The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-29
EXPLAINS YIEWSTO l COMMITTEE ON TIE TELEPHONE RAISE Weatherly and Exum De- fine Attitude on Pend ing Controversy WILLING TO HAVE
 FAIRNESS TESTED Huddleston Makes Speech yoicing Views of Mass Meeting Held
 at Courthouse Friday
 Night l

Night
 |
 At meeting of the commissioners as l individuals. yesterday afternoon com mittee of citizens appeared and invoked | the financial aid of the city in a chan
 cery court proceeding to try out fully the issue involved in the proposed rate raise of the Bell Telephone company. | Aside from the appearance of the com
 mittee, composed of M B. Stone, George | Huddleston, R. D. Thompson and J. s. | Reed, the decided feature of the meeting was the position taken by Commissioner ] Weatherly, who publicly said that all | though he was passive as to the merits | of the case, he would give his vote as
 a commissioner, if 1t were needed, to | give the rate increase full hearing be- fore a court of competent jurisdiction | George Huddleston and R. DuPont | Thompson, both well known lawyers, ap- | peared as spokesmen for the mass meet ing held at the courthouse Friday night. They earnestly pointed out the unfairness Of the rate increase, according to their | viewpoint.
 MT. Huddleston, among other things, said:
 Il HuddlestOn Speaks | courthouse on October 27, to consider the
 threatened increase in telephone rates,
 a committee was instructed to appear be- fore you and to present the resolution | adopted by the meeting, and an address | in keeping therewith. In pursuance of l these instructions we beg to submit the following for your considerations:
 "The resolution adopted was as fol- | lows:
 " Be it resolved, That we urge upon | the city commissioners, as the represen-
 tatives of all the inhabitants of the city,
 that they take immediate steps, at the public expense, to secure the full and fair | investigation, by a court having jurisdic-
 tion of the justice of the proposed in- crease in telephone rates, and that they l obtain judicial decision which will fully protect the public rights and insure that no tyranical, unjust and unreasonable course shall be pursued by the telephone company
 ''The telephone company bases it's claim to the proposed increase upon the fact | that it is not earning fair income on l it's investment. The company's books have been examined by an auditor, and | it is asserted that the auditors report shows an increase justifable. The report
 is made from the company's books only. l No investigation has been made of the l whether they truly show the condition of the conipany. The Southern Bell Tel | ephone company is a subsidiary of the ] American Telephone company, correctly l called "the telephone trust" which oper- ates telephones throughout the United States, and, in many sections, enjoys a | monopoly.
 'The parent company owns the Western l Union Telegraph company, as well the l fPlpnhOpp in ad dition, Is the owner of the Western Eec- | trc company, and, it may be, other com panies. It may truthfully be said that the l telephone trust is the largest richest and most oppressive of all the trusts. This statement is made, not to excite prejudice, | Eut to invite attention to the workings of the Southern Bell company and it's transactions with the parent company In it's dealing with the parent company, | from which, as we are informed, all l materials and supplies are purchased and | rentals made, it Is easily possible that | charges are made which would greatly | exceed what was reasonable and fair No | investigation of the cost of materials and rentals has been made, and the public | is not advised as to the reasonableness of these charges
 Weatherly's Statement President Culpepper Exum and Com missioner Weatherly made pointed statements as to the case In ques- l ton. Commissioner Weatherly said in explaining his position:
 Tn response but not in answer to what you gentlemen have said, I wish to state that when I resigned my po- | sition attorney for the Southern Bell l Telephone and Telegraph company cut loose entirely from that client and l all other clients had, and I haven't | a single business interest or embar- lrassing entanglement in the world. My only clients are the city and citizens Of Birmingham. Every dollar in the world I earn, I earn from my salary as commissioner of this city; so that in my own judgment and my own conscience I would be entirely pre- pared to pass on the merits of this con- troversy tl.f
 But I always like to avoid even the appearance of evil. and for that req son alone I declined to have anything to do with the merits of this con troversy. However. in my judgment wholly apart from and independent of the question whether or not these pro- | posed rates are correct, it seems to me that the people of Birmingham ought to have a fair opportunity to have instituted, in their behalf, d legal | Enquiry as to the fairness of these proposed rates. I do not take the po- sition in this that I have heretofore taken in staying out of this controv- ersy. but believe I can consistently join with my fellow commissioners to have the city take the necessary steps to have this inquiry.
 ''1n my mind, as a lawyer the ques- | tion arose as to whether the city could legally take this action in its corpor- ate name and capacity. This I do not mean to pass on now. If the city is q subscriber for telephones as other cit izens ere, it would seem that 1t has d l legal interest and right I state here now that l am prepared to vote with the other commissioners to see that such action as the city can legally take shall be taken. As to the method of doing this, I am not prepared to state. I wish to remark collaterally that the city has two attorneys on it's Ipay roll. My judgment is prima facie, that this litigation ought to be in ! charge of our regular city attorneys, with such assistance as they may need. | I think they ought to conduct this lit!- gation."
 Exum Gives Views
 President Exum in giving his views to the committee said:
 1 There seems to be a deep laid idea | in the community that I am heartily in favor of increasing the telephone | rates I WoIIld ask these pept1ap,a n