Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-01-20

The Maine Public Utilities Commits
sion, through its chairman, Benjamin
L. Cleaves of Biddeford. Saturday
sent a communication to A. S. Burle-
son. the postmaster general at Wash
ington, protesting against the pro-
rosed increase in telephone toll rates.
! The letter says:
"As We are advised, you propose
t. put into effect on Jan. u, 1919, a
schedule of toll rates which shall
thereafter be the yard-stick by which
! each telephone company which rem
Gers toll service shall measure its
compensation.
I'VE arc also advised that each
such schedule is based on the prin-
ciplc of airline distance. that is, the
;.nount of the toll is determined sole
" by the distance between the sta :
ton Cor ccntraD where a message
! originates and the station Cor centraD
where it ends regardless of the actual
distance required for such message as
it passes over the wires OF the line
as actually built.
This adversely affects a consider
able number of the small telephone
companies in Maine. IN fixing tho
/ panies have always supposed that the
rate should bear some relation to the
cost of rendering the service and that,
# such service was being rendered
over Il long line which was somewhat
! expensive to build and maintain and
! which extended through Il sparsely
| settled region where the MESA gos
were few. the cost and worth of such
/ service was greater than rs though
the same service was being rendered
in a city or compact village.
1T follows that each of our COM
! panies has fixed it's toll rates with the
idea IF permitting all the circum-
| stances to be taken into account in
such fixation. No two companies
serve exactly similar territories, have
! exactly the same kind of lines or are
operating under identical costs for
! identical distances. Hence they be-
| lievc that I, theory which takes into
, account only tho point OF origin and
the point of call cannot fail to work
| hardShips on some companies and
! some customers.
Il am aware that you propose en-
| tcring into Il contract with each COM
lIany under which the federal gov
| eminent will guarantee a return equal
| to that received during tn" year 1918
| las | understand iD thus inSurinS
tho company against loss. And therein
les the vicjpISppSS of the whole mat =
| tie. If the government is to make full
return to Il company which under this
new practice will render service at
less than cost II can do so only be-
cause other companies have placed in
/ the federal Golfers money obtaincd
through the making of excessive
! charges. We must protest. first
! against our people paying excessive
rates to furnish funds to aid those
| people elsewhere who have not paid
| enough; and. second. against our peo-
| pie being the involuntary recipients
Of bounty obtained by reversing the
above charitable and benevolent per-
Torrance.
Furthermore some day the tcle-
| phones will come back to private con
f! troll. In these localities where too low
rates have been maintained it is 60
| ing to be delicate and harassng
task to put the rates back where they
must surely go to enable some COM
panies to live. 1 had rather be a
door keeper in the House Of the Lord
than a telephone manager or public
service commissioner when that time
comes.