DEVELOPMENT OF TELEPHONE SERVICE 439 



early in 1877, that ' the telephone could never be of any practical use 

 in business affairs ' ; while men eminently successful in industrial and 

 commercial circles ridiculed the inventor as ' the man who is trying to 

 make the people believe you can talk through a wire/ and scoffed at his 

 invention. 



But Graham Bell's faith in the usefulness and the value of his 

 invention and in its power to eliminate distance in many of the affairs 

 of life never failed. He wasted no time lamenting over evil predic- 

 tions of failure. To him life was rich in possibilities that come only 

 in the dreams of the unselfish toiler for the welfare of others. And 

 wisdom taught him that brooding never brought fruition. So, early in 

 1877, he and his partner, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, planned the tele- 

 phone exchange system somewhat along the lines it developed later, 

 including a trunking-system to connect the different exchanges in the 

 same city, toll lines connecting adjoining cities, suggested the use of 

 aerial cables and underground circuits, as a substitute for the many 

 wires they clearly foresaw would be required in the near future, should 

 the system prove a success, and discussed the advisability of adopting 

 either a fixed rental or flat rate per month or of charging for each 

 1 switch ' or call, similar to modern measured-service methods. 



And though several companies and many individuals failed in their 

 efforts to successfully introduce the telephone in their respective local- 

 ities, and gladly seized the opportunity to surrender the license pre- 

 viously obtained for a nominal payment, others were induced to con- 

 tinue in the telephone business, only through the earnest assurance of 

 Graham Bell and his associates that they were planning a compre- 

 hensive system continental in its scope, and that, in perfecting these 

 plans they were carefully considering every feature that would enable 

 the public to rapidly derive the greatest possible benefit from Bell's 

 invention. 



That all these plans were thoughtfully considered and final decision 

 made on a broad basis are clearly shown in the determination that the 

 telephone should be leased and never sold, and that, while the installa- 

 tion of private lines yielded an immediate profit, the exchange system 

 was the only true field for development. Thus it came about that 

 gradually Graham Bell won staunch supporters to his way of thinking, 

 who comprehended the true function of the telephone and perceived 

 the commercial possibilities in the telephone exchange system. These 

 broad-minded and enthusiastic adherents sought prospective customers 

 among men who had long felt the need of a different method of com- 

 munication from any then in vogue, and found these patrons on every 

 hand. 



As sufficient capital could not be secured in 1877-78 by Graham 

 Bell's friends to enable one company to establish telephone exchange 

 systems in a number of cities, the only recourse open was to afford every 

 encouragement in the establishment of local plants by men of local 



