PITY THE POOR TELEPHONE TRUST!
PITY THE POOR TELEPHONE TRUST An Account of the Nation-Wide Depredations Of the Corporation That Complains of Poverty Wow & ohTdonfiss #«* feet ana* ^crrfow cf Om Tdtphmm Trutt which u no*...
...The American Telephone.and Telegraph boasts of SS "associated" Companies' and 15,000,900 stations...
...Bem ember that the word "station'* is...
...Thm • \ - . "Poton* Pool" Then Ufisy have what Is known-as a patent pool, - The patent pool is controlled by the Western Electric Company, which prevents the use of mod-, em patents' and inventions by telephone companies...
...The regulatory commissions, te the various communities have either been very lenient with the companies or thought it too much trouble to go into the matter of this contract, passing tt over by saying, it was a mere extractors...
...at 4*A Par cent, at the gross revenue...
...it controls all the hoards of directors, and those'subsidiary telephone companies do just as they are told...
...If the miners were getting three times their former wsges...
...The courts have so far held that there is no remedy sgalnst this 4% per-cent, contract...
...There is, tor Instance,•the device, a little button, that goes on to a telephone to shut off they, will take eat yew phun* That Is Just one pt* hundred feapjuremteje that are not permitted because of this patent-pooling sissnajsmsjito TmB Bsi asanas - -:: ^ * The bigg-eat thtng probably thai interferes nfltfa the local companies atakIng^snough to pay a reasonable return on their capital investment'** the division pt the tell ohargsn> The American Telephone)' A Telegrapk Company owns nesrjp a8 the* toll lines, and by in allotment of the revenue on long-distance calls to the local lines it is able to divert to itself an unfair proportion of the revenue, not giving to the subsidiaries a fair proportion of the cost of the service and thus Increasing the operating expeases of the local company...
...The miners are asked to accept the existing basis of toe {Industry, the present relation between wages and Income and carry over indefinitely the dcCenselessness of the consuming public against the tiny handful of barons who pocket the unearned minions...
...Instead of a very alight and moat Inadequate increase, they might also be satisfied with themselves and Ignore the hardship ot the general public...
...They are in control of the situation and to-, flueace the action of public utility com missions and legislatures...
...There are a hundred different improvements which the American Telephone A Telegraph Company, through Its Western Sleetric, will not permit subsidiary companies to use, because they Interfere with then- making profits...
...The issue had better bo met now, openly and democratically...
...It boys them from the Western Electric Company, its subsidiary, at prices agreed upon by the two companies and leases the instruments to the subsidiaries, together with -services...
...Since that time, although the cost of local service has greatly Increased, there has been no change in this arrangement As to this contractual relation the utility commissions likewise take an apathetic attitude and refuse to interfere...
...They would rather tame and domesticate labor than cage it...
...There should be no secrets from the public in regard to mining . costs, profits, salaries, wsges or corporate relations...
...This situation is clearly shown by the recent report of the Federal Trad* Commission, which...
...This one item of difference between these two Inconsistent figures of their own amounts to- Millions and adda materially ^o thafcoe1 to the subscriber...
...Only recently a bond Issue, which esnld have bean sold ever the counter at par or better, netted over Sll.OM.OOO to the- underwriters, the bankers...
...The American Telephone A Telegraph Company itself has a contingency reserve of hundreds of minions— probably about half a Mil J en dallara At least half of this Is* unnecessary reserve and undoubtedly is surpass profits...
...Only the other day the New Tork Telephone Company had a largo ad to aU the New Tork»newspapers contending for an additional increase ,et 88 per cent- The charger for into advertising goes on the telephone subscribers* bills...
...To accept the ultimatum to outlaw strikes cannot get the men any genuine Immediate advantage and is a defiance of public interest...
...How far...
...There is not a real inde¥»dent company in the country, he American Telephone AX Telegraph corporation" owfts hundreds of millions of...
...They have a depredation reserve,' which to many instances amounts to as high as SO percent of the cost of the property, but when they themselves value their property for the purpose of fixing rates, they .claim that the amount of depreciation is only about 10 per cent...
...Some oases involving this question are now pending before the United States Supreme Court, principally the city of Chicago ease...
...Or it may be smothered to death under a,soft pillow of pretended rest for its wearied members...
...They object to' the men paying their dues out of their pay envelopes, ss if the owners did not pay their own dues out of their company treasury...
...at some newspapers toward sastrttng fat any real investigation af the trust...
...George Otis Smith, Edward T. Devlne and Charles P. KeUl...
...R owns nothing but Its real property...
...f It Is astounding what a great trust like this can get away with...
...That means to the patrons' of the city of New Tark a trtonto eg aSSO par year, aa there are over UfoOOt stations...
...This ajnounta to about %1 or $4 a year for each station, when it Is estimated that a reasonable return on the investment 'Would be about SO cents per year...
