The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-07-17
Counsel for n. E. Telephone
Company Takes Issue with
Special Commission
INVESTIGATION WAS
ONLY SUSPENDED
Company Can Show, if Given Oppor-
tunity That It Doesn't Get Fair Re
turn on It's Investment in This State.
Especial to The Reformer.)


MONTPELIER, July I'M. b. Jones,
counsel Of the New England Telephone and
Telegraph Co., said today Il have read
the report of Governor Fletcher's special
commission with interest. The principal
attempt to Justify the report appears to
be based upon the alleged refusal or neg
let Of the New England Telephone and
Telegraph Co., and its subsidiaries to fur
uish Messrs Graham and Cook with nf0r-
nation. Upon this point | desire to take
direct and emphatic issue with these gen
tlemen; instead Of refusing them inforna-
tion | wrote to them on June 9th, Offering
amy information concerning the New Eng
land Company and its subsidiaries that
you may desire, and since that date IN
formation both verbal and written. has
been furnished at great length In only,
one instance inforamtIon declined
Messrs. Graham and Cook requested us 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 stock
holders, but at the same time | offered to
furnish thcm with a 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 reply.
The requests made by these gentlemen
were very general and 1t was matter Of
much time and labor to compile the sta
tistics desired but data was forwarded as
rapidly as it could he prepared
II forwarded certain data as late as
Monday, July IL as no intimation had
been given by the special commissioners
that they had filed their report or even
thdt they We're near the point of compet-
ing their Investigations In fact, the atti-
| tide Of this special commission has appar-
emily been that Of unwilliugness to use IN
formation rather than cagcrness to re
ceve it
Il have no desire to thrcsh out the de
| tails Of this extended matter at tins time,
/ but IN support OF my statement | viii cite
two or three illustrations FROM the report
| / The report states that traffic con
/ tracts between the New England Tele-
rhonc and Telegraph Go. and the ndepend-
1 ent companies prohibit them from con.
meeting with any other comapny without
our consent. The fact i that All our con
tracts made since 1910 expressly permit a
| connection with any other company and /
Explained verbally to the special commis
sioners III response to their question thai
we had repeatedly urged all companies Il
substitute this form of contract for the old
or obsolete one
| The report says that the New Eng
| land Co. leases receivers and transmitter>
| to all its subsidiaries and majority of it,
other connecting companies charging Il
some - cents and to others 81 p year
The fact is, as pointed ont by me in a mem
orandum to Me~srs Graham and Cook or
June 23rd, that no connecting company
subsidiary or otherwise is obliged to rent
its instruments of the New England com
pany, but is at liberty to purchase its own
instruments. Where companies elect tc
lease their Instruments the price to all i.
. cents yer year. This information wa.