Salt Lake Telegram | 1916-04-09 | Page 19 | The Telephone Controversy

I t. t I 1 The he 1 Telephone Controversy The controversy between the people of Salt Lake county and the Mountain l States Telephone and Telegraph company is diminishing diminishing diminishing diminish diminish- ing any in bitterness The subscribers who object to the new conditions conditions conditions condi condi- imposed by the corporation seem just as determined as ever everto to 1 I fight the thing out to the end cud The fact that the board of governors of the Salt Lake Commercial club passed judgment on the telephone company and found it blameless blameless blame blame- less Jess has not checked the flame of indignation The citizens of Salt Salt Lake county living outside this city are n not t blaming the majority of Salt Lakes Lake's citizens or t the te merchants here for that whitewashing I verdict We Ve are glad of this Mayor Mayol McHenry leHenry of Murray and other prominent fighting for what they believe to be right do not consider the club clubs club's s 's decision as an expression of general opinion in Salt Lake ON THE CONTRARY THEY KNOW THAT TUAT AMONG THE TT T oj PHONE SUBSCRIBERS OF THIS TillS CITY THERE IS SYMPATHY FOR THOSE WHO VHO HAVE FOUND IT NECESSARY TO DO WITHOUT WITH WITH- OUT TELEPHONE SERVICE TO FIGHT OPPRESSION It is charged that the telephone company promising improvement improvement improve- improve ment merit eventually in iii its service wanted the people to first finance all the tho changes hanges that might bring better service It is customary for a concern concern first to spend its o 11 own money making improvements before s j it advances the price of its articles The telephone c company has nothing but service to sell If it wishes to make that service better and spends a lot of it its own money doing so then it is time to say whether it is necessary to raise the price prie ri c o of the service to give the stockholders a fair return on their in- in I vestment Of course the people want to KNOW THAT THEY ARE tE NOT x BEING ASKED TO O P PAY AY BIG DIVIDENDS ON V WATERED A ERED STOCK I They a are e willing that men who invest their money in hi public service corporations receive in return a just rate of interest on every dollar they actually advance Never will win the people object to this I But they do not feel like putting up the investment themselves then paying the interest to someone else Salt Lake is almost as keenly interested in this controversy as I the rest of the county THE TIIE PEOPLE HERE DO NOT EVEN KNOW UNDER WHAT FRANCHISE THE COMPANY IS OPERATING It Itis is declared that the old franchise granted in the administration tion of Mayor Jennings has loop holes through which a a wagon could I be driven On the other hand the franchise of the Independent c cJ company com com- pm- pm m- m I pany which was smothered by the present company had a provi provision ion I we wc believe which prohibited the charging of more than 48 a yeara year T for a phone Does the Mountain Stat States s. s Telephone and Telegraph company operate under that franchise or under tinder the first one 1 If it claims any rights granted by the Independent dent fran franchise hise isn't it bound to observe all the restrictions of that franchise 1 There are several things the people would like to know about the company j Wouldn't they be happy now if they had a public utilities tics commission commission com corn mission before which charges could be filed and investigated Wouldn't they find it handy now in their quarrel with the telephone p company 7 Maybe l it will be the grasping Oregon Short Line next that is caught at some of its di discrimination crimination in rates that make the cost of living high in Utah maybe it will be one of the other big corporations soon that will be trying to take too big a toll toU from the people Then the public utilities commission will be needed Will the people of Utah se see to it that their next legislature ture gives them this much needed protection 1 w h. h