The independent-reporter., 1910-12-22

assessors OF loWns VIII assess u
telephone tax, the same as road and
school taxes are assessed, and tax
whole property of the County. A
board of three telephone commission
ers should be elected TO manage the
business for each county aud traffic
should go over the lines without tolls,
just as over our highways.
Against this 1t may be argued that
some inequalities would result. The
deaf might be taxed to support tele-
phones. But chtldless people are
taxed to support schools and people
who never travel over a road, are
taxed to maintain highways. No
more inequalities would result from a
support of telephones by taxation
than from support of schools and
roads in the same way. Our law
makers should frame the issue. We
can then vote to do it, Through gov
ernment ownership and by that route
only, can a universal system be es-
tablished. The rates of the Bell mo-
nopoly are too high to be universally
used and until government own
ership comes, competition ought to
be maintained. If we would have wide
and with low rates of rental.
Under the second head, or misman-
agement. the farmers company may
run ashore. This property is now
worth from forty to fifty thousand
dollars and has cost all of that in
Somerset county. In the seven years
that | have had charge of it, l have
exerted every effort of which l am
capable to promote, establish and
successfully finance this county CO.
operative system of telephony. Upon
me alone would fall the blame of it
if ii were a failure financially. If II
were success it would be copied
and extended elsewhere. 1t has ex-
tended to three other counties.
! Now if the two dollars and fifty
cents a day which this company is
paying me for my services, were all
that | have been laboring for during
these past seven years, l should
count my work lost The cash the
company has paid me has barely been
sufficient for my support l have been
trying to place great public utility
in the hands of the people, outside OF
the trust | do not now want to see
my work lost. l want the stockhold-
ers of this large company to attend
the annual meeting on MONDAY
JANUARY SECOND, at NORRIDGE-
WOCK. I learn that a move is on
foot to displace me. ! therefore ask
you to be thinking from now until the
day of the meeting what one of your
company, who is available, is capable
of handling this $4,000 to $4,000
property which so nearly concerns
your every day business? Will you
place the control of this large prop
erty in the hands of a greenhorn or
mere office seeker? If you do. you
will live to regret 1t. The man, who
ever he may be, whom you elect to
take my place, will be under no such
obligation as | have been to make this
business succeed. He may be ambi-
tious to succeed. but his positive ne
icessty to do so, will not be the same
as it has been with me
While our company is called the
Farmers Company, it treats Tro-
jan and Tyrian with no discrimina-
tion and includes all kinds of busi-
ness and professional men in the
county. The majority of the direc-
tors has always been farmers. Let
them continue to be, but let the man.
agement be kept in the hands of an
astute and experienced business man
who is a thorough bookkeeper and
! familiar with the accounting of a pub
lie service corporation. Any other
plan will be costly to the subscrib-
ers.
In conclusion, ask all subscrib-
ers of the Farmers company to be
present at the annual meeting. Dc
not come prepared to vote for me- but
against me- Get your minds made up
who you want and vote for that man
But do not pick up the first Office
seeker who presents himself for the
sake of getting into a conspicuous
place. Elect a better business man
than am and you will not have to
hunt far to find one, for the Job, but
for heavens sake do not make the
mistake of electing poorer one as
some of our subscribers and directors
are now proposing! Everyone has
heard of the man who boasts Of his
knowledge of law, because he served
one term of court on the traverse
jury. Is it possible for a man to boast
much of his knowledge of the tele-
phone business, by reason OF having
attended the last four quarterly meet
ings of the directors of the Farmers