Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-10-21

CHARLES
Popular Alderman and Lawyer Non,ins
the superl
in Chicago. Recently II has grown 10
bold that It managed to grab on for
the purchase OF its watered stock q
big sum Of money donated by the gen.
erous Chicago public for the immedi.
ate relief Of the widows and orphans
OF brave firemen who gave up their
lives last December in the discharge
Of their duty. Any alderman who
votes for an ordinance fav0ring the
Telephone Trust deserves tho ignom.
my which he will certainly receive.
The telephone monopoly In Chicago
has grown to be an unbearable nuis.
ance.
The service IL rotten.
The scandal attendant on the pass.
age Of the telephone ordinance By the
council fve years ago 10 not forgot
ten.
The passage Of the present ordi.
nance will result In something more
than scandal for the facts will bs
easier to get at.
Any alderman who votes for IN In.
crease Of rates will be branded 40 he
ought to be.
The Chicago American Of June 26
contained the following vigorous Or.
ticle on the subject Of merger:
The New York Times announces
that there 10 hope Of telephone com.
petition in New York City and that
Armour, the great packer Of Chicago
10 said to be back Of the plan.
The idea 10 to buy up certain fran
chises in the State Of New York. -.
pecially to get an entrance into New
York City, and to give to the citisens
the beneht Of telephone competition
and of actually cheap service.
The idea Of cheap telephone service
IL going to grow In the United States.
and eventually II 10 going to be real.
ICED, despite the power OF any mon.
opoly or the profits Of any group OF
individuals.
It costs less. or under proper man.
agement would cost less. to send .
telephone message than to send q
letter.
There was q time in the United
States when private individuals OK
plotted the mails and when the citi'
zen writing q letter paid from ten
cents to q dollar or more TO have
1t delivered. Government ownership
economical. businesslike methods
have reduced the price Of sending let
ters to two cents all over the United
States-even In the Klondike. where
the letters are carried on dog sledges
And sane. businesslike administra
ton OF the telephone system Of thii
country, with the latest up.to-date au
tomato methods. would make tele
phoning as cheap a. writing letters
and cheaper.
That will not come at once. but {
very great Improvement will come
and right away.
The price charged by the Bell mon
opoly is preposterous-there 10 NJ
worse form of extortion among all th'
extortions in the United States.
A man who lives in the suburbs
thirty miles from big city gets
communication ticket. The railroa,
carries his twohundred- pound bod!
back and forth twice a day TO
twenty-five cents a day. II he want
to talk to his house twice day tn
telephone company charges him sixt
cents, and charges for the wire be
sides.
In other words. the telephone NOR
opoly charges more than twice a
much to carry over wire q huma
voice, which weighs nothing, as tn
railroad charges to carry a two-hul
dred.pound man over thirty miles {
solid steel rails.
And the railroad has to have to-
minals, and locomotives. and power
whereas, with the telephone, th
mans own voice Is the chief powe
involved.
Armour Of Chicago 10 q man wh
could give the people OF this countl
the benefit of cheap telephone servit
If he should make up his mind to
It. He has proved his ability 40 q
organizer: he is man OF gre'
wealth and Of unusual industry az
application. It Is notorious that h
working hours are from seven In Il
morning until six In the evening. ar
that work 70 hls only amusement.
The idea b not visionary. for A
mour, associated with others-with Il
Hartman estate. with Kennedy Toe
and De Forest OF New York, and Wi
the receivers of the Chicago subw'
as a body-has already begun Il
work of giving genuinely cheap al
efficient telephone service to the ci
of Chicago.
In Chicago the receivers Of the su
way have installed already more th'
twenty-five thousand automatic tel