Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-07-29
CLARKE REPLIES
TO WILSON CHARGE
Chairman of State Railway
Commission Issues State
ment After Attack.
HE GOES INTO DETAILS
tFrom a staff correspondsntJ

saw it.
However, since the advent of Vic
tor Wilson into the campaign as the
democratic candidate for the place OF
Chairman Henry T. Clarke on the
commission, the attacks of that gen
tleman have been so unfair that Mr..
Clarke today issued scorching an
swer, in part as follows:
"While two of the members OF the
commission and its accountant, Mr..
Powell, were in Omaha last week
defending the 2-cent fareNlaw against
attack BY the Missouri Pacific, Victor
Wilson called at the department for
the alleged purpose Of securing in
formation concerning the financial
condition OF the Lincoln Telephone
and Telegraph company. In the IN
evitable newspaper statement. which
followed his two-hour Investigation
OF the yecords he denounces the com.
mission for gross maladministration.
His deductions and statements. are
SO sensational and so far wide OF the
facts that they smack strongly OF a
purpose to appeal directly to the pre-
JUDGES of the telephone users OF Lin
coin, With the real facts the public
may Judge Of the morals OF a man.
even though he is candidate for
office, who will promulgate warped
and perverted assertions on a mat
ter OF such vital importance.
Monthly Reports Filed.
Monthly reports showing the de-.
tails Of revenues and expenses have
been filed by the company since July
/, 1914. Mr.. Wilson examined these
reports and one OF his charges is that
the commission has never summarized
them to determine what effect the
new rates have had. A clerk, who
had no information to the contrary,
advised Mr.. Wilson that no such
summary had been made. Had Mr..
Wilson called when Mr.. Powell was
present he would have found that
such a summary had been made and
that less than two months ago.
Next, Mr.. Wilson asserts that the
present value OF SOL per station. as
found by the commission, Is excess
lively high, and to prove 1t makes
comparison with other valuations
made by the commission in Polk and
York counties and with the average
valuation of the property of the Ne
braska Telephone company. Such
comparisons are obviously unfair, for
the reason that the properties in Polk
and York counties are Of q decidedly
different type Of construction. The
equipment in Lincoln 10 automatic
and costs from so to s. per cent more
than manual. There Is also IN Lin
coin highly expensive underground
construction"
Who Proposed Lawi
"Mr. Wilson appropriates every
dollar Of the toll revenue collected in
Lincoln, amounting to about $3.50
year, notwithstanding the Legislature
Of 1918 passed law providing that
telephone exchange Is entitled to
but Is per cent on outgoing messages
and 10 per cent on incoming mes
sages. This law, by the way, was
proposed by an independent telc-
phone man who was = member Of
the House and was passed by the
Democratic legislature. Under the
terms Of that law. the lincoln ex.
change il entitled to less than $500
from toll. Nor, is this all. The val
ue Of the toll property Is not included
I in the valuation used by Mr.. Wilson,
his statement to-the contrary notwith-
standing. Worse yet, the expenses
reported by the company do not in.
clude the money expended for toll
maintenance. So we find that NH
Wilson's calculation claims all Of the
toll receipts collected IN Lincoln with.
out taking into consideration the toll
property that produces the revenue
and at the samctime excludes very
considerable portion Of the toll ex'
penses.
In its exhaustive analysis of the
reports the Commission took these
matters into consideration, as well a.
a number of others which we have
not the space to discuss. This sum
mary shows that the average ne
earning Of the company for the thirty
months period was sos per cent o
the valuation used by Mr.. Wilson, al
lowing 9 per cent for MAINTENANCE,
and depreciation. II an per cen
allowance for maintenance and depre
citation is used the net earning woult
be 705 per cent, whereas. II the actua
expenditures for current maintenance
and realized depreciation, as show
by the records and carefully checke,
by Mr.. Powell, amounting to 1857 pc
4 cent, are excepted, the net earning !
but 6.5 per cent. Upon such show
ing the Commission decided that
was unnecessary to make furthe
Investigation at this time. II is tn
purpose, however, to analyze the re
ports from time to time and Of oper
ating conditions change 50 that tn
net revenue increases, the compan
will be required to show cause VIII
its rates should not be reduced.
Much Misunderstanding.
There has been deal Of mi
understanding concerning the Lii
coin telephone situation, and persil
tent campaign by interruptions az
tators has done much to deceive
large number Of telephone users mi
believing that theyare paying excess
i've and unjust rates. People in Lii
coin are not paying rates higher tina
! are paid IN other American cite
| That fact Of itself merits emphas
and should be remembered by tho
( who are approached By self-seekir
politicians who BY half-iruths and \