Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1912-01-06

than scandal for the facts win b
easier to get at.
Any alderman who votes for an In.
crease Of rates will b branded % he
ought 70 be.
The Chicago American Of June 20
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 TO buy up certain fran.
chises In the state Of New York, -
pecially to get an entrance into New
York City. and to givs to the citissns
the beneht 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 TO be real.
ised, despite the power Of any mon.
opoly or the profits Of any group Of
individuals.
It 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 cit.
zen writing Q letter paid from ten
cents to Q dollar or more 70 have
l< An1lvo~>A nAv>vu~>oH n-o>~~S0o
economical. businessliks 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 tsle.
phoning 40 cheap % writing letters.
and cheaper.
That will not come at once, but Q
very great improvement will come,
and right away.
The price charged By the Boil mon.
opoly 10 preposterous-there is no
worse form Of extortiou among all the
extortions In the United States.
A man who lives In the suburbs
thirty miles from q big city GETS Z
communication ticket. The railroad
carries his two.hundrsd.pound body
back and forth twice . day fol-
twenty-five cents Q day. II he wants
to talk to HE house twice Q day the
telephone company charges him sixty
cents. and charges for the wire bs
sides.
In other words. the telephone mon
opoly charges more than twice q
much 70 carry over Q wire Q human
voice. which weighs nothing, - the
railroad charges 10 carry . two.hun
dred.pound man over thirty miles oi
solid steel rails.
And the railroad has 70 have ter
minals. and locomotives. and power:
whereas. with the telephone. thl
mans own voice 10 the chief power
involved.
Armour Of Chicago 10 . man whe
could give the people Of this country
the beneAt OF cheap telephone service
If he should make up his mind to d.
Il. He has proved his ability % q
organiser: he 10 Q man OF grea,
wealth and OF unusual industry and
application. II 10 notorious that hil
working hours are from seven In th,
morning until six In the evening, and
that work b NJ only amusement
The idea = aot visionary. for Ar
mour. associated with others-with tn
Hartman estate, with Kennedy Tod.
and De Forest OF New York. and will
the receivers Of the Chicago subwa!
as a body-has already begun tn
work of giving genuinely cheap ant
efficient telephone service to the cit!
OF Chicago.
In Chicago the receivers of the sui
way have installed already more thai
twenty-five thousand automatic tele
phones. They give an unlimited sery
ice for $s5 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 full extensio
OF their system even the poorest fan
lilies will 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 IL backed b
Armour and the others. is three cent
per call, and the intention is to lowe
this rate eventually from three cent
to one cent At one cent the prof
would be enormous. with the econl
niles OF the automatic telephone an
a sufficient number of subscribers.
The right plan would he, of course
for the business men OF New Yor
who pay enormous tolls to the tel,
phone monopoly to get together. I
: bind themselves to take new servic
-an automatic cheap service Wit
certain guarantees - and throug
: pressure Of public opinion compel th
J granting OF . franchise 10 an sutt
matte company charging the loves
possible rate.
But Il 10 dimcult 10 GET bushes
} men to unite; dimeult 70 make thsu