The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1911-01-12
BELL TELEPHONE VS.. IN
DEPENDENT LINES
Keep Good Thing Like the Farmers
Line When You Have 1t.

!
an account of the beginning and deYel
opment of the telephone business. He
sums up the blasting effect of the
monopoly secured by the Bell patents
and exercised for the exploiting Of
the people in this statement of facts
The American Bell Company's own
records show that, in 1894, whea til&
last Bell patent expired and the pres
ent competition began it had in OPP
GRAFTON a total Of only 291 ,253 tele-
i phones. That is, under a complete
monopoly of the business, the com
pany had put out, in eighteen years
less than 100000 Instruments
AS against this, there were IN use
on June 80 1905, 2.54732l complete
instruments under Bell control, and
as have already stated, something
over 100000 instruments under in
dependent control That is, during
eleven years of free competition. over
100000 telephones were manufact-
ured and put into use as against less
than 100000 during the eighteen
years of the monopoly"
An idea of one phase of the monou-
oily methods in dealing with Indepen-
dent Companies is shown in the fol
lowing extract:
Just before the expiration of the
controlling patent, in 1893, James Z
keelyn of Chicago. who afterwards
built dozens of Independent exchang-
Hudson. He pointed out that there
were thousands of small towns in
which the Bell company had never
found il desirable to give service. or
|, from which it had withdrawn because
II could not get enough subscribers az
the rates demanded. Mr.. keelyn sug-
gested that he be allowed to develop
these towns independently, and to
equip them with apparatus that he
would manufacture or buy in the open
market, or from the Bell Manufacture
ing Co. He guaranteed to turn over
all toll business to the Bell licensees
that controlled the territory. building
his own connections without cost to
any of Mr. Hudson's underlying cor
, porations. The proposition was re-
jected with scorn.
Our contracts with our sub-com-
] panies" said Mr. Hudson, give them
exclusive operating privileges; if they
| do not choose to develop any town. or
! if they withdraw from it. they must
2 have good and sufficient reasons We
! will not tolerate any Independent ex-
2 change or break into our organized
= system. We cannot have dealings with
f you or anyone else
? 1t is certainly the irony of fate that
; the Bell people now have scores of
2 high-priced agents in the field. can
C. yassing for just such arrangements
; with the Independents, begging for
s toll-line connections. and offering 10
2 leave the local field entirely to the
- latter.
= 1t is further irony that it is the In
dependents who are today fighting as
an organization against such arrange
ments. AS | write. | have before me
a clipping from one of the technical
journals, which illustrates in grim
fashion this turning of the tables. II
A reads as follows AT a meeting of
Independent telephone men of the
eighth district of the Indiana hide
pendent telephone association at
Rushville, October 20 1905, resolu-
ton was passed pledgine all hide
pendent telephone companies of the
district to refrain firm any further
service connection with any company
that has connection. direct or indi-
rect, with any sub-licensee of the Bell
company. The Independents have
nearly everything their own way in
! the eighth district There are over
2l,000 Independent telephones in the
five counties, against 100 of the Bell
company"
Experience has shown that when
ever any service arrangements are
entered into between the Independent
and Bell companies, the Independent
company ultimately passes under the
absolute control of the Bell. and il
the end is swallowed up. There have
been quite a number of Independents
who fell TO this bait, but such in
stances are now rarer When they oc-
eur, the Independents regard them as
out-and-out Bell people Reversing
the old conditions. Independent CON
nectlons are cut of. as shown in the
clipping above. and the territory is
rebuilt by a new Independent COM
pany, financed and managed locally.
This is always made possible because
sooner or later, the former Indepen-
dent company under Bell stimulus
raises its rates and chafes its sub
seribers with the machine made II gu
tons turned out from Boston. The
9esult is now uprising of the PEG
lie, the granting of a new franchise
he sgppiug of the old exchange. and