St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-05-28
CONTINUED from page p

it should be read carefully by ever!
Vermonter interested in betterint
( the laws of the state.
Rev. w. p. Jackson of St. Adams
! formerly pastor, but now in charge
1 of the Stranahan Memorial for boys
gave a talk on his work with the
boys of the city. The club aims to
/ give the boys rational amusements
! and recreation and also provides
evening classes for them. 1t has
only three rules, no swearing, no
| drinking and no gambling and only
! in the rooms for men is smoking al
| lowed. The boys enforce the rules
themselves and it is wonderful what
the club has amounted to in such a
short time.
Inter-Church Federation
Rev. Frazer Metzger read the re-
port of the committee on inter-
church federation and also a paper
on the same subject. The committee
recommended that the conference
elect to the council of the
Inter-church Federation of Yer
mont four representatives, two
ministers and two laymen, and
the recommendation was adopted
by the conference. In his
address Mr.. Metzger said that
Love one Another" means church
union and that the call to the church
today is to drop denominationalism
and advance the Kingdom of God,
not our particular church. As Mr..
Metzger had to hasten to catch a
train the discussion which would
naturally have followed his paper
was cut short. With the benediction
pronounced by Rev. Chauncey
Adams, the 11Sth meeting of the
Vermont Congregational Conference
passed into history.
The Telephone
The Express and Standard is
friend to any system organized for
the benefit and welfare of the people.
If that system is a monopoly, So
called, in that it is the only system
of it's kind in the field, and gives
entire satisfaction, so much so that
criticism is undeserved, then it
should be patronized and upheld,
whether it is a monopoly or not. If,
however, it does not give satisfac-
ton, takes advantage of it's secure
position to place excessive tolls
against its patrons, so much so that
these patrons demand an opposition,
and with good and sufficient reasons,
then the Express and Standard,
without fear or favor, will
stand up for the opposition. We
did this in the case of the Peoples
Telephone Company against the Bell,
and would not hesitate to again, if
a like case demanded it.
The present agitation for a new
telephone system, however, is wholly
unlike the conditions that led up to
the first. The first originated over
excessive rates with other conditions
normal, or such as not to demand
the scale. The present is also for
raise in rates, but with conditions
such that one cannot conscientiously
state that the raise is not without
some reasonable excuse. In the
former case every business man who
used phone demanded a new line
In the present case the farmers
not the business men in town-de-
mand it; and the farmers, as yet,
have not been through the costly
of patronizing two lines
In the first case every business man
was quick to grasp at the opposition
and to patroniZe it; but in three
cases out of five they still chung to
the Bell phone; and when the Bell
system came down to earth, chang
ed into different branches and began
to see things in the right light,
these same business men began to
call for one line, and that line was
the Bell, or Passumpsic line, which
might be called practically the
same. And this same change in SEN
timent was one of the first causes, !
and the principal cause, that led the |
Peoples Telephone Company to
sell out.
While in sympathy with the |
farmers over this raise in rates
for they affect us the same-,we
cannot but feel. taking everything
into consideration, and they are lust |
and right. The rise in wage, high |
cost of living, great expenditures re- |
quired in working up the lines, all |
demand it. We do know, had the |
Peoples Telephone Company con-
tinued in operation, the conditions
were such that they intended to /
do s-same-thing. Know
ing this, and the fact that a great /
outlay was soon required to build /
the system up, we knew this present |
raise would come, as it inevitably /
must, and has in the end.
Dropping all prejudice and look
ing at the matter in the right light,
IS the Passumpsic Telephone Com
Dany's raise in rates really out of
he realms of reason? Are they
such as to demand an opposition
line, and the almost forcing of bus
ness men to again use two phones
which they will not do? We think
not. And we say it conscientiously
and as one who has fought this
for years, and would
again, if the case demanded it, We
know up to the present time the
Passumpsic Telephone Co. are doing
all in their power to make their sys-
-em as perfect as possible. This
IN the way of new metallic wires,
new lines between towns, new ma
and all of which are being
worked from the towns out as fast
rs possible. We, and others, kick
he line because it cannot be secur-
I'd when wanted; but this is the uni
yerSal COMPLAINT with all lines and