The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-04-03
P. U. C. WAS EASY
Telephone Company Raised
Rates for Boarding Houses.
And the Utilities Commission
Knew Nothing About 1t.
NO INVESTIGATION WAS MADE
This Despite Fact That Notice
Was Given 80 Days Ago.
MissOuri-Kansas Company Out
plays State in Own Game.

The Missouri-Kansas Telephone
company has put one over on Joseph
L. Bristow and the public utilities
commission. Rates to rooming and
| boarding housekeepers have been ad-
yanced to the business rate of SO i
month, but the commission today knew
nothing about the matter. Several
sacred rules of the commission were
! violated by the telephone company
At the offices of the commission today
no one knew anything about it.
Nearly a month ago the Missouri
! Kansas company directed a general
| boost of the rates to rooming and
! boarding houses. The order stipulated
| that all houses where four or more
patrons roomed or ate, should pay the
business rating of SO a month. Orders
/ are said to have been given employees
of the telephone company concerning
the new rate. Notices were also sent
! to telephone patrons. Not word,
though, went to the public utilities
| commission, which under the law 3
| required to approve any change in
rates by public service corporation.
Possibly Joseph L. Bristow was busy
with his candidacy for place on the
| delegation to the Republican national
convention. Possibly the commissions
mind was absorbed with the technical
\ testimony of experts in the passenger
rate case. Possibly it was just an
oversight. The result, though, was the
! a new rate DecaH10 0IlSCliNS
and the records of the public utilities
commission show no action was taken
| Watchful Waiting.
| Shortly after patrons were notified
| of the new classification of rates, 1t
was announced from the public utili-
ties commission that no application for
approval of such rates had been f1led
| Possibly, it was asserted, the telephone
company was merely considering tie
making of a new rate. Maybe it was
| just joking. Surely it wouldn't con-
slider directing change in rates
without the approval of the utilities
commission. Certainly not And so
/ the state commission took no action
1t sat down and followed a policy of
watchful waiting of its own.
| When members of the commission
were questioned today, they stated
that no application had as yet been
| filed for a new telephone rate. That
was all they knew about it. The mat
| ter was just where it stood thirty days
| ago-so far as the commission was
| concerned. No investigation had been
made by the commission. No investi-
/ CATION was ontemplated-unless tele-
/ phone patrons demanded action. The
rule applying to rates was not the
same as the rule applying to other af-
/ fairs Cf public service corporations.
| Following the Randolph wreck, the
commission on its own motion con-
| Quoted an investigation. In the mat
ter of a telephone rate. the commits
sion requires a formal complaint
Old Rule Stands.
A rule, never changed by the COM
mission, provides specifically that
! rooming and boarding houses shall be
charged the residence rate until a
further order is made by the COM
mission. That order is yet in force.
On April /, the Missouri Kansas Tele-
phone company sent statements to all
/ boarding and rooming housekeepers
| for increased telephone rentals. The
! increases amounted to fifty cents, So
cents and S1.15, depending on service
! purchased by the patron under the old
rule. The new rate must be paid or
service Will be denied by the telephone
company.
/ The Missouri-kansas company has
seemingly outplayed the utilities com
mission at its own game. Possibly
the telephone company anticipated the
commission would not act until. a for
NAL complaint had been filed. So,
without notice to the commission and
without the commissions authority or
/ approval, telephone rates were ad-
vanced and the commission knows
nothing about it. A superior knowl-
edge of the game, perhaps, permitted
the company to dodge rules and side
1 step orders and win advanced rates on
its own motion.