Editing Kingsbury Commitment (section)

==Agreement==
Faced with a government investigation and a possible suit for [[antitrust]] violations, AT&T entered into negotiations that carried on for several months in 1913.<ref name="TE1914">''The Government and the A. T. & T. Company'', Telephone Engineer, Vol. 11 (1) pp.13 (January 1914)</ref> The conclusion came in form of a voluntary commitment in form of a letter by AT&T's Vice President Nathan Kingsbury, who secured approval by executives and the government representatives before submittal. In the letter, dated December 19, 1913, AT&T agreed with Attorney General [[James Clark McReynolds]] to divest itself of Western Union, to provide long-distance services to independent exchanges under certain conditions, and to refrain from acquisitions if the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] objected.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/1994/11/cj14n2-6.pdf Adam D. Thierer, UNNATURAL MONOPOLY] Cato Journal, Fall 1994</ref> Justice Department officials opined that the plan gave the government everything and more than they could have hoped to obtain in court, and it found the approval of President [[Woodrow Wilson]], who expressed his admiration for the attitude and vision of the telephone company:<ref name="TE1914"/>

{{quote|My Dear Mr. Attorney General,
Thank you, for letting me see the letter from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. It is gratifying that the company should thus volunteer to adjust its business to the conditions of competition. I gain the impression more and more, from week to week, that the business men of the country are sincerely desirous of conforming with the law, and it is gratifying, indeed, to have occasion, as in this instance, to deal with them in complete frankness and to be able to show them that all that we desire is an opportunity to co-operate with them. So long as we are dealt with in this spirit, we can help to build up the business of the country upon sound and permanent lines.

Cordially and sincerely yours,

''Woodrow Wilson''
}}

The Commitment did not settle all differences between independents and Bell companies, but it did avert the federal takeover many had expected. AT&T was allowed to buy market-share, as long as it sold an equal number of subscribers to independents. Crucially, while the Kingsbury Commitment obliged it to connect its long-distance service to independent local carriers, AT&T did not agree to interconnect its local services with other local providers.  Nor did AT&T agree to any interconnection with independent long-distance carriers. AT&T's connection with the Western Electric Company was not addressed and the independent manufacturers still could not sell into Bell's market place, but operators had to buy Bell equipment for ''standard trunks'' to be able to connect to the Long Lines network.<ref>Telephone Engineer, Vol. 11 (1) p. 3 (January 1914)</ref>