St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-07-23
ALLEN NJ. FLETCHER,
Governor
Report Of the Examiners

Report of the Examiners
To His Excellency, Allen NJ. Fetch
er, Governor:
Sir: Your special counsel, ap-
pointed to investigate telephone
| companies doing business in this
state, and given authority to make
such investigation by the public ser
vice commission, have attended to
their duties and respectfully report
to Your EXcellency, as follows:
Our investigation has covered
each telephone company doing bus
mess in this state, which is of any
substantial size and Importance, and
while the territory of all the COM
panies has not been traversed by
US, we have made a thorough and
complete investigation of a sufficient
number of the several classes of
such companies, to enable us to
study intelligently the data and in
formation gathered concerning all
of the companies.
We further state that the officers
of the New England company and
it's subsidiaries have conceded that
the companies and territory, which
have been the subject of our more
careful examination and investiga-
ton, are typical and standard of
all the companies and territory in
the state.
We find that the New England
Telephone & Telegraph company, a
corporation organized under the
laws of New York, owns or domin-
ates substantially all of the tele-
phone business of this state. The
business controlled by the New
England company is accomplished
by ownership of a majority of stock
of certain subsidiary companies,
which it has either organized or
purchased, and are located and
doing business in different sections
Of the state, which subsidiary COM
panies cover all of the congested
sections of population in the state
not covered by. the New England
company itself, and which said sub
sidiary companies were created or
acquired in our opinion, for the sole
and express purpose of driving COM
petition from the field of telephone
business in the state of Vermont.
Traffic Contracts Control
The other companies in the
state doing any business of import
ance, are dominated by the New
England company, by reason of GER
tain connecting, traffic and purchas-
ing contracts. The traffic contract,
sO-called, provides substantially
the terms on which the Independent
company may connect with the New
England lines; dictates rules and
regulations to be observed by such
connecting company; furnishes the
tariff of toll rates to be charged and
collected by such company; prohib-
its the connection by such indepen-
dent company with any other COM
pany not having a connection with
the New England lines, without
first obtaining the consent of the
New England company; and pro-
hibits the invasion of the territory
of one company by another. This
contract is also entered into by the
New England company with all its
subsidiary companies in this state.
The purchasing contract, So
called, has been made between the
New England company and all of
the subsidiaries and with a large
number at least of the so-called in
| dependent connecting companies,
which provides that such subsidiary
company, or connecting company, re-
spectively, will, during the term of
the agreement, order and purchase
from the New England company, all
telephone equipment, material and
other articles required by it in the
conduct of its telephone business,
| except certain small articles for
emergency use; also prohibits such
| subsidiary or connecting company
from selling any of the equipment
or material so purchased to any 9TH
er company or individual. We con-
slider all those contracts, both as
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