The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1913-09-03
MUTUAL RELATIONS AND INTERESTS
OF The BELL SYSTEM AND THE PUBLIC

they arc operated under ag,a.
ments which result In one c0rnuon
control and one common interas,
Ia effect making them a slugls
Bystems
We believe that the rates sbo,ia
be 10 adjusted az 20 afford a.
company sufficient revenue 10 nsy
such wages and compensation >.
viii secure the most e,fIc,en,
service, TO maintain the very blyt.
est and most advanced standarda
OF plant and apparatus. 10 carry
on such scientific and experimen.
tai research and inventions an a
apparatus and methods as 10 insu,.
the highest standards, and IN carr
10 reserve and depreciation such
amounts as will enable the com.
pany at any time 10 replace Old
plant and old methods with new
plant and new methods az fast a.
they may be- developed and fopnd
10 be 10 the advantage OF the
service. We believe that in al.
dition, such fair charges should ha
paid upon the Investment IN plant
as will enable the company al anv
time 20 obtain money necessary IN
provide the plant required 10 nee,
the continuing demands OF the
public. and In order that waste
and duplication Of effort NAV he
avoided and uniformity OF purpose
and common control be enforced
that there should be a Centralized
general administration in close
communication with and having
general authority over the whole on
matters common 10 all or other
matters OF general policy.
We believe that any surplus be.
yond that necessary 10 eoualize
dividends on a fair basis should be
used by the company for the benefit
OF the public and should be lnaIien.
able for any other purpose. and
should be either Invested in rev.
enue-earning plant until necessary
TO substitute plant which may be.
come inadequate or obsolete. or
should be used TO make the service
cheaper and better.
We believe that under propcr
governmental control and reguls.
ton the profits from promotion or
operation allowed TO be distributed
should not be so large as TO war.
rant or tempt complete duplication
OF plant and organization. with its
duplication OF its capital charges
and It's organization, operating.
maintenance and depreciation ex.
penses; and We do not believe that
utilities giving at fair rates an ef-
ficient and sufficiently comprehen-
sive universal service should be
subject 10 limited competition not
giving such service. Competition
which ignores the obligation to fur.
nish a complete and comprehensive
service is not competition, Is not
for the benefit of the public In that
II does not reach the whole public
Interested.
II. therefore. complete dupii-
cation. with its dual exchange con-
nection and dual bills for service,
is a prerequisite TO complete COM
petition. government control and
regulation cannot go hand In hand
with competition.
We believe that the record OF
the Bell System will be accepted
by the public as fully in accord
with these declarations. Con-
sistent adherence TO this policy has
given the public OF the United
States the best. most comprehen-
sive and cheapest telephone service
in the world and made the Bel
standards the standards Of all
nations.
To remove any possible excuse
for misrepresentation on account Of
the many misleading statements
which have been circulated as TO
the alleged unnecessary and over.
capitalization and excessive charges
of the Bell system, the following
statistics are given. Except where
stated. the figures are for the Bell
System: that Is, the American
Telephone and Telegraph. and its
Associated Companies.
The entire Bell System on June
80. 1918, had outstanding In the
hands of the public obligations Il.
e.. notes, open accounts. bonds and
shares) TO the par value OF $s16.-
o00, 900.
The book value OF the total
tangible assets. which is consider
ably less than their replacement
value. amounted to 100000. 600.
Many appraisals of the property In.
cluded In these assets have been
made, and most Of them under the
direction of public authorities. In
no case has the value as II stands
on the books failed TO be sustained.
and In most cases II has been very
largely exceeded.
The total dividends and interest
paid dlcing the year ! 1912 am
mounted TO only 6.iSc on the aver
age Of its outstanding obligations,
and TO less than So on the average
value OF it's assets.
The actual cash which has been
paid into the treasury OF the Amert
can Telephone and Telegraph Com.
pany on account of the capital
obligations now outstanding
amounts TO s22. 000, 900 more than
the par of such outstanding obliga-
tons.
The Associated Companies col.
lected from the public and paid
back in taxes over sl0,00O,Vo0
during the year 1919.
The steadily increasing necessi-
ties OF the public not only for adj
ditional but for new telephone ser
vice can only be met by new con-
struction, involving capital outlay.
To meet these demands during the
six and one-half years from 1907 70
June, 1913, inclusive. the increase 10
telephone plant was as follows
Toll line wire increased from
l 100000 miles to 2.242,000 miles;
exchange wire increased from u
600, 900 miles to 100000 the
number of exchange stations IN
creased from 2.730,000 to 100000;
the number of stations OF lnde