The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-04

| same p&TlOu Ot last yCaf. &AS S~AN
 the local tariff as a rule is higher than in Georgia, North Carolina and Vir-
 ginia.
 President Conner here referred to a recent meeting of the South Carolina
 Railroad Commission in which an of- ficial of the Southern Railway. plead ing against reduction of rates. said that South Carolina should be satisfied and that Alabama Is the State that
 should do the kicking"
 Mr. Green said that he doubted 1T an
 official of the road had ever made such
 a statement President Conner said
 that 1t was a matter of history. Mir. Green repeated that the opera tions of the Southern Railway in Ala
 bama do not yield a fair and just re- turn and that the tonnage is mostly | of a low grade. He said that he ad- | mitted the claim of the president that | iron and limestone are hauled cheaply l in and out of the Birmingham district. but that he considered the existing rates oh fertilizers as cheaper than on | those commodities.
 l Voice of the People. President Conner said that the people all over the State have raised their | voices against the existing fertilizer rates and that the poorest classes should be given as fair hearing as I the rich.
 Mir. Green rejoined that the opposi ton to the fertilizer rates from Ala bama farmers had not reached his ears. The president replied that the reason no kicks came to his tMr. Green's) Knowledge was that the farmers realized it was useless. l The president informed the witness that there has been an extensive emil grafton from Alabama and attributed it in part to the high railroad rates. He repeated the comparisons of ferti- lizer rates in Mississippi and Alabama imposed by the Southern Railway. The freight traffic manager was, then asked why Mississippi was enjoying lower rates. to which he replied that they did not make the low rates. but | that the Mississippi Commission made them. He pronounced them "abnor- mally. unjust and unreasonably low He added that he thought the rates in this State. considering the unsatisfac- tory conditions. were reasonably low. He submitted that the rates in this State were fixed by the Commission.
 President Conner said that he de- duced from this testimony that the Southern Railway offered low rates in Georgia and Mississippi because the Commissions in those States forced them upon them and that when they crossed the States borders they fixed higher rates because the Alabama Con- mssion allowed 1t.
 No Complaint From Farmers.
 Did you know the people of Ala bama have struck on this, MT. Greeng asked President Conner.
 No, sir, I have not been so inform ed." replied the witness. "as I have received no complaints from the farm CTS"
 The cross examination at this point turned upon the general famous revis- ion of the whole tariff system of the Southern Railway in 1900 and was the origin of one of the most sensational utterances of President Conner during the meeting He charged that when the general revision went into effect it met with the opposition of the Com missions of every other State through which the road passed and that when the Alabama body ought to have been considering it the members were en- toying a trip in a private car of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad through the West"
 "Tsn't that so, Mir. Jones?" asked the chairman, directing a look and nod District Attorney for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
 "I do not recall the dates replied MT. Jones.
 -T. will like to be exonerated If you wish to refer to me-" interposed Com missioner Sanders.
 T would also like to be exonerated," said Commissioner Tunstall. The chairman explained that ne meant to cast no reflections on the men to his right and left. It was a matter of history and the dates would settle the affair.
 Revision of Tariffs. T.. 1N~ of tariffs by the Southern Railway was opposed by the people and Ala bama and the Commissioners of other State who met in Chattanooga to form ulate some method of opposing its go- ing effect. The chairman was there himself.
 President Conner drew out of MT. Green that the Classification Commit tee Of the Southern Railway meets every four months and that as result of the meetings there are more re- auctions than advances. Chairman Conner alluded to what he considered the arbitrary increase in lumber tariffs in Alabama sometime in 1894 whereby charges on a car load of yellow pine lumber were raised by some SIP each. This was explained by the witness by referring to the low prices which the lumber manufactur- CTS were getting for their product fin the years previous. The rates had been very low in these hard times for the lumberman in order to allow him to strengthen himself by compet- ing with the manufacturers of Arkan- sas It was then understood that as soon as the local manufacturers were given a good start a raise in the tariff would be justifiable.
 MT. Green contended that the pres ent classifications are lower than they were in 1900.
 Mir. Green admitted that the inter- state commerce commission decided that the recent revisions of the South ern Railway were too high and that the Georgia Commission Is now try ing to get a restraining order to pre-" vent their applying in that State. President Conner then read from rail- road statistics concerning the stocks and bonds of the Southern Railway. He asked MT. Green If, in constructing his tariffs, he took into consideration the capitalization of the company. He replied that he did not and that the tariffs were framed independently of the stocks, bonds or capitalization of the company.
 Those Georgia Rates. Mir. Green. being again reminded of the low rates in Georgia, said that they had been forced upon his company by the Commission and were unjustly low He did not believe anyhow, that | comparisons of the rates In Georgia and Alabama were pertinent. The chairman thought theye were. MT. Green said that all in all the Alabama