5O, which makes $6.50 in all." said the doctor
 q want to see this matter put be- fore the people who use and pay for the telephones he concluded.
 He was followed by L. H. Chalmers, representing the interests of the pres ent company. MT. Chalmers said:
 Tt is well to think twice before at tacking capital that is here now. We are not a wealthy community that can reach out for improvements whenever we wish Any new enterprise of mag nitude must be financed by outside capital. There are not twenty men in this town who can draw check for $10.0O0. although there are many more who are worth 1nuch more than that. The cl2ss of men whose interests we should protect are just such men as are behind this very company, and when these men learn that this com pany is attacked they will naturally