The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-11-18


at reasonable rates, to avoid all unjust
| determinations as between commodities
| or persons or localities, and 70 do equal
and exact justice as between his patrons.
On the other hand, to perform these du-
ties, he is still dependent upoa Investors
the men who can and will furnish the
| money essential to the constant CT cation
| of those additional facilities which are
| necessary to accommodate the growing
! traffic of the country. There iF no legal
| obligation on any one to invest his money
In railways or in any other properties.
| The action of the investor must be volun-
| tary, and inducements of a safe and bus
| iness-like nature must be presented in Or
| der to render the investment attractive.
The railroad manager must provide the
| transportation facilities which the busi-
| ness OF the public demands. To accom-
| plish this he must have thu necessary
money, and, to obtain it, must show sue
cessful results in the operation of the
| property-resuts which will convince the
investor that his investment will be safe
and remunerative. Few, if any, railroad
companies have an earning capacity suf-
| ficient to provide for needed batterments,
| improvements and additions All of them
are large borrowers. This is especially
| true at this time of the railroads of the
south.
| You are all too familiar with tho whole
| and the consequently impoverished condi-
tion of the railways of the south during
| the sos and the early 90s for it to be
| necessary to do more than to recall them
| to your memories Happily The difficult
| ties of that particular period, and of those
| special conditions, have medsurably
passed away. The south has entered upon
| a period of increased production In agri-
| culture and in manufactures and of gen.
fndt1 rio M 1.a1 fityif
such as her best friends and most enthu-
| siastic prophets had scarcely dreamed of
| l4lteen years ago. Within that period the
| cash value of her cotton crop has doubled,
the amount of pig iron produced at her
| furnaces has increased enormously, and
| the product OF her coal mines has in
creased more than three-foid Cotton fac
| tories have sprung up within her borders
| to the extent that more Of her cotton
! crop is now manufactured on her own
| soil than in all the mills of New England.
| The total value of her annual manufac-
| lures now aggregates nearly 81 900,000 900
| per annum Her railroads are no longer
weak, disjointed lines, put have been
| amalgamated into several large, strong,
| continuous systems, so iocated and so
| equipped as to serve advaniagsously the
| demands of her growing Industry and
| commerce.
4
| her main arteries of transportation has
| been greatly Influenced, Of course, by the
| increased business activity and industry
| of the country, but towards that groat
| prosperity and increase of wealth and
| industry which the south Is now enjoying,
| these great agencies have contributed in
| a most substantial way. in fact, but for
| the great Improvement in their condition,
both physical and financial, the present
! rar mir nf no in nj a n
wealth would have been impossible.
Financial Credit.
| Fundamentally the basis of this i'm
| proved condition of the railway properties
is financial credit With few minor ex-
| ceptions substantially all Of the enormous
| improvements to these properties and
| their equipments, costing hundreds Of
| millions of dollars, in the las: decade
| have been made with borrowed money.
| The basis of the credit on which the mon
| ey was borrowed was the Increased con-
fldence of the investing public in the sub
| stantial growth and the eu.nre prosperity
| of the south. and in the gradually IN
creasing earnings of her railway proper
| ties.
The most pressing problem with every
railway property, and every railway man
ager of the south today. is thai OF pro-
viding additional facilities for the safe,
| prompt and satisfactory movement of Cne
~ 80, ~ .,,,,s ,,,t tho
,o,,a.-' l., - ,,sosstr,, +od.3 tha, a.
| P - -.
All 49, -, ~ . T., ,u4; o,o.uoa
| -, w ~ ~ -, ~, +;,,o., do,,.,
! -. ~ 's ~, ~, 1t -.
az nc "as ~ 1o..s,.,,,,
rs - - - 49,.
o" 91uei - 80 ~, ~, 49, 49,
anu eou'i,el u ''.ii,ii ~ si,i-'.. -,
| se"is' anu i0'iio'oe ., ne - ,..
'ne iahway ~ re a. 80 os1i, ,..
.. 'i"t pei iou' .i'o iaN. 10 s.ia
% 81 ma - srei,,,.e -, -,
'he "noie oeen euoee9s.'ny nv 81 ~
| maj met cnaiiehses '"e "'.1".ifo
atioii OIL those who ii'pai 'iaiis "'uus 'ne
railway pIooiein.
Let us look LOT iioiiieie a' the coh-
and must still be. performed.
| In country so wide in extent and with
/ a commerce SO vast 1t Is no longer pos
| sible to do the transportation service or
| the public by individual enterprises or
even by small corporations. Large corpo-
rations and large aggregations of capital
are essential.
| This fact and the shortcomings neces-
| and overtaxed facilities, have largely de-
| prived these carriers OF popular sympa-
| thy, and, subjected them 10 easy mlsrep-
| reservations and to popular misunder-
standing. The outward expression OF size
and power has impressed the popular
mind with the idea that they possessed