The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-07-27
c Consolidation of Telephone Companies


funds to provide additions and better
ments were not forth coming. the COM
pany has been forced to borrow the
money needed for its growth, and the
only market for stock has been in the
neighborhood of sixty cents on the
dollar.
The debt has reached figure some
thing like six and half million of dol
lars; but it is understood that in assum-
ing this debt The Mountain States
Telephone and Telegraph Company ex-
poets to fund it in stock at consider
ably lower figure. By doing this. and
in purchasing the property from the
stock holders at an equitable value, it
would seem that The Mountain States
Telephone and Telegraph Company will
have no difficulty in making this portion
of its property earn dividends equal to
those heretofore enjoyed by the stock
holders of The Colorado Telephone
Company and The Tri-State Telephone
and Telegraph Company.
Several prominent stockholders in The
Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Com
pany have expressed themselves favor
able on the terms of the sale. Said one
of them: Better to have sixty dollar
investment paying steady income
than hundred dollar investment whose
greater earning capacity merely allow
ed it to pay interest on its debts
In an interview given today to the
Associated Press, President Field said
in part.
The merger is in no sense the form
alton of trust or monopoly, as no COM
peting properties are included. 1t is
merely the natural outcome of our ex-
perience of the past two years with The
Tri-State Telephone and Telegraph
Company. For many years there was
distinct line of demsrcation i'll the con-
duct of all lines of business between
Colorado and New Mexico and Arizona,
"a frontier or borderland, if you
please, across which but little trade
flowed. Our own affairs seemed par.
ticular susceptible to this, but finally
solved our difficulty by given The Colo
RADIO Telephone Company and The Tri-
State Company joint management
where by the needs of the two commune
ties were viewed in common. The re-
suits were remarkable; the frontier
disappeared almost by magic. So that
it was felt that joint ownership was
equally logical.
Business men of all of these mountain
states are daily making investments in
Denver, Salt Lake, Butte Helena,
Boise, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Bos.
well, Bisbee, Douglas and other cities,
thus making a universal telephone sys-
tenn connecting them together, a cem-
merclal necessity.
The new Company will operate its
exchanges and toll lines in Utah. Wyom-
ing, Montana, Idaho, Eastern Arizona,
New Mexico and Colorado, There is a
strong inter-relation of business in this
great territory we cover, and we hope
to meet the telephone needs and re-
quirements of this vast area, which
covers some ESQ, 600 square miles, or
nearly one-sixty of the total area Of the
United states, more intelligently and
more extensively than we would expect
to do with three separate corporations.
We already count 1000 subscribers,
stations, and expect to see this num-
ber doubled within FIVE years. To do
this will require large sums Of money.
and to get such sums we must market
a safe, stable and conservative stock.
This we expect to do. wish to call
attention to the fact that the issued
capitalization of the three Companies
combined is less than the capital 'iabili-
ties of those three companies separate.
In other words, the safetyof the invest
ment is increased and the benefit to the
public is alike apparent since it insures
moderate and reasonable rates to care
for the decreased dividend and interest
equipments.
Read the new ads in this issue.