The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-14

sat in the shadow of the penitentiarv from the passage of the first law which imposed Imprisonment, until the pas- sage of the Elkins law which abof- ished imprisonment The new law re- enacts the Imprisonment penalty and for this reason I have the right to protest and do protest against the In. terstate Commerce Commission letting down the bars which will render the efforts of company to obey tho law useless and which will result in a Hood of illegal practices and thus com pei railway officers to again sit in the shadow of the penitentiary for the re- mainder of their Ives.
 The commission should understand that the eyes of every freight agent and of every shipper who has hereto- fore received discriminating rates. as well as the eyes of all the people of the United States are fixed upon tho commission to see whether 1t IS in earnest in the enforcement of the law in It's integrity or are going to pur- sue 8 practice of emasculating the law by winkfng at illegal practices
 The real condition which the com mission is facing in the present in- quiry Is, shall railroad companies have general export schedules as basis for all cotton growers ana dealers to trade on while a few dealers shall have a secret understanding with the carrier that they may trade on a lower basis of rates and when they have scooped their competitors and effected the trade. an Instantaneous midnight tarin may hs put ir to cover the particular shipment to expire when the shipment is made"
 Judge Baxter upon the conclusion of the reading of the letter, declared that he believed he knew the name of it's author.
 q think" said he, .tbat he belongs to class of railroads that nominally profess obedience to the law and make what profit they do make by secret midnight rebates. We are not here before this commission to ask it to wink at anything"
 At this juncture Chairman Knapp interrupted the speaker with the statement that the hour for a recess had arrived and that the subject could be discussed this Afternoon.
 Ought to Face AccuMers.
 At the afternoon session Judge Bax- ter declared that a defendant ought to meet his accuser face to face. In this case, he said the opportunity was not given of even knowing the name of the writer of the letter. He was not writing, he said. for the people he represented to be put in the attitude of judging with the commission. This. he said, was a public hearing and it was extremely unfair" that an anony- nous letter writer should put us in the attitude of endeavoring to obtair. some advantage over this Commission. I wish to acquit the gentlemen I rep resent of any sinister or underhand or nefarious purpose toward obtaining anything from this Commission
 Judge Baxter declared that so far as his roads were concerned they never had been accused before gof making anything analogous to a midnight se- cret tariff"
 'sThe letter,. he said further, lis an insult to the Commission as much as 1t is to us It is an insult to us to suppose we would assume this Com mission to wink at anything, and it Is an insult to this Commission to sup pose that 1t would wink at 1t if we asked it."
 The letter, he said, was a virtual confession of the writer that the re- bates and iniquitous work that he has been carrying on Is about as bad as you have ever read of"
 The Commission passed the matter over without announcing the letter writer's name and ordered the hearing to proceed.
 F. B. M. Strachan. a steamship broker of Brunswick, Ga, and Savan- nah, Ga. and Fernandina, Fla, ar- gued that the publication of an ex- port rate on cotton to the several ports and the observance of that rate without change in less than thirty days notice, would operate to the ad- vantage of regular line steamers and against tramp steamers. He therefore urged that the Commission under It's discretion, waive the thirty days mo- tice of proposed change of rates.
 The hearing developed into a general discussion of the whole subject of cot ton traffic. the outcome being that the representatives of tne lines east of the Mississippi. who are favorable to the waiving of the thirty days notice, and those west of the Mississippi who favor the enforcement of that provis- ion of the law. charged each other with endeavoring to restrict co'Speti- ton.
 Adjournment was taken until TO- morrow.