xxxn LIGHTENING HIS BURDENS 109 



water, and electric lighting ? Hitherto, if a munici- 

 pality proposes to supply gas or water. Parliament has 

 insisted that they should buy up the existing companies 

 on fair terms. If this is just and right in the case of 

 water and gas, why are telephone shareholders to be 

 dealt with so differently ? and what security have 

 investors in gas, water, electric lighting, railway, or, 

 indeed, any other business that they will not be treated, 

 or, may I not say, illtreated, in the same way ? 



The National Telephone Company is generally spoken 

 of as a monopoly. It is, no doubt, the only company 

 actually working, but it has no monopoly, nor could it 

 object to competition on fair terms. In fact a number 

 of Manchester merchants and manufacturers have 

 formed a Mutual company, and have already laid out 

 several thousand pounds. 



The Corporation of Manchester sent a deputation to 

 the Postmaster-General on October 31 last, " to urge his 

 Grace to grant a licence to this company, and pointing 

 out the advantages of competition by a company over 

 that of a municipality." 



Why has this application not been granted ? The 

 large number of petitions presented this year to Parlia- 

 ment and the action of the Chambers of Commerce show 

 the strong feeling in the country as to the growing danger 

 of municipal trading, and the Government are about to 

 appoint a joint committee of both Houses to inquire 

 into the whole subject. But the objections to municipal 

 trading apply with peculiar force to the telephone, and 

 it is significant that the Corporation of Liverpool concurs 

 in this respect with that of Manchester. 



The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, at a meeting 

 specially convened to consider Mr. Hanbury's proposals, 

 unanimously resolved to resist them — 



"On the following grounds — viz. (1) that the pro- 

 posals do not meet the requirements of commerce, and 

 are likely to prove highly detrimental thereto ; (2) 

 that they would result in a multiplicity of systems 

 organized by local authorities, which it might afterwards 

 be difficult to unite ; and (3) that the working in detail 

 of the telephones would be vexatious and unsatisfactory." 



This resolution was forwarded by the Chamber to 

 the Parliamentary Committee of the Corporation, which 

 has unanimously adopted it. 



