22O Telephone Systems of the Continent of Europe 



lands Bell Telephone Company, to which fifteen of the other 

 chief towns have since been conceded. Messrs. Ribbink, van 

 Bork & Co., manufacturing electricians of Breda and Amsterdam, 

 hold and work' concessions for eleven of the smaller towns, the 

 exchanges in which, under the fostering influence of a 2/. I'js, lod. 

 rate, have obtained respectable proportions. The historic town 

 of Zutphen, population 17,004, has a model exchange of 141 in- 

 struments on the same subscription. Maastricht is worked by 

 the Maastricht Telephone Company, also on 2/. 17^. lod. 

 Nijmegen, which, with a population of 34,128 and a 2/. 17^. lod. 

 rate, has 450 subscribers, belongs to Mr. J. W. Kaijser. Alk- 

 maar and Helder are in the hands of Mynheer Jan Sot, who 

 carries off the palm for low subscriptions with 2/. qs. *jd. per 

 annum, everything included. It is perhaps superfluous to remark 

 that Mynheer Jan Sot possesses none of those autocratic powers 

 in respect to way-leaves which apologists in this country have so 

 liberally, if gratuitously, endowed foreign telephonists generally 

 by way of accounting for the low rates on which they are able to 

 live and thrive. 



The concessionaries have to obtain licences both from the 

 State and the local authorities, power being reserved to the State 

 to revoke its grant at any time. The municipal licences are for 

 from fifteen to twenty- five years. The concessionaries' tenure is 

 therefore somewhat uncertain, but so far the State has not inter- 

 vened anywhere. No royalty is payable to the Government 

 unless a subscriber's line exceeds five kilometers in length. 

 It is then deemed to partake of the nature of a trunk line, 

 and the State makes an annual charge of i/. 13^. for the sixth 

 and 16-5-. 6d. for each additional kilometer. The municipalities 

 generally stipulate for a few free connections in return for their 

 licence (which, however, usually carries with it valuable way-leave 

 privileges) ; the Town Council of Amsterdam alone exacts a 

 money payment, and this is no less than 2/. is. yd. per annum on 

 every primary subscription of Q/. i^s. 2\d. obtained by the 

 company in Amsterdam. If a subscriber for any reason pays 

 more than the unit rate, the company keeps the whole of the 

 excess. In addition, the company has to give the Amsterdam 

 Corporation no less than thirty- one free connections and a 



