The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-06
COMMISSION WILL GO INTO
 GENERAL TARIFF REVISION

 more, during which time he had been actively engaged in transportation matters, and that perhaps he should say that MT. Conner and Presldent Roosevelt agreed with him: ne tative railways recognize, that MT; Conner as President of the Railroad Commission, created by the state was entitled to the greatest consideratloh- certainly as a judge.
 Complaints against railways were made, said MT. Smith, or might be made before the Commission, and the | railroads were called upon to answer; and if they could not show good reasons why judgment should not be awarded against them, judgment was | awarded from which he believed there was practically no appeal. He admit | ted that he had not read the act. and was not familiar with it. saying that perhaps 1t was not necessary that he should be, as if there were any con- ditions as to the maintaining of the law. or as to the powers Of the hail- | ed by the attorneys of the company in- stead of by him.
 During the past three days, MT. Smith said. he had been unable to de- eide whether MT. Conner as Chairman of the Commission, was acting as a judge, or whether he was the com painant, or whether he was prosecut- | ing attorney, or whether he was the I three days Mir Conner had given more | evidence than all of the witnesses. | Criticises MT. Conner.
 | As to MT. Corners attitude as a judge, MT. Smith said. he would read an extract which he found published in l the papers of MT. Corners address after the convenfng of the Commission, which l he declared, was written out and pre- sented to the press for publications" l Here MT Smith read from MT. | Corners adress delivered Monday Tn which the Chairman of the Commis- sion said: from these conditions the State should have in measure been Cubanized. Russianized."
 MT. Smith said that he did not know what all that meant; that he did not think that anybody in Alabama even | thought that they had been Cubanized or Russianized; that he supposed 1t was something not complimentary 10 the railroads-possibly something bad. Continuing Mir. Smith said that he | had not seen any one representing railroads that looked anything like an | autocrat, or that had assumed any at titude of an autocrat; that an autocrat l as he understood it, was one that acted i automatically or arbitrarily; it is what his own will and judgmnet Justi- l fies him in doing in his own estimation, l regardless of the wishes or perhaps | the rights of others. It seemed to him. he said, that the only autocrat that he had come in contact with in connection with the proceedings be- | fore the Railroad Commission, was per haps, Mir Conner.
 said ,or if he had been correctly in- formed a complaint was filed before the Commission that the rates from | Montgomery to Hurtsbofo were too high on fertilizers; that pending the | hearing MT. Conner arbitrarily decided. O undertook to decide, that the rates in the State on fertilizers were too high, and insisted so far as he had au- thority to do to reduce these lrates, without giving the transportation line a hearing: that, as he understood It, was autocratic and excessive; that in this country all parties are supposed | to be given hearing.
 Interrupted by MT. Conner. Mr. Conner here interrupted Mir. Smith, saying that he wished to cor rect him, but did not wish to inter-
 ITO this extent" said Mir. Conner. T moved at that meeting that we take up the fertilizer rates of the State on the 22nd of the month, not that day but on the 22nd of the month. The reason I named the 22nd was, I had | a talk with MT. Culp, who had stated that that day would suit him better | than any other day, and on motion of my associate, that 1t would be deferred until the 3rd of the succeeding month, not take it up and decide it then and there, not on the 22nd. which by the Southern Railway official, it was stated. | would be the most convenient date for him, and l had had prior knowl- edge of that. Let's get 1t just exactly right
 President Smith said he supposed arbitrary and excessive" as used by Mir Conner. meant that the railways arbitrarily fixed excessive rates for the | transportation of property.
 If that is what it meant" said MT Smith, "evidence to the contrary has already been offered, and that evidence from my standpoint is considered con- elusive.
 The l.. & N. in Alabama.
 Mir. Smith then said that 1t might not be inopportune to briefly review the conditions under which the rail the railways of Alabama were created; that he would refer at some length, perhaps, to the part the Louisville X Nashville Railroad had taken In the creation of the existing railway sys- tenn in Alabama; that unfortunately for him he probably personally knew more of the early conditions Of rail- way construction and operation in Ala bama than any person present, because of his greater age; that efforts were made to inaugurate the construction of railways late in the thirties' not much we see what was done In the decade ending with 1860 or 1861, and with the means then available. We must recog-
 
 were honest, hard-working and san- gulne people; that we should revere the Pollards and Gilmers and Lapsleys, and those who promoted the construc- ton of roads in Alabama.
 He referred to the South & North
 Alabama Railroad, stating that what is now the South & North Alabama Railroad was extended for a few miles north and south of Calera; that the bridge across the Alabama river was not completed until after the war; that he thought some work was done near Decatur south. but of that he vas not certain; that 1t may have been after the war The citizens of Alabama. he said, when they undertook to construct
 the road from Montgomery to Decatur did not apprehend the difficulties to be
 incurred; that they went as far as they could the State contributing, he
 thought a considerable amount, and
 were unable, with the aid of the State
 to complete the road; that the promot-
 CTS and directors of the South & North
 Alabama Railroad entered into a con- 1 tract with Sam Tate and associates,
 whereby 1t was agreed that that firm
 or company should complete and equip
 the read, and receive in payment bonds
 and other securities; that MT. Tate
 had been. prior to the war, success
 fu1 railway promoter and manager.
 having been instrumental in the con
 struction of the Memphis and Charles
 ion and President and active manager
 Tor many years before the war. the
 most Important line as far as volume
 oF traffic was concerned in the entire
 South; that one of hls associates,
 CaInpbeu Wallace, had also been
 raiIroad manager in East Tennessee before the war: that they expected to
 obtaiD fba money to enable them to