Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1913-10-01
TERMS
THE TELEPHONE SITUATION.

Monitor was not quite rlgnC III SCaClng
That the Messenger is champion of
the telephone interests and again not
quite right in stating that it went out
of it's way to defend Vail and his tele-
phone systems. Possibly not but the
tone of the Messengers utterances has
been such of late as to excite comment
GIL the frequency and length of its
editorials when they deal with the
telephone subject The Messenger
states that it believes the telephone is
natural monopoly whatever that isl
and merely needs regulating by the
state, yet finds fault with the state
and its methods when it undertakes
that very job.
n.ssThe Messenger says:l cit is we'll
known that the Messenger has recog-
nized that there is such thing as
natural monopoly which is beneficial
to the people if it is thoroughly
controlled by the state. This is an
economic principle viii CHI really does
not need much explanation to those
who have studied the matter"
The Monitor must admit that it is
thick headed but would like Ito ask
why the telephone business is
natural monopoly any more than
many other businesses? Take the
transportation situation in New Eng
land for instance. Is it not fact
that the "people" would be better
served if one shrewd head W tt un-
limited capital controlled the business,
'Eif' as the Messenger says. it was
thoroughly controlled" Would not
the people also be better served in
New England, or the entire East for
that matter, if the express companies
were all under one head and "thor-
oughly controlled" Is it not fact
that many a community would be
better served if its dozen stores were
united under one roof paying one rent,
carrying large assortments and i'm =
mense stocks, buying in carload lots
and demanding lcash transactions,
''if'' such a business could be "thor-
oughly controlled" Ad infnitum
The Messenger knows the workings
of the railroads better than any other
paper in the state probably. It is not
theory but fact that even near mono
poly of the transportation business in
New England was crime against the
people. "If' MelIen had been "thor-
oughIy controlled" we believe it
would have been a benefit to New
England. But Mellen did not want to
be controlled. That is not what a
monopoly is built up for A monopoly
natural" or unnatural, is built up to
control
That is exactly what the telephone
monopoly in Vermont was built up for
How we'll it has accomplished it's end
is illustrated by the fact that in
Orleans county we are paying so per
cent more for telephone service today
than before monopoly days; that we
are served with ess free zone terri
tory now by at least rs per cent than
before monopoly days that the same
telephone company now charges more
for less territory than it did before
monopoly days; that record of all
calls from one place of business for
two weeks showed cline busy" on As
per cent of the calls; that a telephone
line has been cut between neighbor!
on main road and those neighbor!
fand Of course all subscribers on that
line and territory both sides) are nov
compelled to pay toll and get connec
tons through several exchanges whe1
communicating with each other. an,
this when the line was up and estab
ished for years and cost more to Gu
than to leave connected
This only constitutes a part of tn
facts that can be presented as reason
why we do not care for even
''natural' monopoly in Orleans count
and constitutes some of the Monitor
grounds for believing that the cours
of our public service commission i
demanding that the telephone interest
in Vermont show their hand, should b
upheld.
It may be true that Messrs. Coo
and Graham did not give enough tim
to their investigation to warran
all their recommendations but the
month of research, the governor
conviction and the peoples demar
should constitute ground enough fl
an investigation that goes dow
through to the bottom of the Messe
gers natural monopoly.
We stated that a monopoly w:
built up to control. 1t is general
believed that the telephone monopo
in Vermont controls or attempts
control the telephone business in evel
particular. Like the transportatic
business of southern New Englan