Williams news., 1913-12-04
An Open Letter to the
 Telephone USin8 Public

| AAO oNA 'ANS SOA RO1 otAOk4os dAo lklC public, and that public prosperity depends largely upon the utilities that bring them in contact with each other, and that the more near ly perfect in efficiency and suffi- ciency the utilities serving the pub- lie are, the more prosperity, com forts and conveniencies the public will enjoy.
 | We believe our story is an inter esting one, and we hope that every one will read it.
 NoTE.-As an instance of the kind of news which newspapers sometimes publish, we want to call attention to recent articles in the newspapers headed, Limited States Government Calls upon Two Girl Stenographers to Tell Where They Got Two Million Dollars to Form i the Corporation Securities and In- vestment Company" Then, the articles went on to say that this Corporation Securities and ILvest- ment Company was scheme of the Telephone Company to further it's purpose of monopolizing telephone companies, etc.
 The truth is that our company has been met with & strong feeling in the state of Montana we'll nigh universal-that something should be done to relieve the citizens Of that state of two telephone systems Public meetings have been held, and votes taken, that the telephones of one or the other of the systems should be thrown out. Resolutions and letters have been submitted 10 ! us, and we have started out. to see what we could do to relieve the cit- izens of that state of this burden.
 We found that the Independent interests operating there also oper. ed in Spokane, inthe State of Wash. ington, and in northern Idaho, and that the Independent interests do- ing business in Montana could not be bought, or sold, so as to alone cover the property in Montana, but that the purchase must include their property in the states of Idaho and Washington. The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company does not operate in either of these sections. and, therefore, is not re- sponsible for telephone conditions there, nor does it wish to operate there, but we felt we must meet the situation ill Montana, and so, in or der to be in position to either buy or sell, from or to, the Independent interests in Montana, there was formed this Corporation Securities and Investmant Company, as cor porate company, to enter il.to negot- iations with the Independant inter ests in Montana, which negotiations are now in progress, and, if possible, to buy these Independent interests in Montana, northern Idaho and Washington, and then in theend, if that purpose was accomplished, the Corporation Securities and Invest ment Company should sell to The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company the portion of the Independent plants located in Montana, and sell to others the DOT tion of these Independent plants existing in northern Idaho and Washington.
 We explain ihis so the pnblic may know that in the above Foreword, where We say "there is no company within company, or wheels within wheels" we are speaking absolutely truly, and also that this Corporation Securities and Investment Company which was so freely, advertised by the articles in the newspapers refer ed tois absolutely a legitimate, and proper company and orgaized for the specific purposes stated.