France 141 



possibly be deterred not only by high rates, but by their complexity, 

 and by the multiplicity of the rules which regulate exchange 

 connections. The French bourgeois is a cautious individual who 

 likes to understand exactly what he is undertaking, and it is quite 

 comprehensible how even a business man possessing no previous 

 knowledge of the subject may be fogged into indifference on the 

 threshold of his investigations. There is nothing like simplicity 

 both for fostering and administering business. The French 

 machine would move more freely if it had fewer wheels, for 

 additional wheels mean friction, and friction expense. 



SERVICES RENDERED TO THE PUBLIC 



i. Intercourse between the subscribers and public telephone 

 stations of the same town. The local rates apply without modifi- 

 cation, whatever the lengths of the lines may be, sometimes within 

 the octroi limits, sometimes within the free telegram delivery radius, 

 and sometimes within the boundaries of a commune or parish. 

 Occasionally even several neighbouring communes are banded 

 together and treated as a local area. The subscribers fall under 

 numerous categories, which will be detailed under the heading 

 Tariffs. Briefly, it may be said that the French regulations are 

 marked by a decided lack of liberality towards the public. The 

 acknowledged idea is to make subscribers find the capital for their 

 own lines, besides buying their own instruments, either in the 

 form of a slump payment at the rate of 125-. per 100 meters of 

 single line, or in that of an amortissement or half-yearly payment 

 in excess of the tariff until the cost of the line has been paid off. 

 This system is carried out everywhere except at Paris and Lyons, 

 where the cost of the line is considered to be included in the 

 subscription. The cost of overcoming any exceptional difficulties 

 in construction must also be borne by the subscriber. That 

 individual, besides buying his transmitter and receiver, has to find 

 any extra bells, indicators, or switches he may require, and to pay 

 the State 1 5 per cent, on their value annually for maintenance, with 

 a minimum of 4^. Thus, 45. per annum may be charged for 

 maintaining a trembling bell, value $s. or 6s., which is, moreover, 

 the subscriber's own property. New exchanges are not taken in 



