The Town Divided Over Long-Distance Communication
Richland stockholders clash over selling their local phone system to a Kennewick-based manager.
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.
As usual, the telephone meeting ended by everybody disagreeing and the matter is as far from being settled as it ever was. Three propositions were submitted to the stockholders of the Richland company by Manager A. F. Brown, of Kennewick: one to buy out the local company and two to sell his own line to Richland. After a great deal of discussion, the committee was instructed to confer with Mr. Brown again. However, an unofficial vote taken after the adjournment of the session showed that 86 stockholders were in favor of selling while 14 were opposed. Something will have to be done in this matter, or the first thing we know, Richland will be without long-distance communication.
“As usual, the telephone meeting ended by everybody disagreeing and the matter is as far from being satisfactorily settled as it ever was.”
This 1917 dispute over local versus regional control of critical utility infrastructure echoes modern debates about municipal broadband and who owns the lines that keep a community connected to the world.
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