The Shadow Over the Telephone Franchise
A Tacoma councilman accuses colleagues of taking payoffs to favor one telephone company over another, igniting a fight for accountability.
The Tacoma Times stands ready to publish any statements which members of the city council are willing to make regarding the alleged attempts at bribery said to have been made in connection with the telephone fight between the Sunset and the Independent companies. Councilman Conrad's statements, which took on the form of direct accusations, were published in this paper yesterday. Mr. Conrad owes it to the people of Tacoma to rise in the city council at the next meeting and repeat the charges of attempted bribery which he made to the Times. Mr. Conrad informed the Times that members of the council had told him they had been approached with offers of stock or money. Continued silence in the city council will cause the gravest suspicions to arise in the minds of the people. If either of the contesting companies has resorted to bribery to gain a victory over the other, the facts should be brought to light and placed in the hands of the public prosecutor.
“Continued silence in the city council will cause the gravest suspicions to arise in the minds of the people.”
Public utility franchises—who controls our infrastructure—remain a flashpoint in Tacoma today. The 'telephone fight' of 1904 echoes contemporary struggles over who grants rights to municipal bandwidth and utility services, proving that corporate influence on council chambers is a classic Tacoma narrative.
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