The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-25
SMITH AND COMER BEFORE
 A MONTGOMERY AUDIENCE

"Hurrah for Smith," cried another voice and a cheer went up.
 You'll have to do better than that, to elect him." said MT. Conner smiling.
 The Smith partisans at this sally re- doubled their cheers.
 Mir. Conner quoted from a letter from the Secretary of the Board of Trade of Charleston. S. C., in which his attention was called to the fact that the officials of the Southern Railway were declaring in the railroad fight in South Carolina higher than in any of the eleven States through which the road runs.
 Mir. Conner taking his two circulars, asked:
 "Mr. Smith, are these figures quoted correctly, are the rates too high? Answer me-"
 "rll answer you in my time." replied MT. Smith.
 He denounced the railroad trust as the greatest monopoly that ever affected Ala bama.
 .'They tell you not to select man whom they say is prejudiced." said Mir. Conner But the ballot was given you to let you record your choice. You are given the right to select juror to try your case. Do you want to continue to let the rail- roads select the man to fix your freight rates? If you do. why not turn the whole matter over to Captain FalknerT'
 Smith Was Applauded.
 Mir. Smith was greeted by a round of hearty applause. Holding up Mir. Corners circular Mir. Smith said:
 'It was this circular. this circular with all its errors and which has done iucai- culable harm. (which caused me to chal- lenge Mir. Conner to meet me on the stump. If cannot prove to you that the consumer in Montgomery cannot have his grain and grain products hauled from St. Louis cheaper than can the consumer in Atlanta will withdraw from the race now"
 This statement aroused a round of ap- plause.
 MT. Smith quoted from freight lists showing that Montgomery had the advan- tage of from three to eight cents over At lanta on grain. and flour. Flour, he point ed out, was hauled cents cheaper to Montgomery than to Atlanta.
 MT. Conner knew that had been tell- ing in my speeches, of his railroad attor- ney brother in reply to his statement that Colonel Tunstall was the father of two railroad attorneys" said Mir. Smith go tonight when he saw his brother sitting over there he anticipated me-
 T didn't know that he was here. Is ho here?' asked MT. Conner. ''Yes, he's over there. and he's the Di- vision Counsel of the Central of Georgia, '' replied Mir. Smith. Pointed out in this way. Col G. L.. Conner of Eufaula. who was occupying a rear seat, said:
 'The place didn't come to me because I was the brother of anybody. It came | on account of merit" CT 00 fA thot Mr dvnatt flor he is one of the very, best lawyers in East Alabama"
 Mir. Smith recounted the record of the l Railroad Commission during his term of l office. In that tlmc, he said, reductions had been made in freight rates amount ing to $3OO.0W annually. He told of tho work of having depots built throughout the State and of the other Improvements established by the Commission.
 Freight Rates Reduced. We have reduced the freight rates fl 1 Alabama wherever the law and the evI- dence Justified it," declared MT. Smith. That is our record and I stand or fall upon that record. We will continue to make reductions whenever we are Jus;l- fled by the law and the evidence" Mir. Smith said that he was not run ming on a platform pledging an arbitrary reduction of 70 or 80 per cent. He had no purpose of taking the railroads by | the throat and forcing them to great ar- | bitrary reductions. He was too good a | friend to the men who worked for a railroad to compel a reduction of sala- | ries by forcing down rates in Alabama | until the railroads could not make a far return upon the capital invested.
 His hearers were pleased with this seat iment. Hearty applause met 1t. Aw khn& A~ k<1 great a lover of his State to blindly strangle one of the great industries of the State and which had contributed so largely to Alabama's prosperity. Mr. Smith read a bill which he had prepared and had introduced in the Leu;- islature. bill giving tho Commission au- tho-ity to compel railroads to make quick restitution in cases of overcharges by railroads. This bill. sald MT. Smith, had bern urged by him, but by some mad vertence the Legislature failed to pass il. He told of recent instances in which the Commission had succec dcd in collecting and refunding to merchants overcharges paid on freight. He promised his hearers that he would patiently and thoroughly investigate every complaint of an over charge brought to his notice.
 Mir Smith spoke only an hour, leaving fifteen minutes of his allotted time un- used.
 Comer's Rejoinder.
 In his reply Mir. Conner an1lyzed the Railroad Commission, speaking of Mir Smith as an attorney who had been eIn- ployed by the railroads. He alluded tc Col. W. c. Tunstall as "a politician pure and simple" an allusion the crowd met with cheers. Mir. Sanders, he said, was the attorney for the Louisville and Nash vile Railroad Company when he was ap- pointed.
 In reply to MT. Smiths point as tc Montgomery rates Mir. Conner declared that they were low because local busl- ness mon had placed steamboats on the Alabsma River. The railroads, he de- clarcd. would never be able to change them. as long as Montgomery had a SC of public spirited business men. Mir Conner declared that there was nc such thing as State rights in Alabama Monopoly. Fe declared. reIgncd through out the State He asked his hearers woIld they continue this condition hy perpctuating the Commission responsible for it.
 At the close of the speaking both cah- al