The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1911-02-10
WILL MISSISSIPPI
STAND FOR 1T?

-. IiffpOuL Morgan, organizer
of the Steel Trust, the shipping
Trust and a dozen other gigan-
tic combinations of capitol, con-
ceiving it to be good q for the
people of this state, aspires to
merge its independent telephone
lines, which he either owns, or
controls with thoseof the Bell
Company which he also largely
owns and controls.
A man does not have to be en-
dowed with an inordinate amount
of horse sense to perceive what
is inevitable If the absorption of
the independents by the Bell is
allowed to go unchallenged. AT
conferences held in New York
and Chicago few weeks ago at
which III. j. Dawson, one of Mr..
Morgan s partners, Theodore n.
Vail, President of the Bell Sys-
TEN, and representatives of the
independents were present, 1T
was openly stated that with com
petition ended rates could be
raised and economies instituted
that would enable the monopoly
to place the stock Of the inde-
pendents on an s per cent basis.
With both companies operating
between practically the same
points, under one management it
follows that one of them will be
superfluous, and that it will cost
less to pay dividends on the
outstanding stock of the absorb
ed companies than TO operate
them under the circumstances
Thus. the monopoly, which now
owns the Western Union Tele-
graph Company and through that
corporation has recently acqmr-
ed six of the largest of the trans
Atlantic cables will control
every channel of communication
on land, except the telepost au-
tomato telegraph lines. 1t
would probably buy this too, If
the stock of that company was
not tied up in "A voting trust
with Rear Admiral Sigsbee OF
the Maine and others sitting
tightly on the lid to prevent just
such contingency.
With the end of the autono-
my of the independents, every
advantage secured by competl-
ton will be at once surrendered
and every section Ofthe state that
has heretofore profited by the
keen rivalry for business that
has existed between ethe two sys-
TENS will experience the same
arbitrary initiation of rates as
has followed the terminetion OF
competition elsewhere. hTe but
cher, the gEesr and th| doctor
will pay the freight. Tn BY can
protest and anathematizeN the
trust, call Morgan mean names
and make the airheavy with sui
phurous malediction, but it wont
do no good In effect the trust
will say: IF you don't like 1t
YOU need not have a telephone.
But if you are without telephone
connection in these days you can
not do business. The trusts knows
this. Will the commonwealth
of Mississippi stand idly by the
roadside while Wall Street in
its greed for added revenues inn
poses another burden upon this
constituency, whereby it may
extort new tribute from every
community in the stateg
When he acquired control of
the independents, Morgan made
an affidavit to the Sspreme court
of Ohio that his purchase was for
private investment and not for
the Bell Company. To get around
this he now proposes to turn
the stock of the two systems IN
to single holding company, and
which is only another way OF
whipping the devil around the
stump and accomplishing by
indirection what he is legally pro-
scribed from doing direct.
Have the people of Mississippi at
whose pocketbook this move is
aimed nothing to say Z! Have they
no rights, which Morgan must
respect Have they become so
inert over the frequent abuse of
corporation privilege that they
hesitate to assert themselves Ii
not its time for them to get
busy. before it is too late.