Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-12-30

contained the following vigorous ar.
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 70 buy up certain fran.
chises In the State Of New York, -
pecially to get an entrance into New
York City, and 70 givs 70 the citissns
the bsnsAt Of telephone competition
and Of actually cheap service.
The idea Of cheap telephone service
10 going to grow In the United States,
and eventually Il 10 going 70 bs real.
ised, despite the power Of any mon
opoly or the profits Of any group Of
individuals.
II costs less. or under proper man.
agement would cost less. to send .
telephone message than TO send
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 . dollar or more to have
It 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.
tion Of the telephone system Of THE
country, with the latest up.to-date au.
tomato methods. would make teie.
phouing 90 cheap % writing letters.
ana cheaper. a.
That will not come At once. but q
very great Improvement will come.
and right away.
The price charged By the Bell mon.
opoly 10 preposterous-thers 10 nc
worse form Of extortion among all the
extortions In the United States.
A man who lives In the suburbs
thirty miles from q big city gets q
! Communication ticket. The railroad
carries his two-hundred.pound body
back and forth twice day for
twenty-five cents q day. II he wants
to talk to his house twice . day the
telephone company charges him sixty
cents. and charges for the wire bs.
sides,
In other words. the telephone mon.
opoly charges moro than twice a.
much to carry over . wire . human
voice. which weighs nothing, % the
railroad charges to carry Q two.hun'
dred.pound man over thirty miles oi
solid steel rails.
And the railroad has to have tor
minals. and locomotives. and power;
whereas. with the telephone. the
mans own voice is the chief power
involved.
Armour Of Chicago 10 . man who
could give the people OF this country
the beneht Of cheap telephone service
III he should make up his mind to d.
II. He has proved his ability % a
organizer: he 10 man OF grea
wealth and Of unusual industry ant
application. It 10 notorious that bill
working hours are from seven In tn
morning until six In the evening. ant
that work 10 be only amusement.
The idea - not visionary. for Al
mour. associated with others-with tn
Hartman estate. with Kennedy Tod
and De Forest Of New York, and witt
the receivers OF the Chicago subwa
as body--has already begun tn
work of giving genuinely cheap an
efficient telephone service to the cit
of Chicago.
In Chicago the receivers Of the sui
way have installed already more tha
twenty-five thousand automatic tell
phones. They give an unlimited ser'
Ice for ss5 a year--about one.half tn
charge Of the Bell monopoly. The
give unlimited telephone service I
private families for less than thirt
dollars a year. With a full extensio
OF their system even the poorest fan
tiles will use the telephones. and b
better on at the end OF the yea
: through the saving Of carfare.
The charge for pay stations wit
this new system. which 10 backed b
Armour and the others. is three cent
> per call. and the intention 10 to lowe
this rate eventually from three cent
to one cent At one cent the prot
would be enormous. with the econ
mics Of the automatic telephone az
a sufficient number Of subscribers.
The right plan would be. OF cours
for the business men OF New Vol
o who pay enormous tolls to the tel
D. phone monopoly to get together.
bind themselves to take new servi'
An automatic cheap service VII
}. certain guarantees - and throul
Q pressure OF public opinion compel Il
/. granting of q franchise to an aut
matte company charging the lowe
4. possible rate.
o But II is dificult TO get busine
o men to unite; difYicult to make the
resent effectively even the most p'
}. pable extortion.
o The chief hope Hes in the couraa
energy and business knowledge
g such . man - Armour. who has d