The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-10-26
SPEECH OF SAMUEL SPENCER
 ON RAILROADS AND THE PEOPL E

the other hand to. perform these du-
 ties he Is stilI dependent Vpon inyes-
 nish the money essential to the .ccns
 stant creation of those additional fa-
 ciiities which are necessary to a:-
 commoaate con.s the growing trafhc of tho
 on any one to invest lis money n
 railways or In any other propepties.
 The action of the investor. must be
 and business.like nature must be pre-
 sented in order to render the invest.
 msnt n.n u,n., attraetiys: .v; The railroad mana.
 facilities which the business of .he'
 public demands. To accomplish this
 and to obtain 1t. must show success
 pTrroperty.results which will convince
 pc safe na;'dorsn and rssmunsrativs: me H
 have an earning capacity rnnheient to,
 provide for needed betterrients. in,.
 Ssm srs arss snd ssasSn: All All.
 especially true at this time of tho
 rallrCads s;s"n,.s of the South osisin:,,ly
 ing a country. the trafic, requirements
 of which were at the tirle small, lo-
 cated in section practically without
 results of the Civil War and the .dit-
 ference in political conditions sepa-,
 rated for long period from the eym-
 other sections. these railrosd pIope--
 need of an outside credit as a basis
 for additional capital to bring the II
 vide the additional facilities ubsoluf.-
 ly essential to accommodate the grow
 ing traffic of this section. The prob
 ger, then. was to break down section
 al and financial prejudice and by con-
 servative and wise. manag sment to
 ss. the suden eners9t . van sars commend them to the confidence and
 sections and thus create "a credit 10 necessary to meet the demands of the
 difficult and discouraging task. In-
 0ss SsS ssen m He bs tSsir
 confidence was neither easy nor
 You are ali too familiar with the
 struEFies and ths consequently im-
 p9ve1ishsd ,s % condition a.iS Sf ths raliwaSs
 % early W sos for it to Be ns nscessary to do do
 more than to recall them to your
 memories Happily, the Gificulties If speea pe conditions eS Save "q messuraSiy a. aSi upon a period of Increased production in agriculture ,nSn and in manufactures of tivity such as her best friends and of eDn asS h.a Ser eotton crop Sa. the sas tn. amount of pig iron produced at her furnaces has increased anormously. %ore than a6 thr.e her borders to the extent that moe tarsG her cotton ts1 crop now now mills of New England, The total val ue Of her annual manufactures now aggregates nearly eighteen hundred her agricultural products is now ov,T seventeen hundred millions per an num-: Her railroads are TO long!r into hes several sSs arss strong, continuous systems so loca- ted and so equipped as to serve ah- the demands of her growing industry and commerce.
 Transportatien and Business.
 This great difference in the condl- tion of her main arteries of. trans portation has been greatly influenced. sctivity @ and industry of tae eountrv: increase of wealth and industry wheh x.s hs s.ases sSsh .rs new esnr sd these % for T'' the sreas improvemen. in the both 9hysisa, and n; fin financial: s.,, In industry and wealth would haze
 FundsmenssiIy the basis of this properties is fnanei'l credit; win, a few minor exceptions substantially all of the enormous Improvements to eossh costing e''pstdds sundreds ' of millions Of Ss2s aSl5aF' seen 1' mas. sss 'ai. i.h d'fss: sc; %,nS mSney he The 's wss ss tss
 was the increased confidence of the growth and the future prosperity If creasins earnings of her railway
 The most pressing problem with fsTay sysry raMay tE south " cday tiles for the safe, prompt ani satis- iaSt8Ty sro%Iys pSo the hss sesn case for nearly ten years. but the problem is more pr ,ssing today thai at any previous time. - claimed that the railways nave at all times done all that was rcouired by the public. nevertheless, t.Aring n h,'ns in Southern .nf sT0 produc-s @ and soc,hein remembering the co,aitions of tie properties at the he.. .innlns ucts of so marveloIs a development have on the whole been successfully moved to market challenges the at tentive consideration of tt'ose who lmpartially study the re''wey prob lem. .
 Let us look for moment at the conditions under which t,is .ask haA been. and must still be performed.
 In country so wide In extent aud ger possible to do the transportation service of the public by individual en- terprises or even by small corporations Large corporations and large aggrega- tions of capital are essential.
 This fact and the shortcomings nec- essarily incident to hurried prepara- tions. and overtaxed facilities, have largely deprived these carriers of pop ular sympathy. and subjected them to easy interpretations and to pop ular misunderstanding: The outward pressed the popular mird with the idea | that they possess untold wealth and | limitless resources. It made them the | easy mark of the political agitator. The result his been that there has | crept into the 'publ'. minl different | standard of justice io then from hat which governs the property rights of every individual property holder in the land. Statutes have been enacted es- principles of liability of railroad company which no not apply m the case f IF. farmer. the mill ] owner or the "mllcy 1T m any o;fer tepartmen of industry. Jur'-s have l come to thirk t righ: 10 award yer l diets for larger dama:."s against rail- | rJad coz Il ations than against '"':'