Bisbee daily review., 1913-08-27


 les. Without taking up anything eo- ing 10 the merits of these proceedings It mas seemed to us proper to state ger erally what has been our policy and purpose in the conduct of our business
 We have found. or thought that we had, that our interests were best served when the public interests were best served; and we believe that such | successes we have had has been be- cause our business has been conducted on these lines.
 We believe that cur company has an interest as vital as that of the public in the proper administration of the problems Of electrical inter-communi- cation. The success and prosperity of our company depend upon a solution of these problems which shall be sound from both the standpoint of the com pany and the public which it serves. Following our own best judgment, supplemented by the best obtainable advice. we have endeavored to do what would best serve the public interest: ! wherever possible our plans have been [. disclosed to the public in advance, and what has been along ordinary business lines, with the implied and generally, with the expressed approval. authori- zatiOn or consent of the municipal and state authorities directly interested. Our effort has been Tot cnly to obey the law, but to avoid everything which might even have the appearance of an attempt at evasion.
 Our business methods and policy, and practically all of the details as to the transaction of our business, are matters of comman knowledge and are. and for many years have been well known to the government. We
 will willingly furnish the government with any additional information which is in cur. possession or under our con
 trcl, and will cordially cooperate with it in obtaining such further informa
 ton as it may require. Every possible assistance will be given by us to the
 courts in their effort to determine whether our policy is or has been intm |ical to the public interest. We desire
 that anything wrong be corrected; wt } will voluntarily rectify any wrong tha' 3 may be pointed out to us; and, so fai l as it may be determined that our pol . icy or any act under it is against the - public interest. we will promptly con . form to such determination.
 We believe that if each of our eN changes were made an independent , unit and if each connecting line were , put under a separate control, the ei . feet upon the telephone service of the :, 1 country would be a condition so intoi . erabIe that the public would refuse to , submit to it and would immediately . require such physical connection and common control of these various units as would amaIgsmste them into a 5 single system. Physical connection in l the case of telephone or telegraph does not mean transfer of messages from p one line to the other. It means such ! a connection as will permit one person
 to have the actual possession of the
 narticuIar line of communication from
 one end of it to the other and this can only be given efficiently by eX'
 change systems and connecting lines under a common control; and that IS
 what the Bell System is.
 In this connection. and for general information. we will restate the policy which controlled the building up of .he Bell System, and our belief as to
 what a telephone system should be
 and what are it's relations to the pub , lie
 We believe in and were the first tc ' advocate state or government contro
 and regulation of public utilities; thai
 this control or regulation should be Dy permanent quasi Judicial bodies, act ing after thorough investigation and governed by the equities of each case; and that this control or regulation, be [ vond recurring the greatest efficiency and economy, should not interfere with D management or operation We believe . that these bodies. if they are to bt peTmanenI effective and of public - benefit. should be thoroughly repre-
 sentative: they should be of such char , acter and should so conduct their Tn { vestigations and deliberations as t( command such respect from both th' {, public and the corporations that bott z will without question accept their con , clusions.
 I We believe that the public would 1 in this way get all the advantages | and avoid all the manifest disadyant - ages of public ownership.
 i. We believe that centers of business ], and population exist for the convent ence of the public as a whole, and tha no such center can prosper witnou | sufficient and efficient means of inter
 course with other centers and tTibu | tary territores that such means cal r only be afforded by prosperous ut1 n ity and service companies and tha O fair rates are essential to prosperou a companies. We do Tot believe that an, . public either desires or can obtain, no e can any service or utility furnsh, pei f manent and efficient service at les e than cost, including capital charge: Is We believe that ultimately the publi # either directly or indirectly pays tn y losses involved in the efforts to fdrnis such service at less than it's fair cos'
 either through the loss of the capita
 involved, the losses incident 10 poo
 service or the necessary increase y charges required to pay for duphcatio
 of capital.
 We believe that the highest comme 2 cial value of the telephone service de szszassszzsss TT d ~A q