The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-05
RATES CAUSE HOT
 WORDS BEFORE COMMISSION
the Central of Georgia and J. T. Poe. l frainc Manager of the Mobile and Ohio 1
 Commission Begins It's Work.

the Central of Georgia and J. T.. Poe, | irainc Manager of the Mobile and Ohio 1
 commission Begins Its Work. The first hearing of the Commission be- President John V. Smith and Associate | Commissioners w. c. Tunstall and w. T. l Sanders sat at the press table in front of | the Speakers stand with Secretary Virgil | Grimm and stenographer. The railroad officials and attorneys l tound seats behind the desks of the mern- | bers of the Legislature and the gathering 1 was not unlike sitting of the House. | There were enough railroad men present | to form a quorum had they been law. | makers
 President Smith announced that there | were several matters on the docket. The | first. he said. was the complaint from | Talladega against the fertilizer rate of | the Southern. c. T. McEderry, who filed the com piaint, stated to the Commission that the 1 matter had been adjusted and the case might be dismissed. An order of dis missal was entered. The complaint of J. J. Stephenson. against the Alabama Car Service Asso- citation. was then taken up. MT. Stephen son. Birmingham merchant, claimed penalty from the Association, alleging that it had been tardy in the delivery of freight.
 Major W. A. Moody, President of the Car Service Association, was present to make answer to the complaint. The As sociation. Major Moody said, was due nothing to the complainant It had off, alty for every day the cars had not been delivered after the bill of lading had been presented. but MT. Stephenson had refused the offer. The question was | briefs for later decision by the Com mission.
 Hay and Grain Matter. The question which followed, President | Smith said. was the consideration of the rate on hay and grain. The Commission. l said MT. Smith. took this question up on its motion. number of complaints, he said. had been filed with the Commission alleging that the rates on these commo- dities were too high in Alabama. All 1 been docketed as one.
 If there is any one present." said MT Smith. who is interested in these com plaints we will be glad to hear from him.
 1 B. B. Conner. one of the representa- lives of the Merchants and Shippers As sociation, announced that they had come | prepared to submit petitions showing l Alabama were too high and had been so maintained by the railroads.
 The hay and grain rates, however" :" said MT. Conner. cover a large field. and | That the farms of Alabama are de- teriorating no one can deny. Farmers in every section of the State are leaving the country and moving to the towns. The rates on hay and grain are partly | responsible for this condition, and the | high freight rates on all farm products | in Alabama are wholly responsible for the desertion of the farms. The farms of | Alabama can only be restored through cheaper transportation. Cheaper trans portation will help the railroads, for railroads cannot be built without farms
 Whoever heard of railroad consult ing a farmer on freight ratesg' asked MT. Conner.
 Rates Doubled in Alabama.
 MT. Conner declared that the Western Railroad doubled It's rates on hay and grain as soon as 1t crossed the Georgia line into Alabama.
 "I believe" said MT. Conner. that Alabama has the highest rates on hay and grain of any State in the Union. commodities fiuctuate with their price, but the rate on farm produce remains the same 1t matters not whether cotton is up or down, the rate is the same" | MT. Conner was followed by s. T, Me- Elderly of Talladega. another of the l compliments against the freight rates of the railroads. MT. McElderry. warmly attacked the freight rates on farm pro- duce. These rates.h he said, had driven him from the country to town, where he l could make a living.
 The railroads in Alabama, he said. were violating the laws of the State S65 l submit to it much longer. He drew a comparison between the railroads and the carpet -baggers of other days in the vio- lation of the laws and rights of the peo- pie.
 "The people rose and the carpet bag gers went" declared MT. McElderry Some of them went by the rope route but they went.
 Discriminantes Against Alabama.
 He declared that the Alabama farmer could not compete with the Tennessee farmer in raising hay when the latter was given a rate of $2.50 a ton from Chattanooga to Birmingham while the rate from Talladega to Birmingham was . s ton.
 He told of his experience in shipping straw from Talladega to Chattanooga , The railroads, he said. allowed 1t to stand on the platform until part of il routed and had to be dumped into a creek He shipped one car, he said. out of which he got $15 and the railroads got $65 An engine of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, he said, set fire to the rest and it was burned.
 When Mir McElderry concluded, the , Commission recessed for luncheon.
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