The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-30

Had the members of the Convention been subject to corporate control as l charged, the railroads could have se-
 cured easily some advantage. and by | having such advantage guarded by
 constitutional pro vision. have placed
 it beyond legislative remedy or inter- | ference The very fact that there Is
 not line or word in the whole Ar | ticIe, available to railroads for such | purposes, ought to satisfy every fair | minded man that all such charges and | assertions are wholly untrue. chal-
 lenge MT. Conner, or any one else who
 charges, to contradict these state ments. Point out the provision of the | Constitution The following are the
 Constitutional provisions:
 and authority of regulating railroad l freight and passenger tariffs, the locat-
 ing and building of passenger and | freight depots, correcting abuses, pre- venting unjust discrimination and ex- | tortion and requiring reasonable and | just rates of freight and passenger | tariffs. are hereby conferred upon the
 Legislature, whose duty 1t shall be to | pass laws from time to time regulating | freight and passenger tariffs, to pro-
 hibit unjust discriminations on the va | rfous railroads, canals and rivers of the State, and to prohibit the charging of | other than just and reasonable rates and enforce the same by adequate pen- | altles."
 Section PA prohibits the granting of
 free passes to any member of the Leg | islature or judicial officer.
 Section 245: No railroad company shall give or pay any rebate, or a bonus in the nature thereof, directly or indirectly. or do any act to mislead or deceive the public as to the real l rates charged or received for freights or passage; and any such payment shall | be Illegal and void, and these prohibi- tions shall be enforced by suitable pen- | altfes."
 There they are and. in the face of such unambiguous and unqualified dec- ! larations, there are people who assert | that corporate influence dominated the construction of these provisions. The Legislature has all power given | to it which the English language was capable of expressing. This question was fully argued in the Convention: | The Legislature can regulate railroad | freight and passenger tariffs. It can | prevent unjust discrimination; re-
 quire reasonable and just freight rates"
 9rd srsIrh prohsit anjrss dsdrmna tion," prohibit the charging of other than just and reasonable rates" To prevent any possibility Of misunder- | standing or escape the power Is repeat | ed over and over again and DUTY to act Is imposed upon the Legislature. Is it not astonishing that, in the face of such provisions. any one would try \ to impose upon the credulity of the
  | that these provisions were the result of railroad influence, and that the Con- | vention was dominated by railroad law yers, or railroad "environment,' what | ever that may be.
 The foregoing provisions seem to
 have been adopted without objection | by any member of the Constitutional
 convsRttiOp s Esse n5op 5oprn9l nsoDls pages
 seems, did not have a friend in that
 large assembly. Oh, those terrible en- vironments." The official proceedings | Murphree, the peoples friend" de- serted them and favored the provision. | What objection can any one raise to
 these provisions? What ear marks are
 here to justify the assertion that they
 are the offspring of railroad lawyers g
 Where is a scintilla of truth to justify stump and sent broadcast throughout | the State? What line or word hampers | the exercise of absolute control by the
 Legislature or reflects q shade or Ia voritism to railroads? IT there De one Jet it be pointed out.
 The people of this country will be
 surprised to be told that our Constitu- tion thus criticised and conducted, in solar as it affects railroads. Is an exact
 copy of the Georgia Constitution which
 is so much lauded by those, complain ing of ours. Our Constitution Is pre- cisely in harmony with the law of Mis- sissippi, Texas and other States. No such charges were brought against the framers of the laws of those States
 and not one of them Is less favorable
 to railroads than Is the Alabama Con-
 You will also see that it is asserted that the powers of the Commission are authority to fix rates or to regulate rates, and it is upon this ground, 1t Is claimed that there must be one-man Legislature. Let us go to the law ana a fVnn AcfQ last Legislature (l902) on page 95 tread for yourselves) contains statute. DOT tions of which bear directly on the question under consideration. quote from it and emphasize certain clauses:
 Section 10 declares, Tt is the duty of the Railroad Commission to consider and carefully revise all tarlns or son or corporation owning or operating a railroad in this State, and If, in their judgment, any such charge Is more than which It Is proposed to be made or amounts to unjust discrimination against any person, locality. or corpo- ration, they shall notify the party making the same of the charges neces- sary to reduce the rate to just compen- sation. They shall exercise a watchful and careful supervision over all tariffs and their operation, and re- wise the same from time to time, as justice to the public and the railroads may require, and increase or reduce any or the rates as eXpeT1euCe ana DuSl- ness operations may show to be just, etc."
 Section 24 of the Act authorizes and makes 1t the duty Of the Railroad Com mission to enforce It's orders by suit by ''mandamus or injunction, mandatory or punitive"
 Sectio n25 provides that The Attor- ney-General of the State or some attor- ney shall represent the Commission In
 Section s1 provides That any rail road which shall be guilty of making or demanding any charge for the trans portation of freight in excess of any rate prescribed by the Railroad Com mission and does not make ample compensation to the party in jured within thirty days, as may be directed by the Commission, such com pany shall incur for each offense a penalty of not less than $l,000, nor more than $5,0oO, to be fixed by the court"
 How any one can assert. in the face of such a statute. that the Railroad Commission is merely an advisory body" is past comprehension. If the as- sertion had been made, that all legal power over freights had been given to the Commission and severe and drastic penalties imposed by the Legislature for violation of It's orders, there could be no denial of such charge. That
 the constitutional provision of Ala bama is ample to authorize the Legts- lature to invest a Railroad Commission with power to fix, revise. reduce ana aNs.e- A..Zg -H.A kla md G.