Show C COMIC A at a club chil to bent beat down telephone liono rates lit in seattle by the department of public work of the state of Wash washington inkton public bublic service commission a municipal telephone is urged for viat that city the people tire are not asking for or it but tile the agitators tor for tho the will to do their best to make the people think that they want it A few I 1 years ago they modo the people think that if they owned the street railway ivay raff system a alve cent faro fare could bo be maintained the people anally bonded themselves thoms olvea for 15 million dollars do llana for the local traction system i within a few short abort months ansteatt of a uvo live rent cent fare they had a tou cent fare or three rides tor for a quarter in it addition Idi tion they assumed over halt hal a million dollars a year taxes which the private company form formerly eTly paid but which a municipal plant escape 6 Tl instead istead of low carfares car fares faresa them the jare adiv paying one of the highest fares lit in tho the united states stater in addition to increasing taxes if under milli municipal tellin ownership the coat of telephones were e increased lacreasy la crease d in proportion to the increase in municipal street railway tares fares the toi tele cliones were increased in creased in to the fhe indrea se in ill municipal street railway fares tile the tel telephone ephone would indeed bo a luxury A municipal street railway ayatey Is bad enough and yet it if properly operated operate it con call seve seive the file claf alt to tov which it was wah bunt nut 1311 t a telephony must render much in addition ao to a lopal alomal ser vicci as a largo large proportion of tho calls aru are long distance anu would want to bother with a local telephone alic re service was limited to a city 1 to remedy this situation aavo cafes of tho th municipal system will ask tile legis lattire to enact a la law to compel private systems to permit connection with ith municipal lines and further to enact a law uphold upholding illy the rates of 0 a private telephone company as fawd iby by their municipal paA franchises and abrogate the present power of the state department of public works to ta override and change such franchiso rates what would happen to seattle it if such a law were passed and the managers of the municipal street railway system were required to to reduce fares farea to ore cents lit in order to try to live up to their promises seattle politicians did reduce tares fares to five cents after they had increased them to ten cents tile the result daia a loss of from to a day and with bankruptcy staring the city in the face the tares fares were reestablished at ten tell cents centa or three rides tor for a quarte quart tn public ownership could not do tile the impossible bring down the cost or of living or operation no more can a L law aw demanded by municipal awner phlp advocates ates change basic facts and conditions neither tile the wages nor rates of twenty years ago can ibo ibe established today without bringing everything else down in proportion even seattle beatte could not run its tax fre c street cars for five cents centa a ride without going hopelessly bankrupt atinay it may got get a law passed as it proposes but it will pay tho the rates demanded ma by economic conditions go without street car or telephone service or charge a terri terrince fla loss loiss to taxpayers til payers under municipal ownership it the present proceeding was not apparently of a serious nature onu would take it for childs play or a for or comic opera because it Is BO 0 lacking in reason |