Norwich bulletin., 1921-08-08
MRS. FLORENCE J. SPARKS.
Nlhs rsf ctAt. TslsrhsA. M.nsz.


 cefniAe telephone matters has beeh made 1 public, fnAx,1 have Space t6 cali 4ttehtioii to the two points which I sought espe. tiaily to ifnpfessf
 First, of all let me say that the letter to the telephone officiaM offered no crit cisffi et those who actually sde thA work of line construction Of exehange serviee AS the letter said ih appreciation of the men and women #f6 actually do your work, they work under adverse condf= eioils that are often efipbiing and they le the best they can"
 The critical suggestions were two-fold CD as to inadequate construction at many points t2J apparently due to a shore-sighted fifiangiEi policy which seems more concerned With ad7ahtaRes to in- gestors than with the best service of the plant for the public. il this connection, may I quote the following paragraphs from the letter:
 You may tell me that it is necessary to pay per cent. in 6fdef to ket the money from investorfs so that you can put ths lines in shape for service Let me say deliberately that 1t is not neees- sary, if motives of patriotism and sane public service rule your leadership. Tt iB vital error in public economy to make public utilities q means of pri. Vate report It always has resulted dis- astrousay and aiW aSs wifi. Investment in public utilities should be like invest me1ft in savings Danks-for safety and for public advantage. No public utility should ever yield more than per cent or even per cent.-I say this deliberate ly and it is one of the great reforms which public leaders and public senti- ment should bring about Think what per cent. Or per cent. of your biz profits could do for the public good Do you insist that your stockholders are of more importance than the public?
 | T do not mean government ewnerehip | that would be no less disastrous in the long run. But do say that government leaders should take the lead in arousihs public sentiment which will secure from leading investors and from the savings of the people money suf1cient to finance public utilities at low rate Of interest, with absolute safety ss the basis of pub | lie confidence mad investment.
 If you say it can't De done-~hat about savings banks mad postal savings banks and government bonds! Of course, just now public sentiment is dis satisfied with government bonds, because l these have been 50 manipulated by capi- l talists; but the history of investment in government bonds and in postal and ioeai savings banks has proven absolutely that investors will respond to the appeal of absolute safety and if to this there now l be added under proper leadership the ap- 1 peal of civic patriotism for the needs of 1 peace, there will surely be response. ! Let me say deliberately that I verify believe that in this recent move for per cent. dividends the telephone monopoly has taken a long step down the same way the railroads went, And if this policy be followed, 1t will surely end in similar dis l aster. They who are now thus tempted to invest their money in response to the plea that only thus can needed improve ments be had will eventually find, per.
 haps. that the monopoly leaders who made the appeal Eiil have got out fr6m under before the crash comes, and thl small and innocent investor. the widows
 and orphans class, will ind thembelvee As in the case of So many railroad in- vestors, in possession of the stock whIef
 Was unloaded upon them By the same old
 game"
 We are now hearing the same old siref
 song that capital is timid," that "monel
 is a commodity, and commands a marke
 price which must be paid' by the peopl just the Same as in private enterprise
 and the public has no remedy but to sui fer and endure, 50 that capital may ke , it's price. A very courteous letter jus
 received from & high-up official Of tn
 telephone expresses the situation in tn following words
 "All sorts of investments are cofnoet ing for what money there is for invest
 nent. Among the strong competitors noN
 are the government, and the states couu
 ties and cities with their bond issues. Tn extraordinary demands for Tnehey Wit the imitation of the currency have put u
 the price of money. It has adVanee s with the price of everything else. Peepl : will not invest money in public utilitie
 at rates which are less than are availabl to the melse~here, taking into AccoHn ! hazards, immunity from taxation and d the other surrounding circumstances. I
 a nutshell, the situation Is this: (1) tn l telephone service in the United States re : auires a continuous investment of ne, money; (2) there is no way to obtai this ne %money except to pay the pric I for it in market which is now highl F competitive"
 Here is very plain indication of ho, : the Investing public continuously fool , itself By such reasoning, and how tn | alternatives of imitation and reactio bring alternately prosperity" C?) an
 sure disaster, while the general publ
 suffers and pays the bills.
 ] The so-called "timidity" of capital . demandit4k its price for public service l not really timidity but plain greed, an ! we are all more or less infected by ths spirit. A very common femafk, you
 do the same thing yourself, if you got tt
 chance indicates q vital weakness public sentiment which results in wiai ! sptead social disaster in many wayk. . What I seek to impress is the shor sighted folly of it all and the need Il zroasing public sentiment to appreciai
 that fact. Social experiences of this so
 give rise to the popular feactief1A know as socialism" revolution" or Avt h '1belshevisin" The so-ealled 'proletar f at" or more accurately that large ehal l. of the Seh-eapita listic public which tilt f aately bears the larger proportion of u h burdens ana the disaster, loses it's D d tiehee, and in a sort of bliha AelAleesne, d sometimes sfnashks things, which ! course is no remedy but only "rnakes i. bad matter Ecfze"-sath is history : which is said to repeat itself" s The constitution of the United stat ' pdfp0fts to set forth a different stahdai ' to the effect that the neine, motive al ' practice Of citizenship iA to promote il T l general welfare" Does this declarats, . mean anything, br is it just dreans s the average American citizen ready
 repudiAte this declaration As Workil
 rule for himself et can he realize tn
 the only safe and practical thing to ao -e to try his best to live up to 1t? le In the present connection, isr it fair l. say that every investor who seeks n public utilities "s per cent" or any ra Is l formerly known in law and in fact l. luxurious s'-such an investor is. in fAS Ie even if hot realizing or. intending it,
 public enemy?
 Is it fair to say that, in the long fu 'S such an investor becomes His own Nos