...Several court decisions have sustained the companies in their contention that neither the commissions or the courts could question the gfontracfc This eontfaot obtains la u9 the United States except New Tork, There bed a Sat rase of fS par stodffen...
...Radio Not content with its monopoly at communication by telephone, the amorloan Telephone A Telegraph, to combination with the Radio Corporation of America, closely allied to «, and itjr own Western Klectrtc and other "Stepbrothers...
...With that aa the under lying* fact, the public is at the mercy of the barons, Just aa the strike of the men becomes in .reality outlawed, even were concessions many times greater made to...
...It is the parent company- The total par value of it* outstanding stock is more than $745,000,000, upon which it has earned during the last 24 years over $10 a sliare per year...
...So it is w|tb many other activities and "sociaUserviee" work of the companies They are Just tacked on to the cost of each telephone can...
...the "insiders," the bankers, by the agreements with other companies and underwriting...
...Marine and FlsSeries ContmOttos fii^bfT Sixty-eighth Congress...
...This partly provides the...
...PITY THE POOR TELEPHONE TRUST An Account of the Nation-Wide Depredations Of the Corporation That Complains of Poverty Wow & ohTdonfiss #«* feet ana* ^crrfow cf Om Tdtphmm Trutt which u no* pleading P*+erf* and appearing before At United Stale* Datrict Court in N*» York in an aOtrntpt to *tc**-*m* mthm-incrotmim mm rntosj - " J . fTTfHE American Tdepbdne~c*c ¦ .Telegraph Co* one of the * -"largest and most prosperous corporations, in .the world, is the father or the mother of practically every other telephone company in this covmtrr...
...In other worohj they duplicate the charge under depreciation and maintenance...
...Clark Howell...
...OUTLAWING STRIKES By Joseph E. Cohen ATRADES union may he crushed to death by the brutal juggernaut of massed power in fi strike of endurance...
...It is a mystery hew their figures can pass muster wltnXtbe income tan...
...Time and circumstance pick the choice of methods...
...Increasing the crumbs which go to Labor is almost an insult where the proper reorganisation of the industry as hinted at by the men is locked In the closet of unmentionable proposals, the key turned and removed...
...This la ah to thatgood for the barons, They era sitting pretty...
...The aBsnnsytvanla Hotel, for example, Is a subscriber", but they represent fat the neighborhood of S.000 Statkma...
...In order to apply a plan, however much it be desired elsewhere...
...But where there is greater security more deUeaey and flnesss are referred to...
...It clouds the future with explosive material, waiting only for some occidental industrial eharge to set oS the menacing fuse...
...The operating companies, have a method of computing depreciation which would probably not be .sanctioned by any authority which «was permitted to make a real investigation...
...STvTkrything elee is held under license agreements and without any title at ownership...
...for about f141 per share on the New Tork Stock Bxchange,-its subsidiary companies, from which it derives practically alt its profits, are clamoring In every community for increased rates...
...It is not realised how toefficient the old telephone machine is...
...In the State of .Ohio, they fought this out...
...They cannot butcher themselves to maks an Industrial holiday for the bosses...
...But the greedy owners work both ends—workers and consumers—for the exclusive profit of Vhe idle and useless consolidation of exploiters...
...The commission who signed this, recommendation are John Hays Hammond, _ Thomas R. Marshall...
...That makeup speaks tor its own oonservatlv» overloading...
...And that is just what the mine owners ask them to do...
...And they insist that agreements be entered into for longetorlods of tups, no that the strike becomes a thing of the pest...
...S 'For over thirty-seven yean the Western Electric has paid dividends of at leant S8 a share on ito'eonraton stock...
...They -boast of owning apd controlling over 7,500 United States patents...
...The arrangement for the- distribution of revenue on toll service was made, in many instances about fifteen years ago,on a basis of a flat amount of* the cost to the local companies...
...St a share dividends while every local company is before a public service commission, demanding increased rates...
...mean subscriber...
...yogfosif ico The American Telephone A Tehv graph beeota of its wide distribution of stock among about (00,000 peruana, They do not, however, advertise how much is held by the inside crowd—the bankers, the Ban Securities Company...
...The merits of long-term agreements for the men and the public need not be entered into in this connection...
...The means for that is in nationalisation...
...Service...
...By reason of the usual apathy of the •mall stockholders and the forced proxies from 10,000 stockholding employes, a sman minority of the stock controls the entire corporate situation...
...The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, of course, controls'the stock of the subsidiary companies...
...Thus the report ot the United States Coal Commission tolls that the profits ont of what, they can the monopoly in coal are throe times today what they were before the war...
...First, by the socalled 4H percent contract, which operates like this: Thm Four ami Onm-Half Par Cmni Contract . The American Telephone and Telegraph Company owns all the telephone instruments need by its local companies...
...So far it has been held thai the American Telephone and Telegraph, the parent company, can make any charge whatsoever to the subsidiary company In reference to its license, contract or the use of its telephones...
