The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-16


 settle this question. power which absence of constitutional restricacn.
 Every advocate of freight rate regE- lation is In the habit of reierrln,y 10 the State of Georeis as s fns s,ats & which manner of dealing with this que on. Georgia. you know, among our Southern States, at least, Is the pioneer State which undertook to reguiatc by law inausurated by MT, Robert Toonlbs. who was the dominant spirit of the Convep- ton which framed the Cons;f.ation in under the leadership of slr Toombs for the very purpose of comforting unon the Legfslature power to deal with this great and important question. When it
 mot, under the guidance of that great mind. assisted by many other of the greatest minds in the State, the result of their collective wisdom was the constttutional provision which We
 MT. Joel Murphree, representative from Pike County was member of the Committee on Corporations, which reportec this provision; NO % more ard. freight rate regulation in this State ever lived than Mr. Joel Murphree He proposed the adoption of the provision Of the Georgia Constitution, and his proposition was ooneurred in unani- nously by the Committee. and the re- port, so far as this question Is concern ed, was unanimously adopted by the I do not know how the Committee on Corporations stood with reference to their attitude towards the railroads; do not know whether they were friead- ly or unfriendly. But I know that I am safe in saying that q large ma jority of th.. Convention were in favor Of regulating by law freight rates in this State; If there were any objec- frxnc tr tho nf th.a ..s,,if ft..z. there were many men in that Conven- ton as active In this movement as any in the State who. If the report was not satisfactory, would not have allowed it to go unchaIlenred. but would ha ve offered such amendments as were nec- essary to perfect it.
 But 1t is new suggested that since by the terms of the Constitution the power to regulate freight rates in this State is conferred upon the Legisla ture, it follows that tho Railroad Commis- sion. created by the Legislature. has no power to take up and deal with this question. but that it must be dealt with by the Legislature itself.
 Fellow citizens. it is not for me to impug the sincerity of those making stitutional provision in question de- clares in express terms that the Legis- lature shall have power to regulate freight rates fn this State, but does that mean that the Legislature must deal with this question itself and take up An1 pass a trafflc bill, with all the complications which such measure would involve? The Legislature of Georgia. under a Constitutional pro- vision Identical with ours, instead of undertaking to take up and deal with this question itself. created the Rail- stitutionality of th.. act creating tho Commission has been tested before the Supreme Court of Georgia and fully sustained. Again upon an appeal from hA Hn0f ,F hA Cttr Georgia sustaining the constitutionality of the Georgia provision. the Supreme Court of the United States, the high est court iH the land, has fully sus- tained the constitutionality of the act creating the Commission. Not only has the constitutionality of the Railroad Commission of Georgia been sustained, but the constitutionality of the Rail- and many other States in this country have bean sussaired in like manner. The principle involved in these de- cisions. as I understand them, is this that the Legislature. having the power to regulate freight rates itself. has the power to create a commission to carry this power into effect The critics of the action of the Constitutional Con- vention of Alabama take the provision of the Constitution literally and jump to the conclusion that because the pow CT is declared by the terms of the Con- stitution to be invested in the Legisla-- ture, 1t follows that no other tribunal has this power, even though that tri- bunal has been created by the Legisla- ture for the very purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the Constf- tuition.
 It will not do. fellow citizens. ai- ways to construe the expressions con comes in the once of the lawyer and the office of the Judge. It is question of judicial construction.
 Perhaps I can best illustrate my ! r..~- A. a..sA .l1t. might fan by taking everything liter ally by telling a little anecdote on myself The anecdote was told me by Mrs. Sanders when I went to Athens to open the campaign in favor of the ratification of the new Constitution. She has a very bright little boy, who was then about g years of age, who went down to visit his father. who was a member of the Constitutional Convention, while the Convention was You know, fellow citizens. that when the Convention is transacting business and there is no debate, questions are submitted to the Convention iE quick succession. As the presiding officer of that Convention it was my duty to suo- init questions to be voted upon as they arose from time to time, and when there was no debate the submission of these questions would proceed rather rapidly. For instance, when a resolu- Convention: AS many as favor the adoption of the resolution will say aye: those opposed no. The ayes seafn to have it the ayes have It." or the noes seem to have 1t; the noes have H," as the case might be"
 When Master Tom Sanders returned home. his mother asked him: Tom, did you go up to the ConventionY' He was manly little fellow, and he strengthened himself up and said, Yes. mama. l went up." Well" she in quired. what did you think of it?' ''well," he said, mama, I did not think much of it." She further inquired: Did you see MT. Knox?" Well, yes. mama, I saw him" Well" she in. quired. what did you think of him?" Tom replied, Well. mama. I did not up there behind a desk beating on 1t with a hammer and he was always talking about his eyes and nose"
 So you see, fellow citizens, that while Tom was bright and observant little fellow. he totally failed to catch the true significance of the meaning of the iangua ee which used when he reached the conclusion that I was always talk inR about my eyes and nose.
 The Railroad Lawyer.
 Fellow oitizens. we hear a great deal these days ahout the railroad lawyer That I have from time to time ap- peared in defense of railroads Tn the courts where I have practiced, do not deny and for this have no apolo- gies to make. I feel honored by the confidence which these people have i'm. posed in me in entrusting their cases tt my charge, but II may be proper for me to state that l have appeared in anf