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Newspaper Page Text
CLAIMS SMALL TELEPHONE USERS PAY THE LOSSES ON BIG LINE EXCHANGES "In Chicago there Is no need to "Out of little nickels dropped into slots they have piled up million-dollar piohts." This statement by Morton L. John son, president of the Penny Phone League, betore the Greater Chicago Federation m the Great Northern ho tel last night, was connected with an other statement that the Chicago Telephone. Co. buncoes the small phone users into paving the com pany's losses on big trunk line ex changes, wait until the national postal sys tem is controlling wire communica tion. Right here in Chicago, if the people are awake to their chance, is a system of wires, tunnels and ex changes that belongs to the people. What the Penny Phone League asks is that the people go ahead and take what already belongs to them." '"Of the 24,000 names listed in the Automatic Telenhnrifi r.nfrmanv'K rii- rectory, it is probable less than half "rine Daily News has an unlimited are bona-fide subscribers, half of the trunk line service," said Johnson, names are of subscribers who are who is an electrical worker and a tel- dead, or are getting service without ephone engineer. "T iiey pay the paying for it. Cnicago 'leiephone Co. $12b a yeart "When the company got its fran f or this service. It actually costs the chise, it was accused of wanting a telephone company $800 a year to tunnel system for .railroads instead run that service at the Daily News. of a phone system. To guarantee "The difference of $675 a year is that it would run a real and not a fake made up by the users of the nickel- phone system, the solemn promise first phone. There is not much pub- was made by them, and stated in the hcity tor these facts because the Bell , franchise, that if between 1900 and phone companies m newspapers and magazines are big advertisers. "It the people of this city owned the automatic system and placed it in 350,000 homes there could be a pennyta-call service. The important tacts about the telephone business are not known to the general public. Ask the people you meet and you will find there are not many who know that leading government officials 1909, they didn't get 20,000 subscrib ers, the city could step in and take the whole equipment, tunnels, wires and all, without payment of a cent of money. "If ever anything was clearly un derstood among business transac tions to which the City of Chicago was a party, it was this franchise clause providing forfeiture. Now we have the spectacle of nine aldermen are ready today to have .the govern- i on the gas, oil and electric light com ment take over all telephone lines and operate them from the postof fices. Why shouldn't phone service, just hke postal service, be purchas able at cost prices? j j. ne posuuizauuu oi uie teicpuuuc is advocated by Congressman David J. Lewis of Maryland, the man known as the father of the parcel post Postmaster Burleson is on record in Senate document No. 399 as favoring postoffices being used as ocal telephone and telegraph head-gyrartergj mittee who vote against an auditing committee which will supervise and approve the report of the public serv ice department on how many real and how many fake subscribers there are. "By all rights, this property be longs to the people of Chicago. Yet the managers of both the Chicago Telephone Co. and the Automatic 1 company have had the nerve to come j before the city council and ask per mission to merge the Automatic with g J he BeJL This chemg, which, ha & t tU.l t AJ -fulifcu. &!'-?' J?Z2LJ2- jmmmmammmamammmt