The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-10
RESERVES
 ITS DECISION Railroad Commission
 Concludes Inquiry. AS TO COTTON RATES Officials Give Figures as to Ala
 bama Mills. President Conner Makes sharp Retorts, But Speaks in "Cseneral Terms" Disposes of Cases on the Docket.

By holding two lengthy sessions yes. | terday, the Alabama Railroad Commits 1 sion ended the general inquiry into l intra state cotton rates which was be- gun Monday morning. and went through a number of other complaints in addi- | tlon. deserving decision on this 1 rate problem, the Commission took the 1 case under advisement in order that the Commissioners may have more op- l portunity to consider the mass of tes- | timony that was submitted in the two days hearing
 | The investigation was concerned es- | pecially with the rates of the Alabama carriers to mill points on the raw cot l ton shipped from within the State. In all, nine railroads underwent examina- | tion on this question, which involved an exhaustive comparison of rates ap- plying on the several roads in Alabama | with one another and with the tariffs | in other States. The lines that were heard in the inquiry were: Southern Railway, Alabama Great Southern, Lou ! isville and Nashville, Atlantic Coast Line, Central of Georgia. Seaboard Air Line, Frisco Railroad, Mobile and Ohio | and Eastern Railway of Alabama. Officials on the stand. ~'s The hearing yesterday brought out evidence from high tariff officials of the Louisville and Nashville, the Sea board Air Line, the Central of Georgia and the Western Railway of Alabama. the investigation of the other carriers | having been completed Monday. The | officials of these roads who were on the stand throughout the day were: A. R. Smith, Third President of the Louisville and Nashville; L. E. Chale- nor, General Freight Agent of the Sea- board Air Line; J. R. Graham, Assist ant General Freight Agent of the Gen. tral of Georgia Railway, and Frank Browder. chief clerk of the General Freight Agent of the Western Railway of Alabama.
 An interesting feature of the meet ing yesterday besides the new testi- mony in the cotton rates was the de- cision of the Commission that it has not the power to compel two lines within the State to make physical con- nection. This announcement grew out of the case of the Standard Chemical Oil Company of Troy against the Gen. tral of Georgia Railway and the Louis- vile and Nashville Railroad. This Is a complaint which has been on the docket of the Commission for the past two or three months. It was a protest against transfer charge of 25 cents on fertilizer shipped from the factory at Troy over the Central of Georgia to points on the Alabama and Florida division of the Louisville and Nash vile.
 In this routing. it was necessary to take the fertilizer from cars at An dalusia and transfer it to cars of the other road. The charge, it was all legged by the carriers, was calculated only to cover the actual expense of the transfer and no more At the last meeting a petition was made up to compel the two roads to make physi- cal connection and thus relieve all shippers of the charges and the lines of the inconvenience. The officers of the road have always protested against the expense of this connection al being too great in comparison with the move- ment of traffic through Andalusia this way. Thus the issue was drawn.
 Power of Commission. When the case was called yesterday afternoon Associate Commissioner T. T. Sanders, speaking for himself and Associate Commissioner W. C. Tunstall, announced that he wished to prepare and would prepare d written opinion in this cause but he was ready yesterday to announce their conclusion. Mir. San ders said the power to order physical connection was not among the enumer- ated powers conferred upon the Com mission nor is it embraced in the emu merated powers"
 He further said Section B of the Act relating to connecting railroads and transfers charges applies only to such cases as where one railroad was com plainant against another railroad and the only in such cases where physical conn ection was already made He ad- ded that If the Commission should re- qulre one railroad to give up part of it's track or right of way or to surrend- CT any of its uses or franchises to l,ar if an invasion of the provinces of emin- ent domain and condemnation proceed ings and would he tatamount to talk ing property without due process Of law"
 The question of the reasonable of the transfer charges was reserved for further inquiry and decision on mo- tion of Commissioner Sanders. but it was announced at the meeting from the railroad side that the dispute over the chrges hd been adjusted satisfactorily to all parties concerned. This, it is believed, will really put an end to the complaint, especially since it is impos. stble to get track connection at Anda- lusia.
 Prosperity of Cotton Mills.
 The cotton inquiry. towards the close of yesterday, developed the fact that the cotton mill industry in Alabama has enjoyed remarkable prosperity for the last fifteen years. Figures were produced by Mir. Graham, of the Central ot Georgia Railway. showing that during tle years from 1890 {" 1900 tn" industry iu this State had outstrippod m growth south Carolina, North Carolina Georgia Mississippi and T.un,ssoe. The percentage of growth, ac. ording to the census report, was lou for Alahama and the nearest approach vas bY South Carolina with a percentage of $50.
 Ano,i.,. conclusion drawn from the invcstiea- !on was that the low rate on cotton from points in Alabama to ports and to th, Eastern mills mpis high CT price for the producer on his raw cotton at the initiaI point This and several other interesting inferences could he drawn from the long chain Of rate disScntions and analyses.
 The Commission was called to or