The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-23
CURTIS ON MONTGOMERY

them, and yet the people do not seem willing to allow the stockholders to draw any dividends. Colonel Falkner, the general counsel of the Louisville and Nashville Road, says:
 The railways have done everything for Alabama. They have done im- mense more than the State government or any municipality or any official pow CT whatever to develop It's resources and extend its commerce. From here to Decatur was a bowling wilderness until the South and North Railroad was built That was followed by the Ala bama Great Southern. They made Bir- mingham possible. They were private enterprises. and the men who put their capital into them took all the risks of failure. They were successful, at least in one thing-they have made Alabama one of the wealthiest States In the Union although before they started she was one of the poorest There Is scarcely a man woman or child in the State who has not been benefited directly or indirectly by these enterprises except the stockholders The South and North Road has never paid dividend. The people who put In their money have never gotten a cent back and the fight to prevent them from receiving dividends is continu- ous.
 ine nrst train that ran on the South ana North Road carried several men who went North at the instance of fresident M. H. Smith to make con tracts for the sale of yellow pine lum- per. such a thing was unknown up to that time. But that industry has since brought millions into this State and the railroads only make 1t possible.
 Ihey have furnished a quick and certain outlet for cotton; we can now reach any market in a few days and take advantage of prices.
 lne railroads are responsible for good highways down in this section TOT they taught the people how to make them them ana stirred up an agitation until .ney had created Q public sentiment that demanded the improyements In tba wagon roads.
 me railroads have been responsible TOT the fruit, trucks, vegetable and perry farms. and for the fish and ovs- ter industry. and they have been the oniy agencies to bring immigration in .o the state. Every railroad running through Alabama has industrial agents m olnerent parts of the country look ing up settlers and bringing them down to occupy and cultivate vacant iands and add to the trade and the wealth Of the people. The State off, ciais do nothing in this line; the mer- chants are not in the immigration bus- mess; but the railroads do if all They are bringing In new people every day. new blood, new money and new labor ana yet We are continually hearing tnat the railroads are responsible for all the misfortunes and for all the fail ures that happen in Alabama
 transportation rates here are very low, they are fixed by the commission. our law Is very much like that which recently passed the House of Represen- tatives at Washington and provides A commission to fix tine rates at which the railroads may haul freight and pas- senSers' Rates are supposed to be ad- Unstable to be advanced or lowered ac- cording to the condition of business and trafnc, but neverj hear of a rate be- ing raised for any reason. If a rate IS once put down you can never get if up again. There has been a downward tendency year after year and month after month. Ever since the law wac passed the rates have gone lower item after item, until they are now SO low that If the railroads G!d not have a profitable interstate business tney would not be able to pay expenses. They cannot get rates high enough to make It pay to haul state business. Every railroad in Alabama would be in the hands of a receiver within five months If 1t was compelled to depend upon local traffic And yet the State could not exist without them"
 What Colonel Falkner says is strict ly true. The railroads have made the City of Montgomery and the State of Alabama. At the close of the war the people had only the rivers with few old fIatboats, and three or four little railway lines. But the South and North Railroad. connecting Montgomery with Birmingham, Nashville, Louisville, Gin cinnati and the North was built, and IS now part of that great thoroughfare called the Louisville and Nashville. Then came the Central of Georgia, the Plant System, the Mobile and Ohio, the Southern. the Seaboard Air Line The legislation was liberal and Montgom- cry offered all the advantages she could command And as a consequence, she has been well rewarded.
 The Alabama River is navigable all the year round between Montgomery and Mobile, and five or six steamers run regularly carrying down cargoes of cotton and bringing back merchandise York. Philadelphia and other Atlantic cites. Through bills of lading are giv- en from Montgomery to foreign ports and much of the cotton that goes down the river is consigned to European buy CTS. While the amount of business uone Dy boat IS lnslgnlflcanC compared with the traffic handled by the rail- roads, 1t is nevertheless a source of satisfaction to the citizens of Mont- gomery to have a choice of routes and some oldfashioned shippers still pre- fer to ship by boat rather than by rail. It is fact, however. that the fleet of boats is not so large and that they carry less tonnage than they did be- fore the war.
 William E. Curtis. Mn INnIHTAGrNrS