The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-07-17
TELEPHONE co.
ENTERS GER
TAIN DENIALS
To Statements Made BY vermont's Spe-
cial Counsel To Investigate the
Telephone System.

In statement issued at Montpelier
to-day, NJ b. Jones, counsel for the New
England Tel. & Tel Co., denied some
of the statements made by the states
special counsel in its report to Governor
Fletcher on the alleged telephone mo-
nopoly' in Vermont. Mr. Jones said:
81 have read the report of Governor
Fletcher's special commission with in
terest
The principal attempt to Justify the
report appears to be based upon the al
legged refusal or neglect of the New Eng
land Tel. & Tel. Co. and its subsidiaries
to furnish Messrs. Graham and Cook
with information.
Upon this point desire to take di-
rect and emphatic issue with these gen
tlemen:
Instead OF refusing them information,
wrote to them on June 8, offering any
information concerning the New England
company and its subsidiaries that you
may desire and since that date informa-
tion both verbal and written has been
furnished at great length. In only one
instance was information declined
Messrs. Graham and Cook requested ms
to furnish the names and addresses of
your stockholders, the amount held by
each. This | declined to give on the
ground that it involved the personal
rights of our stockholders. but at the
same time ! offered to furnish them
with statement of the amount of stock
held by the New England company in
each of its subsidiaries. To this offer
Messrs. Cook and Graham made no re-
ply.
''The requests made by these gentle
men were very general and it was a
matter Of much time and labor to com
pile the statistics desired, but data was
forwarded as rapidly as it could be pre-
pared. I forwarded certain data as hate
as Monday. July Id, as no intimation
had been given by the special commits
sioners that they had filed their report
or even that they were near the point
of completing their Investigations. In
fact the attitude of this special COM
mission has apparently been that of un-
willingness to use information rather
than eagerness to receive it.
~ have no desire to thresh out the
detail of this extended matter at this
time but in support of my statement, I
will cite two or three illustrations from
the report.
4. ne report states bHdb tFHIllC con-
tracts between the New England Tel &
Tel Co. and the Independent companies
prohibit them from connecting with any
other company without our consent.
"The fact is that all our contracts
made since 1910 expressly permit CON
nection with any other company. / ex-
planned verbally to the special commits
sioners in response to their question,
that we had repeatedly urged all com
panies to substitute this form of con-
tract for the old or obsolete one.
so. The report says that the New Eng
land company leases receivers and trans
mitters to all its subsidiaries and ma
jority of its other connecting companies,
charging to some rs cents and to others
Sl.25 a year.
"The fact is, as pointed out by me in
a memorandum sent to Messrs. Graham
and Cook on June % that no connecting
company, subsidiary or otherwise, is
obliged to rent its instruments of the
New England company, but is at liberty
to purchase their own instruments.
Where companies elect to lease their in
struments, the price to all is rs cents per
year. This information was furnished
Messrs. Graham and Cook in writing.
'3. The report says that copies of con-
tracts between the New England com
pany and the American Tel & Tel. Co. |
and copy of our contract with the |
Western Electric Co. have not been pre-
sented to us or furnished in accordance |
with our requests
"As to our contracts and relations /
with the American Tel. & Tel Co., | |
made an extended statement at ST. Al !
bans on July in response to questions |
Of Messrs. Graham and Cook and as to /
the Western Electric Co. contract. I !
personally sent copy of this contract |
to Mr.. Graham on July 0 with the fol |
lowing letter:
"July 0. 1913
Hon. Warner A. Graham,
Special Counsel Vermont Public Serv-
ice Commission,
Bellows Falls, Vt.
"Dear Sir:
Replying TO your favor of June p, | /
enclose herewith copy of our contract
with the Western Electric company.
You viii note that this contract is dated /
March 81, 1918. As a mater of fact,