Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-08-28
MUTUAL RELATIONS AND INTERESTS
 OF THE BELL SYSTEM AND 1Hf PUBLIC

1 tain telephone properties in the north west, as well as the pending Interstate | Commerce Commission telephone in ! vestigation, have caused many inquir- ies. Without taking up anything go- ] ing to the merits of these proceedings, 1 it has seemed to us proper to state generally what has been our policy and purpose in the conduct of our business.
 We have found, or thought that we had, that our interests were best serv- ed when the public interests were best served; and we believe that such success as we have had has been be- cause our business has been conducted on these lines.
 We believe that our company has an interest as vital as that of the public 1 in the proper administration of the problems of electrical inter-cOmmuni- cation. The success and prosperity of our company depend upon a solution of these problems which shall be sound from both the standpoint of the company and the public which it serves.
 1 Following our own best judgment, supplemented by the best Obtainable advice, we have endeavored to do what would best serve the public in terest; wherever possible our plans have been disclosed to the public in advance, and what has been done in l carrying them out has been along or dinary business lines, with the implied, and generally, with the expressed ap- proval, authorization or consent of the if.in ct tof 6irn0t ly interested Our effort has been not only to obey the law, but to avoid everything which might even have the appearance of an attempt at evasion. Our business methods and policy, and practically all of the details as to | the transaction of our business, are matters of common knowledge and are, and for many years have been, well known to the government. We will willingly furnish the government any additional information which is in our possession or under our control, and will cordially cooperate with it in obtaining such further information as it may require. Every possible assist ance will be given by us to the courts in their effort to determine whether our policy is or has been inimiCal to the public interest. We desire that anything wrong be corrected; we will voluntarily rectify any wrong that may be pointed out to us; and, so far as it may be determined that our pol icy or any act under it is against the public interest, we will promptly con- form to such determination.
 We believe that if each of our eX- !, indnnnn6nnt unit and if each connecting line were put under separate control, the ef- feet upon the telephone service of the country would be a condition so intol- erable that the public would refuse to submit to it and would immediately require such physical connection and common control of these various units as would amalgamate them into a single system. Physical connection in the case of telephone or telegraph does .not mean transfer of messages from one line to the other. It means such a connection as will permit one person to have the actual possession or the particular line of communication from one end of it to the other and this can only be given efficiently by exchange systems and connecting lines under a common control; and that is what the Bell System is.
 In this connection, and for general information, we will restate the policy which controlled the building up of the Bell System, and our belief as to what a telephone system should be, and what are it's relations to the public.
 We believe in and were the first tC l fn tat and regulation of public utilities; that this control or regulation should be by permanent quasi-judicial bodies, act ing after thorough investigation anC governed by the equities of each case; and that this control or regulation, be- yond requiring the greatest efficienc! and economy, should not interfere with the management or operation. We believe that these bodies. if they are to be permanent, effective and of pub lie benefit, should be thoroughly rep, resentative; they should be of sucf character and should so conduct theil investigations and deliberations as te command such respect from both the public and the corporations that bOtl will without question accept their con ClusiOns.
 We believe that the public would in this way get all the advantages and avoid all tho manifest disadvan tages of public ownership.
 We believe that centers of business and population exist for the convent enCe of the public as a whole. and tha no such center can prosper withou sufficient and efficient means of inter course with other Centers and tribu tary territories; that such means car only be afforded by prosperous utll ity and service companies and tha fair rates are essential to prosperous companies. We do not believe that any public either desires or can obtain, nol can any service or utility furnish, per manent and efficient service at less than cost including capital charges We believe that ultimately the public either directly or indirectly pays the losses involved in the efforts to furnish such service at less than its fair cost either through the loss of the capital involved. the losses incident to pool service or the necessary increase in charges required to pay for duplica- ton of capital.
 We believe that the highest conner c;ol voluo of tho tolophOno Sorvioa do