Evening journal., 1919-12-20

TELEPHONE RATES
continued from FIRST PAGE.

Continued from First Page.
be allowed to be charged by the Dla-
mond. state Telephone Company fOr
service in this city, this organization
respectfully asks permission to submit
4 the following:
First. That we realize that the COM
pany is subject TO the same great in
crease in operating expenses that Is af-
fectlng all other business, due 10 the
existing cost OF both labor and ma
! terial;
second, That Il is a business neces-
sity that the Telephone Company should
be allowed sufficient revenue 10 enable
IL TO give adequate and prompt service
TO its customers; and
"'rhird, That without sufficient reve-
nue. the company cannot be expected
TO continue its present service nor to
improve upon same.
1--WE realize that we are not in posi-
ton. due to lack Of information, TO sug-
gest TO your commission what a proper
and Just rate will be that will provide
the company with an adequate revenue,
while YOU can. from the data before
you. intelligently determine this mat
ter; but we do recommend that you
grant to the company authority TO
charge such a rate as will enable 1t to
continue and 10 improve upon It's
present service and TO derive q fair re-
turn LpOn its investment.
IN so doing. we believe. you viii
best serve the business interests OF the
city for which this organization stands.
Very respectfully,
chamber of Commerce.
BY WILLIAM r. BUDD,
Secretary"
No one offered any testimony or ar
gument against the granting Of the pc
tition, although letters Of protest were
received from the Citizens Rights Com
mittee and the Central Labor Union. and
one signed by Irwin Stetser, John 5.
Dolan. samuel L. Cook, Elmer +. Shall
lenberger, Robert ]. Benson, Joseph A.
Davis and Z. B. Solomon, and one sign
ed by John II. Stickel. Theodore w.
Deats, Charles Martin and James A.
Walker.
The protestants based their objections
principally on the fact that the Penn
sylvania State Utilities Board had re-
fused 10 allow the Bell Telephone Com
pany Of that state TO continue the rates
that are now in existence here. 10 was
also maintained that even since the tele-
phone company was allowed an increase
in its rates, the service has not been
improved, but rather has been less efli-
Client.
Charles w. Hazard, chief accountant
of the company, Of Philadelphia. was
the first witness for the telephone
company. His figures showed that the
assets OF the company were $685.
2s3. .75 on October 81, 1919. The Bell Tele-
phone Company Of Pennsylvania, ne
testified. IS the owner Of 5000 GOO OF
the capital stock Of the Diamond State
Telephone Company. but has never re-
ceived a cent OF interest on 1t, having
waived interest. The Pennsylvania
Telephone Company acquired that
amount OF stock between 1905 and May,
1915. The total fixed capital Of the
company is s3.4Ss,2OS.53. The amount
Of dividends paid by the company since
1897 was Si5,72039, the last being in
May, 1908.
In the past seventeen years, the com
pany, Mr.. Hazard brought out, has con-
verted a deficit Of S73,925S6 into a
surplus Of si553i0S5
a comparison OF the figures Of 1911
and 1919, as shown in Mr.. Hazards
follows:
i9il-Total revenue, sl77,4s2; ex-
penses, Si0i, ,73S; net revenue, S72,7I4;
net investment, Si,975,199; ratio of net
revenue to the above, 3.6S.
I9i9-Total revenue, s9i5OOO: eX-
penses, 1892 600; net revenue, $4,000:
net investment, s2,95i, ,725; ratio, 2.sl.
The change from deficit at the end
Of 1914 to a surplus at the end Of 1915
was accounted for by Mr.. Hazard by
the fact Of the amount provided by
the Bell Telephone Company Of Penn
sylvania. The Bell Company surrendered
notes for S667,O0O and received 100000
of the capital stock OF the Diamond
state Company.
All interest has been paid on ad-
vances, It was brought out, but there
have been no dividends issued since
1908.
Had the pre-war rates been in effect
Mr.. Hazard estimated that the company
would now have deficit Of $4,000 and
would be unable to pay interest, and
that in 1920, the deficit would increase
to S7lOOO.
G. s. Francis, engineer Of appraisal
testified that the value Of the plant
and equipment Of the company in Della
ware Is carried on the companys books
at approximately s3,OOOOOO, although he
asserted that he was Of the belief that
it is of a much higher value, and esli-
mated that an appraisal now would in
crease the value 30 per cent II would
cost not less than s5OO0,OOO to build 70
today. he stated. BY reason OF the
plant not being new, he calculated that
70 per cent. should be deducted from
the latter figure as its present worth.
Mr.. Francis compared the prices Of
and wages Of employees in 1914
with those of the present. The cost of
supplies has increased 60 Sc per cent,
he set forth. switchboard equipment
has advanced 20 per cent. The greatest
fluctuation the chart he presented to
the commissioners showed, was in cop
per, which advanced is5 per cent. in
price since 1911.
The monthly wage per employe mas
62 per cent. since 1914 he tes-