Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-09-28
discussion. At these meetings sp-

peared certain representatives OF inc
telephone company. among them B. d.
Sunny, president, and A. S. Hubbard,
general manager. After a full hear
ing before the committee it was de-
cided by the committee that. while
the report was very helpful and re-
Elected credit on its compilers, it was
not full enough and complete enough
to afford the committee sufficient data
on which to proceed at once to rate
making.
"a preliminary survey of the field
is being made from an analysis Of the
company's income accounts and bal
ance sheets for each year of its OPP
Grafton. These show or should show
the earnings from operation and the
income from sources other than OPP
GRAFTON, for each of the sources OF
revenue. and the operating expenses
in detail, covering the expenditures
for labor and supplies for each of the
major divisions of operation, such as
exchange service. wire plant expense,
traffic, general expenses, taxes, etc.
The income account will be carried
out so as to show the deductions from
net earnings for interest on funded
indebtedness, on floating indebted
ness, appropriations to reserves end
for construction, dividends, etc.. to
the final surplus for the year. The
balance sheets will be analysed to
show In detail the company's assets
and liabilities.
ut will be necessary to obtain. foi
the purpose of this Investigation, the
cost of the company's plant used and
useful In furnishing the telephone
service in Chicago. This can be OBJ
tanned largely from review Of the
construction stages Of the plant
shown by the vouchers since the first
year Of the company's existence. The
cost of furnishing service with this
plant will be obtained from an analy
sis of the company's- operating e1
penses for reasonable period-prob
ably two years-which will likewise
be obtained from the vouchers and
original records Of the company.
1.-THE telephone company was re
quested to provide place where ita
books of record and vouchers could
be analysed with the least inconven.
fence to it. and large. well-lighted
room was set aside for this purpose in
the company's building. Those en-.
gagged in the work have found 1t nee
essary to make many requests for
company records and explanations Of
book entries. all of which, up to this
time, have been met with franknesa
and generous spirit OF cooperation
"a few weeks ago an article relating
to telephone revision was given space
in the World of Today, well-edited
magazine published in Chicago. The
keynote of the article seemed to be
query az to whether the members Of
the committee would have sufficient
stamina and intelligence to enable
them to be fair to the telephone com,
pany. The writer also noticed an
article similar in tone in Telephony
technical publication, largely de
voted to telephone matters. We have
also noticed the suggestion cropping
out In one or two other places. The
writer feels sure that there is no
very good reason why the general
public should be impressed with this
point Of view; there has not been
much in the past that would cause
one to believe that the Chicago Tele-
phone company and other telephone
companies are not able to successfut
ly care for their own interests; they
have capable men who are very loyal
to the interests Of the company.
'In the past 1t has never been 60
pecially difficult to getfrepresentativea
of government to be fair to public
utility corporations. There always
has been considerable concern as to
whether the representatives of gov.
eminent would be able to be entirely
fair to the general public. In this
particular instance there is no oc.
casion for worry. This investigation
Is to determine all the facts and con.
ditions with prejudice to no interest.
II the findings warrant an increase,
this must be allowed. II they show
reasonable return on the actual in.
vestment. anAincrease in rates would
be unfair to the people of Chicago. II
the difficulty lies in an incorrect dis.
tribution of the operating expenses
over the different classes of service,
or rates Of an unscientific character,
this should be adjusted for the benefit
of the service. The thoroughness of
the work and the judicial temper of
fairness Of the community and the
people of Chicago should not be ques-
toned until occasion therefor arises.
Whether public service corpora.
tons should submit to regulation by
the public is no longer mooted cues.
ton. Logic and current history are de-
cisive in answer, although the form
and extent of such regulation are still
open to intelligent discussion. Great.
ed to serve the public, the quasi-pub-
lie corporation has Justly been en-.
dowed with monopolistic power. in
the acceptance of which 1t must and
does recognize that is assumes
definite responsibilities which &C
company the privileges received. It
is required by its franchise to furnish
adequate service at reasonable rates,
for which the public, from whom this
grant Of exclusive power originated,
is entitled. through its competent rep
resentatives. to supervisory voice
In the management
ITO assume that these franchise
privileges are being, or will be
abused. is to question the general in
tegrity of our business methods, for
abuse of power is not essential to
success in this field. To believe that
these privileges never are or never
will be abused Is to show IN ignor-
ance of the experience at some time
undergone by nearly all American
cities"
InsatIate.
7 shall sue those people who used