The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-23
DENIES MIR. coMER's ASSERTIONS
All Interests Vastly Benefited by the
 Railroads.
Mobile. Ala. .Augue


 Commercial and Industrial Associa-
 ton, Huntsville. Ala:
 Dear Sir-I notice your reply to the ar ticle of Mir R. B. Conner in the Mont gomery Advertiser. wherein he charges the twenty-six delegates that voted in opposition to him when he tried to inject politics Into convention that had as- sembled at Gadsden in June for the pur- pose of developing the undeveloped re- sources of the great state of Alabama If you remember when l made the motion calling the presidents attention to point of order that MT. Conner was out of order for the reason that he asked the convention to allow him to speak In answer to MT. Thorntons paper, which he had read, showing that 1t was to the interest of the farmers of Alabama to modernze farming. The convention al- lowed MT. Conner to reply to that; he, Conner, stating that he was a farmer. In- stead of replying to this practical paper, which was promoting the industry Of the farming interests of Alabama, he under took, in a forty-slx-m minute speech, to prejudice the great masses by his untrue statements that the railroads were menace and doing the great state Of Ala bama an injury. He also stated that the twenty-six delegates. of whom l was one, and my four colleagues from Mobile, were paid attorneys and in the interest of the railroads You remember l hurled this back in his teeth and in front of his race, and in the presence of the convention ana It's members, that 1t was false that 1 was neither an attorney by profession or in their interest, nor any of my col leagues who were representing the Com mercial club of Mobile at the Gadsden | Industrial association of the state, then | in convention at Gadsden. The facts as | to my connection as a delegate are that | I am a member of the Commercial clup
 of Mobile; I pay my dues and being member of this club 1 have had this In view to promote Mobiles commerce and 1 industry in every way and to use my in- fiuence in the industrial development Of 1 the great state of Alabama. l wish to l deny MT. Comer's assertion that the rail- road commissioners have never done any | good.
 Some years ago appealed to the rail- l road commissioners during the Jones ad- ministration, and asked that the Mo 1 bile and Ohio, the Mobile and Birming- 1 ham and the Louisville and Nashville re-arrange the switching charges on Ala bama products such as rosin, turpen- tine, lumber and coal. then. as mem Der of the Christan-Craft company die- tated letter to the railroad commission CTS at Montgomery, and they very promptly replied, ard to serve my con venience assembled in Mobile to take tes- timony. and the results of that deliber- alton of the railroad commissioners was that they reduced the switching charges on those Alabama products from sS to S per car. l merely cite this to refute MT. Comer's assertion as to this transaction. I was complainant and the railroad com migsoners promptly responded Having heen Identified with the commerce Of Mo bile and the port of Mobile for more than thirty years, or more 1 wish to remind YOU of the fact that probably you ana great many more are not aware or that when rosin and turpentine was being manufactured Mobile had no market, and those commodities were shipped to New Orleans by schooners, and the man ufacturers of this turpentine bought all of their supplies in turn in New Orleans, even in some instances that 1 can re- member my friends any acqualntances had their wives millinery and dentistry done in New Orleans. merely cite this to show you that we were not set.ihs .ne benefit of the natural trade that De- longed to us in south Alabama. then sought the assistance of the only rail- road ther running cut of Mobile to the western markets, which was the Mobile and Ohio Mir Feitch was the general freight and passenger agent or the MO bile and Ohio. I told him that what rosin and turpentine was being manufactured Tn aouth Alabama and south Mississippi
 
 not doing the commerce Of Mobile any good. He then, representing ms railroad. asked me what assis tancs his raiFoad could give to the commerce Of Mobile. reuljed that I wanted rate Of freight to St. Louis Cincinnati, Louisville Chicago, anc the other markets of the northwest. He requested me to write and find out what the rates of freight were from Will mington, N C., Savannah. Ga. and Charleston. g. C., which were the great manufacturing points where rosin and turpentne was produced.
 After obtaining this rate he made rate that enabled Mobile to compete with those named cities, and the result IS that we have captured almost the entire trade. Thus you see, the Alabama laho o"her' the Alabama turpentine producer, the labor connected with promoting this in- dustrv. as well as the merchants have bae, vastly benefited, and those values have been increased many fold. Ihen again. the farmers in south Alabama, es- neciallv in the county or Mobile would never have been able to raise the great qualities of early vegetables, had 1t not been for the railroads coming to their rescue. by giving them very low rate of freight, and equipping refrigerator cars with special passenger service, so that these early vegetables and fruits can be put in the great markets in fine condi- tion. This industry has come from noth ing up to great magnitude, and this has been done entirely by that aggregation of capital, which we are all so eager to have come into the great state and which has been one of the greatest developers that we have had since the reconstruction period.
 MT. Conner laid great stress you remember, that the railroads were gigan- tic trusts that were operating in Ala bama and that they were continually op- pressing the farmer and the tow-headed boys and girls, and I wish to cite my remarks in answer to him at the conven- tion at Gadsden. You probably remember when cited the instance before the Mo