The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-23
CUNNINGHAM ANNOUNCES HIS
 GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDACY

and society from criminal aggression,
 and to punish those who comml oL
 fences against person, properey, char
 acter. rights, society. etc, and that au-
 thority and method is the law of tne me land Upon this great question tneTe
 should be universal agreement, and the
 one covenant of all the people should
 be to maintain the dignity, majesty
 upon this matter is too recent and well
 known to require much dlscussioIi.
 While Governor I did everything tnas sa
 State to maintain and enforce the laws thereof.
 | The policy of executive clemency IS | intina tely associated with the enforce ment of law. The power of executive
 clemency is really appalling ana IS the | ernor. If there is anything in the world that will send man who has this power to his knees that he may pour out his heart to Almighty God in ] prayer and supplication for help and fight it is this power when confronted | with its exercise or the death of 3 one motive and that is the discharge of 1 duty. Duty to the State, society. the l law, the lawful tribunals, to the dead, | to the unfortunate applic ant for exec
 While Acting Governor pardoned I
 muted and remitted sentences and for, feitures seventeen; restored to civil rights seventeen. The rules that Cov-
 erned me m the exercise of clemency
 First-New evidence properly sub mitted, that established grave and ser | ious doubt of guilt.
 Second-Extenuating circumstances
 which in the opinion of the Judge or
 Solicitor. or both. justified a lighter l punishment than that prescribed by | law.
 l Third-when the applicant was con- victed of a msdemeanor and had some | organic disease which prison confine-
 ment would probably augment to a dangerous degree. and when he could not be transferred to a safe and sanf- | tary prison. (This applies especially ] to persons sentenced to confinement in
 jail or to hard labor for the County) | Fourth-Long and continued faith | full service with good conduct and hav- | ing dIscharS rSed the greater rart of a | Fifth--Condition of applicants health | his family and petitions.
 | The Regulation Of Railroad TranspOr- tatiOn Rates.
 f A question which involves tho rights of property assessed for taxes in this
 State at $54.0Oo.OoO, and the equitable not be an insignificant and unimpor-
 tant subject. This matter cannot be, ought not to be, and must not be ig-
 nored. suppressed. lodged or delayed; | solveI rightly to the end that justice
 and equity may be established and
 maj 1tained between the common car \ law the method and the means must be adequate, certain and efficient. It is with the reople whether or not these | things come to pass.
 | Opinions on this queston may be | classified as follows:
 | First-That Railroads are wholly private property Ind amen lbIe to the | tGFrT 1Vxyf fsxs RF nFnnNFEV Second-That Railroads are to be ! operated and controlled by law exclus- lively. fer the public benefit.
 Third-That Railroads are private l property entitled to 2 just and fair re- Iturn uppn the capital Invested in them and In Which the people have a lawful, titled to juat. fair and equitable rates flor transportation of persons and prop
 erty. ..*. ..~ | If railroads are wholly private prop
 erty amenable to the law only as other property. they can refuse to transport
 person or property or may charge such I Therefore they could destroy the indus l try and commerce of any sec ion, com
 munity, industry, corporation. firm or i'm
 dividual. Such a theory is undoubted- | ly selfish and dangerous.
 l If railroads are wholly for the pub | lie benefit, private capital spent in
 their construction would be denied a | just and fair return. Such an opinion
 Is also selfish and dangerous.
 | If railroads are private property in
 which the public have an equity there
 is mutual relation of reciprocal jus
 tice, equity, and fair play. This theory | Is right and 1t is also the law of the | land. It is right because the physical
 necessities of railroad require the in | tervention of the sovereignty of the State in the condemnation of private 1 property for right of way and also
 because a railroad Is essentially mo-
 nopoly in the transportation business | for certain communities, areas and dis
 tricts. Nothing is better established l in the science of economies than that
 upon a given expenditure of capital and
 labor than where competition exists. The law. as I understand it, is as l follows:
 First-There is Federal and State
 constitutional authority for the regu-
 lation of railroad rates. 1:@
 Second-Fcr the regulation of inter | state commerce the authority is the | Congress of the United States.
 Third-For the regulation of intrs-
 state commerce. that is within tf .
 Fourth-That these authorities may | indirectly regulate railroad rates by l establishing tribunal for that pur-
 pose. for example, a commission
 thorlties is limited as to the degree
 of regulation and that the regulation
 must be in accordance with certain | rules and procedure which have been
 established by law.
 These rules and procedure relate to l a fair and just return upon the capital
 invested 'n railroad properties, 10 the 1 elements of value, In intra-state regu-
 lation. to the earnings within the State
 relating to the value of the property,
 the cost of it's operation and the gross and net earnings, etc. These various l factors in the problem of the. rcgula- 1 tion of railroad rates have been fixed | and determined by the courts and are therefore the law of the land i There are two methods advocated for | the regulation of transportation rates, | to-wit: Commercial and Governmental | The principle of commercial regulation 1 Is competition and the reciprocal rela- | ttons that exist between the common carrier and it's patrons. The principle l Of Governmental regulation is the au- | thority of law to establish and main
 tain by law justice and equity between | the common carrier and its patrons. Mir. Samuel Spencer. President of the | Southern Railroad. delivered q very | thoughtful address upon this subject | before the annual convention of the Southern Hardware Jobbers' Associa- tion. He discussed more particularly : interstate rates. Speaking of inter- ! state rates he says:
 '"The development of the Iron indus ! tries of Alabama and Tennessee was made possible only by the making of
 low freight rates from those regions to ! the portions of the country where iron
 and it's products are consumed In the ] largest quantities.
 i He further says:
 i Rates upon raw ma tcrials necessary
 for the operation Of tho Alabama fur
 naces were made unprcccdentedly low.
 in order that those furnaces might be