Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1911-02-15
WILL VERMONT STAND FOR 1T?


Under the above caption "The
National News Service" of New York
sends the following to the Monitor.
The Monitor does not know who or
what "The National News Service is,
but believes there is some truth in
its statements and passes it on for
what it is worth. Locally we are all
interested in the telephone situation
Just at present, as the Bell and the in
dependents have met in Orleans coun-
ty.
J. Pierpont Morgan, organizer of the
Steel Trust, the shipping Trust and q
dozen other gigantic combinations OF
capitol, conceiving it to be good %
for the people of this state, aspireS tC
merge it's indep enient telephone lines,
which he either owns or controls with
those of the Bell Company which he
also largely owns and controls.
A man does not have to be endowed
with an inordinate amount of horse
sense to perceive what is inevitable ii
the absorption. Of the Independents by
the Bell is allowed to go uuchallenged.
At conferences held in New York and
Chicago a few weeks ago at which H.
P. Dawson, one Of Mr.. Morgan's
partners, Theodore N. Vail, President
Of the Bel system, and representa-
tives of the independents were pres
ent. it was openly stated that with
competition ended rates could be
raised and economies instituted that
would enable the monopoly to place
the stock of the independents on an
per cent basis With both compan-
les operating between practically the
same points, under one management
it follows that one of them will be
superf1uous, and that will cost less tx
pay dividends on the outstanding
stock of the absorbed companies thar
to operate them under the circum
stances.
Thus, the monopoly, which now
owns the Western Union Telegraph
company and through that corpora
ton has recently acquired six of the
largest of the trans-A tlantic cables
will control every channel of com
munication on land, except the tele
post automatic telegraph lines.
With the end of the autonomy OF
the independents, every advantage Sc
cured by competition will be at once
surrendered and every section of the
stae that has heretofore prohted by
the keen rivalry for business that ha
existed between two systems will eX
perience the same arbitrsry initiation
of rates as has followed the termina
ton Of competition elsewhere. Th'
butcher, the grocer and the docto
will pay the freight. They can pro
test and anathematize the trust, cal
Morgan mean names and make the al
heavy with sulphurous maledictions
but it won't DO any good. In effec
the trust will say eff you don't lik'
it, you need not have telephone.
But if you are without telephone con
nection in these Gays you cannot d.
Will the great commonwealth of Yer
mont stand idly by the roadside Will
Wall street in it's greed for adde
on this constituency, whereby it ma.
extort new tribute from every com
munity in the state?
When he acquired control of the in
dependents, Morgan made an affidavit
to the Supreme Court of Ohio that hi
purchase was for private investmen
and not for the Bell Company. 7
get around this he now proposes t
turn the stock Of the two systems in
to a single holGing company, which
only another way of "whipping tn
devil around the stump" and accom-
plishing by indirection what he is le
gally prescribed from doing directly
Have the people of Vermont at who's
pocketbook this move is aimed moth
ing to say? Have they no rights
which a Morgan must respect? Hav
they become so inert over the fri
quent abuse of corporation privileg
that they hesitate to assert then
selves? If not it's time to get busy
before it is too late.