Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1912-02-03

telephone message than to send . |
letter. i
There was time In the United
States when private individuals OK.
plotted the mails and when the citi.
zen writing a. letter paid from ten
cents to Q dollar or more 70 have
It delivered. Government ownsrship.
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 this
country, with the latest up.to-date au.
tomato methods. would make tele.
phoning 40 cheap as 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 10 preposterous- 10 no
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 sets q
communication ticket. The railroad
carries his two.hundred.pound body
back and forth twice . day for
twenty-five cents . day. II he wants
to talk to his house twice . day the
telephone company charges him sixty
cents. and charges for the wire be.
sides.
In other words, the telephone mon.
opoly charges more than twice 20
much to carry over Q wire Q human
voice. which weighs nothing, % the
railroad charges to carry . two.hun.
dred.pound man over thirty miles Of
solid steel rails.
And the railroad has 70 have ter
minals. and locomotives. and power;
whereas, with tho telephone. The
mans own voice 10 the chief power
involved.
Armour Of Chicago 10 Q man who
could give the people Of this countFy
the beneht Of cheap telephone service
If he should make up his mind to d.
It. He has proved his ability - q
organizer: he 10 . man Of grea'
wealth and Of unusual industry and
application. Il 10 notorious that hil
working hours are from seven In th(
| morning until ok In the evening. and
that work = ~ only amusement
The idea = not visionary, for Ar
mour. associated with others-with tn
Hartman estate. with Kennedy Tod
and De Forest OF New York, and viii
the receivers Of the Chicago subwa,
as . body-has already begun th'
work Of giving genuinely cheap IN,
efhcient telephone service 70 the cit!
Of Chicago.
In Chicago the receivers Of the sut
way have installed already more thai
! twenty-five thousand automatic tsll
= phones. They give an unlimited ssrv
ice for @S6 . year-about one.hals th
: charge OF the Bell monopoly. The,
give unlimited telephone service 4
private families for less than thirt,
dollars q year. With full extension
Of their system even the poorest fam
lilies win use the telephones. and b
better OF 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. 10 three cent
: per call, and the intention 10 to lowe
this rate eventually from three cent
: to one cent At one cent the prof
would be enormous. with the econt
; mics of the automatic telephone IN
q sufiicient number Of subscriber.
The right plan would be, Of course
for the business men Of New Yor
who pay enormous tolls to the toll
phone monopoly to get together.
bind themselves to take new servic
an automatic cheap service wit
certain guarantees - and throu1
- pressure of public opinion compel ii
y granting Of franchise to an aut
!, matte company charging the lowe
v possible rate.
. But 1t is dificult to get busine,
70 men to unite; difiicult to make the
resent effectively even the most ps
u pable extortion.
~ The chief hope lies In the courag
,e energy and business knowledge
- such a man as Armour. who has Il
money, who 10 not frightened by Il
!. power Of monopoly, and who migt
II he chose, be remembered as one
:. the real benefactors OF the COUNT
- by breaking down the telephone mo
- opoly and making OF the great tel
phone convenience a blessing with
" the reach OF all and as cheap. In pT
. portion, 40 the national postomce.
Is ~6A
n
The telephone trust Is the mo
% grinding of the many trusts that ext
d, in the United States.
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