The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-25
fcopyrirht, 1906, by J. L. stefrens.,


 Washington, Feb. 23.--A United States Senator rose in the United States Senate on February and read a let ter from the Governor of one of the States of the United States; and this is the description that Governor gave in that letter of the condition or ms State:
 west Virginia today Is in the grasp of a railroad trust which practically says what part of the State shall pc oe- veloped and what shall not De deVel- oped. how much coal shall be shipped out of the State, to what points or parts it shall be shipped, and when It snail be shipped"
 Is this true? It is typical. Other States are in the grasp" of railroad or some other business trust. They differ in the degree of their political and industrial subjection to their bus mess rulers but so many of our sov- ereign States are in the same general condition as West Virginia that the President is urging Congress to pro- vide relief by some sort of regulation of railroad rates. Yet this description of West Virginia was astonishing; two Senators exclaimed that 1t was dis graceful And it is. For West Vir- ginia is a coal State; her principal bus mess is mining and marketing coal; and IndJ SIdTIllnE statement lS d CHdi 6t of nothing less than tyranny by pow erful business of the business of that State And it is signed "Wm. W. W. Dawson, Governor. :" It is official. Is it true? Governor Dawson cited case which Is a matter of record.
 The List Coal Company owned some 4,300 acres of coal land in what is known as the Fairmont District of West Virginia. The West Virginia and Pittsburg Railroad is the common car rier of that district: at least 1t was chartered as a common carrier But many of our railroad men have come to look upon their public utilities as their own personal business. They are tn- sisting here now upon their sacred right to a fairly reasonable rate,' and our Representatives have written into the rate bill an acknowledgment that railroads are entitled to make a "reas- onable profit" on their investment. But when the List Coal Company applied to the West Virginia and Pittsburg Railroad for side-track facilities to ship their coal, their application was denied. The railroad wouldn't let those mine owners make any profit.
 The coal company might have mar keted their coal in wagons. But wag- ons are slow and expensive. The coal company might have appealed to the courts to compel their common carrier to carry their coal; but litigation is as slow and expensive as wagons. Be- sides, this West Virginia company may have known something about the West Virginia law. Anyhow they quit. They weren't fighters, and they let their rail road, chartered by their State, deny them fairly remunerative profit on their coal business. The List Coal Company sold out, cheap, to the Red Rock Fuel Company.
 The president of the Red Rock Fuel Company is one Logan M. Bullitt, of Pennsylvania, whose last name de- scribes approximately his character. He is a fighter. There was no misrep resentatlon of him of the character of his purchase. He was buying a fight, and he knew it. He has more humor than moral indignation and it suits his humor to think that he may make his fight a big fight, It was he, by the way, who inspired the resolutions offered by Representative Gillespie in the House a few weeks ago, and by Senator Tillman in the Senate, calling for au investigation of the Pennsylva- nia- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad mer ger For the B. and O. runs the West Virginia and Pittsburg Railway, and the B. and O. and "the Penn" are merged. MT. Bullitt was simply screaming at bulrs-eye.
 When the Red Rock got hold of the List Coal lands, MT. Buliltt ana HIS aS- sociates began industriously to develop A coal mine. He didn't fuss around with the West Virginia and Pittsburg: he went to the Third Vice President of the B. and O. for permission to do bushes in this great. free country of ours All he needed was a side-track. He offered to comply with any terms the railroad might see fit to impose, but it was no use His application was denied.
 The railroads answer was that it would never permit a siding until forced to do so by law, and that if Bull lit won his case, the next man who applied would receive the same treat ment Why do the railroads run to court so readily? They invite litiga- ton as ordinary citizens avoid it. But why did the B. and O. decline to in- crease its earnings by encouraging this mine owner to develop his mine? The