Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-07-17

that the policy Of this State horetofor,
existing Of taxing such companies on thei
gross revenue has been an importan
| factor in bringing about this condition
! Of affairs
| We have made some examination int
| the methods Of such bookkeeping anc
| the various items OF their accounts, an,
we are satisfied that the charges of thes,
various companies, particularly relating to
maintenance and reconstruction and tn,
reserve for depreciation charged to Their
| expense account are unreasonable. cxor
bitant, and an indirect diversion of tho
profits Of the business
When these items were questioned
by us directly to the officers repre-
sentinE tho New England company and
it's various subsidiary companies i'm
this state, no satisfactory explanation
was made, and we were informed that
II would be we'll for MS to obtain the
assistance of a corps of accountants
to audit these companies books, and
that was the only way to determine
affirmativclv whether our conclusion
of unfairncss of these and other items
was justified or not. In this connec-
counts and papers of these various
companies including the stock books
of the subsidiary companies organized
under the laws OF this state are kept
al the office of the Now England com
pany in Boston. Not only are the
books kept in Boston, hut they have
not been presented to us. and much
Information that we have rcucstod in
writing with relation to the matters
of the respective companies, and cop
les of contracts between the New Eng
land company and the American Tcle-
phone ~ Telegraph company. which
controls IT, and also copies Of existing
contracts between tho New England
company and the Western Electric
company, another company controlled
by the American Telephone q Tclc-
graph company. have not been pre-
scented To us or furnished in accorl-
1nc" with our requests
FAVOR NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS
inasmuch as the American TeIo-
ph"n" ~ Telegraph company 10y owner
ship of all or a majority of the stock
.,rs and controls not only the New
'oHnd company hut also the West
orn Electric company. and various
other companies with which tho New
England company has contract ana
intimate business relationship which
vitality effects the business in this
state. it is our opinion that a national
Investigation should and ought to he
made.
We find that the American Tclo-
phone & Telegraph company exacts
from the New England company an
annual tax of Az per cent. of its en-
tire gross revenue, and the only tangi-
be consideration we have been able
u find for such payment is the use of
receivers and transmitters by the New
England company and its suhs liaries
The entire gross revenue of the New
England company for the year 1872
was $16,136,2sS.42. and for the state
of Vermont for the same year $780,
1886
Officers Of the New England ana
companies requested an OBJ
portunity to apear before us to show
the condition of the companies and
furnish lis information respecting their
cost and management and all other
matters involved in our Investigations
This request was granted and a hear
ing was had at the court house in the
city of st Adams on Thursday, July
" at which hearing there were pres
emit representing these various com
panies, Manager Brown of the Pas
company Manager St clair
of the Franklin County company; r
w. Storye. vice president of all the
mi .c 10, l.
and NJ. Il. Jones, general counsel for
the New England and its subsidiary
NO FULL STATEMENT GIVEN
Tn" distinguished gentlemen named
did not have, and no person appeared
before us who did have any KNOWLEDGE
concerning the books. accounts. and
general business of the COMPANIES
represented. and no books. accounts.
contracts. papers or documents were
us at that hearing, except
three typewriter sheets of figures,
represented to be a statement of in
'ome and expense OF the New Eng
and company for the years 1910. 1871.
ana 1917 which sheets were prepared
~ the general auditor of these com
lanies and presented to us by the
general counsel above named
After listening TO all that these dis
inguished gentlemen saw Mt to tell |
rs, We began to inquire as to the ex-
'ense of wire and poles and apparatus |
md equipment and other matters that
involved the building and maintaining |!
md operation of the telephone lines |
md which. In our opinion were per |
inent and OF vital Importance to the !
ubJect matter of our inVestiga ton
which information we were unable to
'htain because no one was present |
With any such knowledge or informa-
ion.
In view of these facts and this sit
iation and condition of affairs. we
most strenuously urge upon Your EN-
cheney the expense involved and the
ime necessary for making such an
examination of these companies hooks
nd accounts, and suggest the unwis-
ON OF this state cmbarking on any
uch expensive, elusive, impractical
nd in our opinion. unnecessary eN-
ursion.
PUTS PROOF ON COMPANIES.
We MAINTAIN and respectfully sum
nit To YOU that in view of the exist
lg condition of affairs as disclosed
y our investigator and as outlined
hove in this report, and in our sun
lcmcntal brief of facts transmitted
"roWlth, that the burden i'm the
rst instances ought and should
est upon these public utilities to satisfy
ne commission that their rates. charges
nd business methods are fair, just and
1uitable, said commission having been
Established by law to protect the nublic