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15
Mr. J. W. Benn, the Chairman of the Highways
Committee of the London County Council, gave evidence
before the Select Committee of the House of
Commons on the Telephone Service which appeared
to diverge from the opinions expressed at the Conference
above referred to, and the Board therefore passed the
following resolutions, viz.:—
x.—That having regard to the opinions expressed by Mr. J.
W. Benn on the 16th and 21st June, 1898, before the Select Committee
of the House of Commons appointed to enquire into the Telephone
Service, and their divergence from those expressed by the representatives
of the Local Authorities, and particularly by the representatives
of this Board, at the conference held on the 14th June, 1898, on this
subject, and on behalf of whom Mr. Benn was giving evidence, this
Board thinks it of importance to record its views as follows :—
(a) That the telephone service is already of so great public
portance and is calculated to become of such general use
and benefit that it ought to be exclusively exercised by
Government, and for the reason (amongst others) that it is
essential for a successful service that it be under one and
the same supreme and exclusive authority for the whole
country.
(b) That it is not desirable that the telephone service should be
undertaken by the London County Council and the other
Local Authorities, whether in competition with or after
purchase from the National Telephone Company.
(c) That the Post Office should not undertake a distinct telephone
service in competition with the National Telephone Company,
but that on terms to be arrived at by arbitration or other
means, mutually agreed, should take over the undertaking
and property of the Company.
Copies of the foregoing resolutions were forwarded
to the Rt. Hon. R. W. Hanbury, M.P., Chairman of
the Select Committee, the Prime Minister, the Postmaster-General,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
to the Members of Parliament and of the London
County Council for the several districts represented by
this Board; also to the London County Council, and