The City's Telephone Monopoly Debate
Tacoma’s business community remains divided over whether to welcome a second telephone provider to break the Sunset company’s grip on the city.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Several days ago, The Times sent out its reporters to inquire of merchants and others what they thought of the idea of having two telephone companies in Tacoma. Some argued for competition; they were tired of the one railroad system, one water system, one telephone system, and one-horse idea generally. They believed that Tacoma would be a one-horse town unless these monopolies were broken up. Others said that they didn't want to pay for two telephones just now or be put to the inconvenience of answering two, one being bad enough. The result of the canvass was the discovery that the business men of Tacoma had agreed to disagree over the proposal, at least until they had further time to consider general principles. The Tacoma Times, it appears, is against monopolies. It believes that competition would cause the Sunset company to get in and dig, giving the people better service and perhaps lower rates. The opposition company would have to give better service in order to get subscribers, and the Sunset company would do its best to force the other out of the field, if it could. Any new telephone franchise should be ironclad in providing distinctly that the Sunset shall never use it nor operate under it, directly or indirectly.
“They believed that Tacoma would be a one-horse town unless these monopolies were broken up.”
The turn-of-the-century struggle to break up a utility monopoly mirrors contemporary debates over broadband access and municipal internet. Tacoma eventually moved toward public control with the establishment of Tacoma Power, suggesting the city took the 'municipal ownership' warning to heart.
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