Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1909 — “NOTHING DOING." [ARTICLE]

“NOTHING DOING."

Council Takes No Action In Telephone Matter.

FRANCHISE NOT LIKELY TO BE A GO

A Large Per Cent of the People Are Against Proposed Increase In Rates, and Majority of Council Seem Inclined to Heed This Sentiment.

At the adjourned meeting of the city council, held Thursday evening, no, action was taken In the proposed new 20-year franchise asked for by the Jasper County Telephone Co., whereby It might boost the rates to Rensselaer patrons 50 cents per month for phones. There was quite a large attendance of citizens present at the meeting and the matter was quite thoroughly discussed, but the members of the council were not all favorable to the passage of the measure, and no action whatever was taken and no record made concerning it. Some members who would have allowed the thing to go through when it was first presented under suspension of the rules, had not Councilman Gerber objected to such suspension, have since been hearing from their constituents, evidently, and find that the sentiment against the granting of the franchise —outside of those owning stock in the company or who are related to those who do—is practically unanimous. The intention of the company was evidently to get the ordinance rushed through before the citizens became aware of the move, and it would have succeeded had not The Democrat made the matter public and taken a stand against it. This started the people to work against the measure, and now that they fully understand what it was proposed to do, the council will hardly feel like going against this aroused public sentiment, even though they otherwise would have done so. It will be a long time yet before the franchise expires, and The Democrat believes it, would be the proper thing for the city to leave matters as they are until say six months before the franchise expires. Then give public notice that the city will receive proposals for a modern telephone system here and let us get the .best we can for the least money. The ordinance should now be called up at the next regular meeting and kicked out.

The Democrat does not believe that there are many telephone patrons here who want service tor less than cost or less than will give a reasonable profit in return, but it does believe that with the number of phone users the company now has, that the plant if properly managed, will pay a handsome dividend on the amount of actual cash put into the $48,000 of stock which the company now claim to have out. • The general opinion seems to be that the most of this stock was paid for out of the earnings, and that there’ was never more than SB,OOO or SIO,OOO in actual money —outside of the earnings—put into it. When the company first started it was granted a franchise here for ten years. This franchise expired in August, 1903, but February 27, 1899, the company represented to the city council that it wanted to extend its lines, make improvements to the local service and reduce toll rates, and asked that the old franchise be extended 20 years, or until August, 1923. No increase in rates was'xasked for and no complaint made that it was not making plenty of money. The extension was granted by resolution, but on March 13, 1899, at the next meeting of the council, a vote was taken to reconsider, which carried, and the resolution was amended to read ten years instead of twenty years. Councilmen Spitler and McColly voted against this amendment. The amendment was accepted by .the telephone company April 10, 1899. The present franchise therefore does not expire until August, 1913, or nearly 4% years yet.