The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-04
STRONG PLEA FOR JUSTICE Says Railroads DiScrim- mate Against Farmers. MATTER OF FREIGHT RATE Prays That Roads Be Forced
 to Comply With Law. 
 Strong Argument by F. T. McElderry Before Railroad Commis-
 sion-Agreement is
 Reached.

F. T. McElderry. representing the Stock Breeders Association of Alabama. yesterday and entered protest In the name of that organization against the railroads charging that the farmers of the State were being discriminated tern shippers in freight rates.
 MT. McElderry made strong plea for justice. and submitted the following ar gument for the consideration of the Commission:
 McElderry's Argument.
 Gentlemen of the Railroad Commits sion--At a meeting of the Stock Breed CTS Association of Alabama. held at Taliadega on the 22ni and 23rd of Janu- ary. 1902. 1t was resolved that Commit tee should wait on your Honorable body, in order to present certain matters for your consideration. I commend the wis dom of the law-making power in estab- Iish an arbiter between the corporation and the shipper, the con1Mon carrier and the consignor, and I esteem myself ex- ceedingly fortunate in appearing before a tribunal of the judicial attainments, and spotless integrity of the present Railroad Commission of Alabama. More especially as l know you are in sympathy with the farmer. and greatly interested in the upbuilding of the agricultural in terests of- Alabama.
 T beg Of you. therefore. gentlemen. to forget the deficiencies and the imperfec- tDnB OI the speaker III the SFdNtty Ot the greivance and not refuse to right our wrongs because of the failure of the spokesman to properly present them to you.
 here presented constitute one and the same person. and the class represented in this application. measures over mighty interest of this grand Common wealth. therefore the decision of this hon orable body win be fraught with sweep ing and far<reaching consequences and will mean veal or woe to thousands of anxious toilers.
 Demand Compliance With Law.
 T come before you today as the repre- sentative of class that works harder. lives harder. and gets less remuneration Gods green earth. We come not as cripging CUTS, begging a bone. but stand ing erect as men, as citizens and tax-pay- CTS of the State of Alabama asking no fa- rations of Alabama, but demanding of them that they comply with the laws on the statute books of Alabama, which were enacted for our protection.
 Is it unreasonable. gentlemen. or un. an Alabama farmer shall have the same rights In Alabama markets that the citi- gems of other States have in said mar kets7 Shipping over the same rails? We due consideration, when we make the statement that Alabama shippers pay nn- Luaily million and a half dollars more for hauling the same amount of goods over the same mileage than the citizens of Georgia. This fact was ascertained by a careful compilation of comparative statistics of Alabama and Georgia. As much money as it takes to run our State government
 ''The paramount consideration in O prosperous agriculture Is d market for the surplus farm products. It is folly to talk to farmer about dsversifying his crops, when l tell you. gentlemen. of the adverse conditions under which we farm CTS of Alabama labor. 1 speak of my own personal knowledge, and can pro- duce the expense pills to verify my state two and one-third times as much to ship his hay to Birmingham from McElderry Station. as the Tennessee farmer pays, shipping over the same rails 25o miles further away from Birmingham. If he wants to ship rye straw to Chattanooga It costs him nearly five times as much as the rate from Chattanooga to Mont gomery. If he wants to ship his rye 12O miles to an Alabama market. 1t costs him as much az the farmer in Northeast Kansas has to pay to get his grain to Montgomery. If he wants to ship cow peas twenty-six miles, the rate is one ana one-half times as much ss the rate on grain from Chicago to Tailadega or to Montgomery. In fact, m Alabama farm CT Is practically prohibited from selling his surplus farm products in the neigh boring markets of his own State if he naS to ship over the railroads of his State. It Is reflection on the intelii- gence and on the manhood of the citi- zenship of Alabama that such a state of affairs should be tolerated one day. I state but the truth. gentlemen, when I tell you that the railroad corporations operating in the State of Alabama yio- late the laws of the State without let or intolerance 365 days in he year. Lessons in Human Nature.
 :, Upon old Talladega where the ming ling waters of the Chinaby and Cheaha mnrmur ceaseless lullaby I was born and grew to manhood. and there on the old plantation from observation of the negro I learned many lessons about hu- man nature. and beneath the polished veneering of the courteous railroad off, cial find they are actuated by the sama motives that prompts the negro to lock go for a bucket of water. I was up at Anniston when Uncle Sam was shipping home his heroes of the battles with tho sand fieas and mosquito around Tampa and Miami. Fla. Although the Southern and the l.. and N. had joint agent at Anniston. I saw my genial friend Knox and a Southern official in the ticket of- flee eagerly watching to see that the spells of WIT were fairly divided. When hear of a member of the Traffic Asso- citation which met at Atlanta denounc- ing his fellow members as liars I am forcibly reminded of a chunk of wisdom given me by an old blacksmith. to whom when a hoy. I went for comfort m heinz