The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-11-30

Produces Reports of Courts
Engineering Department.
VARIATION ON TWO POINTS
Other Judges Accept Working
Capital Valuation.
Pays $15,S55.50 to A. L. e. I. Co.
as License Fee.

The files Of the case in which the
Bell Telephone company was awarded
20 per cent increase in rates in To-
peka, by the court of industrial reIa-
uonss are available for the exanfna-
uon OF the committee appointed by the
directors of the Chamber of Com
merce to investigate, and if they deem
1t advisable to urge the city commits
sion to initiate a protest against the
hike
Data Offered Committee.
The reports of the courts engineer
ing department. the original order of
the court, which was not signed by
Judge Clyde NJ. Reed. the final order
of the court. still unsigned by Judge
Reed but accompanied by his dissent
ing opinion, were offered to the COM
mittee.
The committee Of the Chamber Of
Commerce members. which is com
posed of E A Thrill. chairman, T. =.
Whiteker and 5 E Lux, IT.. met Mon
day afternoon with the city com mis-
sieners. but arrived at no decision. ae-
cording to a statement of their chair
man this morning
The committee plans to meet with
Judge Reed, Of the industrial court,
auG ask him to permit them to go thru
the files Of the case as it was presented
to the court when the application CT
thu company was made
There are two factors in the order
of the court which seem to furnish the
points of variation with the opinion
| of Judge Reed
One of the two is the fact that
Judges Wark and Higgins accepted.
in the valuation of the property and
working capital of the com pany in the
state, a sum of s420.313. submitted by
the company as the cost of establish
ing the business" This sum IS not
mentioned In Judge Reeds analysis of
L. 81
pany. on which they are entitled to
draw interest
In the proceedings in the case. the
court refused fatty to accept the COM
pany's own valuation of its property.
of s2,20s.s54. Instead. the bare
neer, T. J. Stricken. plus the COM
pany's claim Of s42o.315 as the "eost
Of establishing business was used
In Judge Reeds dissenting opinion.
there is no mention made of the cost
Of establishing business, from which il
is assumed that he does not regard
that sum as liable to draw interest as
a part of the investment
All figures which were quoted IN
Judge Reeds opinion were identical
with those found on the original re-
port of the courts engineer, in spite
has~beeu quoted in the press as say
ing that ~the figures quoted in the
dissenting opinion were very different
from the figures submitted by the
courts accounting and engineering de-
partment.'
sf5,s55-se to ST.
Among the expenses which are
borne by the company, on the first or
der of the court, there is listed a sum
Of S15sS55-50. which is described as
having been paid to the American Tel
egraph Sc Telephone company as a
license fee" There is devoted page
of the order to the discussion of this
license fee" which comprises four
and one-haIf per cent of the gross re-
ceipts of the company.
According to the original order,
which has never been published, justi-
fication for the payment of this fee
to the American Telegraph & Tele-
phone company, a huge corporation
embracing as members all the Bell op-
Grating companies, is found in the fact
that the corporation renders service IN
many ways to the Bell companies. in
the maintenance of laboratories, the
granting and use of patents. the STAN
dardizatioa Of equipment and other
wise
There has been expressed much
doubt as to whether this service as
rendered to the Southwestern Bell
Telephone company, of Topeka Is
worth the S15.S55-50-
According to the opinion OF Judge
Reed, the present rates of the COM
pany return q profit of 11.07 per cent
on the valuation Of the property, with
the cost of establishing business,
not included 4
An examination of the records of
the case shows that there is no men,
ton made in the second order OF the
court, which. with Judge Reeds dis
senting opinion. was published. of the
payment of four and one-haIf per cent
of the company's gross receipts. to the
American Telegraph & Telephone
company
Aitho a page Of the first order,
which was never published, was de-
voted to the reason for making the
payment. the subject was avoided
implicitly in the second order.