...The local company makes aU the connections, collects from the subscribers and remits to the American Telephone A Telegraph (Jompapy...
...At the very outset this Is said: "Coal la quite as much a public necessity as gas, street-railway service, or any othen service or commodity that has been brought under public regulation...
...Thm Wrnntmm Elmctric Co...
...But they Insist upon attempting to make the union helpless...
...Investigated the radio combine, and by the bearings held before our Merchant...
...In addition to the ten lines, the Ameriand other baatosanaa, This any account fat the apaths...
...authorities...
...More outstanding that the mppltog of owners* profits Is the complete monopoly which obtains in the coal diggAg, transporting and sdlina- industry...
...It is estimated tint the subaldfsriaa, on an average, charge eat about IS to 29 per cent of the operating charges for depreciation...
...in nearly every telephone company in this country...
...When a local company is musing a rate increase, its whole theory of property valuation is based on a fallacy...
...It is not strictly analogous but bears some resemblance therefore to the problem, of valuing a public utility for tbs purpose of regulating rates...
...now proposes a monopoly of the "sir" by oontroulng all broadcasting...
...significant...
...But no one gets any benefit but the newspapers...
...Aa between the mine owurns' and their men, the barons have been pleased to deny the Charge that they are bent upon wiping out One union...
...From the above it is plain that miners and public are faced with a lawless monopoly in a fundamental public necessity...
...Section JOe of the Interstate commerce act would seem to authorise that commission to fix the depredation rates...
...Later on the commission says: The commission deems itself Justified hi finding as a fact taa* the mining, transportation in.Interstate commerce, and sale otanthradts impresses that commoditjrVith a public use...
...The owners almost have a right to be satisfied...
...stock...
...And they want the men to agree to modest changes in the present 'plan af compensation, if ehaagea>smust ha mode* either up or down...
...Instead of putting off the day of settlement...
...That is what the officers of the union have been swindled into doing with the plan for nationalisation which beers with it steep reduction in the selling price of coal, adequate compensation for X«bor performed and the permissible cutting of time for work to six hours a day...
...then, dees the report of the United States Coal Commission go...
...So they have assumed to be shocked over the assertion that they would not deal with the body of the men...
...No telephone companV can use anything except what the Western Electric releases from its patent pool...
...The local company receives in rental for.soma private branch exchange stations from tfi to $12 per year and pay to the -parent company IS each, as high as U1-1 per cent...
...They prefer to have the orgdnlsatlon eat out at the bloated hand tt themasters...
...This company sells its products to the American Telephone A- Telegraph Company and to the subsidiaries at whatever prices it chooses to fix, and at prices very often higher than the lag •neb subsidiary to appoint: the Western Btoctrtc Company its .parchasing- agent for everything front a pencil to a switchboard...
...hundred percent themselves, tfaeih^tave net the overweening Impudence to deny the men then* one hundred percent union...
...Derived from the men this program may have been met sa ""radical...
...The profits go into the Western Electric Company, which is owned entirely by the American Telephone * Telegraph...
...How do thss>do it...
...the miners...
...The men are not expected to ponder over industrial peace aa a beautiful theory and engage to tie their bands It against their interests or that of the great bulk of the, public who are wage-earners...
...The money Is made by...
...AU the stock of this company is owned by the American Telephone A Telegraph Company, ita "twin brother...
...They do tt in four principal methods...
...Either law and Justice will be established in the Industry, or •tribes for better terms for producer end consumer become impossible...
...And while Una bead of the whole •ctopus la making money and paying dividends of $» a share and its stock la . Manilla...
...They have never done so, however, and in the tost Congress a bill ndnnBevas^ei o^go* asdsop she ^g^j^J^j^Pj^ ¦ Chnseeesston hen powssv^K ^EhnSSpxnd commtianoW attempts to fin the mfe| American Tatonhon* A Tolegiaah Cnsg>^ and that enjy the local mmniliinhni hjgjj the rsnnfa^nbat^noSlng their figures aa they choose...
...Being organised one...
...whtob may ah* be emanated far by thtffaot that titer pared* esmpaay and fan operating companies spend enormous amounts in advertising .all ef which, of coarse, is paid tec by the telephone user—advertising what...
...it nobs not...
...But that Is not an, They also have a maintenance fund For famtonoa, although they eharge set depredation on a switchboard, the* also make a charge for maintenanai whenever i they repair this switchboard, with the reshSE that these two funds, dnprecfatton and malntoniaog, amount to about S per cant" of what toe company Itself claims to be a nub value of the property...
...Often enough the avowed enemies of labor in positions of financial might or political absolutism grasp -tfas bludgeon to crush In the skun of a labor organisation...
...They are- new building a radlo-reoelvlng act'or 'fetation," which win be the only one that can be used by anyone, by reason of their control of the wave length...
...relation with which they had nothing to do...
Vol. 3 • January 1926 • No. 2
