The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-06-03

that shall operate any of the railroads
of this state or shall do business as conf
mon carriers on any of such railroads.
This proviso, it is plain, put all inter-
state and intra-state railroad business
under the commission on equal terms.
1t seems to have been Identical with the
present contention of Senator Morgan.
The house bill went to the senate and,
as we have just seen, was there amended
and returned to the house. The house
rejected the senate amendments and a
conference COMMITTEE, composed of three
senator's, Troy, Clarke of Marengo and
Foster of Macon, and four representa-
tives, headed by Langdon. unanimously
reported a bill. Senator Clarke explained
that the commission, under the confer
ence bill, was advisory only, like the
Massachusetts law, which seemed to work
we'll"
On February "a the house rejected the
conference bill. At this critical time Mr..
Morrisette from Montgomery succeeded
in persuading the body to reconsider the
vote by which the bill was rejected, The
Advertiser backed Morrisette very earn
estly. No time remained to daily with
the movement The legislature was to
adjourn finally in a few days. The next
day. February %, the second vote was
taken on the conference bill and 1t passed,
81 to 81.
At this period of our history, when we
have not recovered from the shock to our
entire constitutional system, and espe-
cially those functions of the system that
relate to industry of the masses, it will
not, perhaps, be profitless to see the opin-
ions of controlling statesmen who lived
prior to the revolution of 1866, upon the
present dominating question-government
control of avenues of commerce.
In November, 1915, John c. Calhoun pre-
sided over the Memphis convention, a
meeting of the Representatives of all the
states of the Valley of the Mississippi
from it's source to its mouth. The adver-
tised object of the meeting was ito con-
slider the development Of the western and
southern states.'
AS Mr.. Calhoun journeyed up the river
from New Orleans the boat as usual tied
to the bank at Vicksburg and delega-
tion of citizens came aboard to invite him
to a reception In a public hall in the
town in his honor. Mr.. Jefferson Davis
introduced the visiting statesman to the
company and audience in a red hot speech
of warning against encroachments of fed
eral power on the reserved rights of the
states. When Mr.. Calhoun came to de-
liver the customary formal address of a
presiding officer at Memphis, a day or
two later he surprised the convention
and the world at large by an argument
in favor of federal intervention to assist
the commerce of the Mississippi river to
find market He proclaimed the Mis-
slssippi to be IAN inland sea-" the par
allel of which did not exist in the world
No soil on earth could sustain. acre for
acre, so dense a population as the Valley
of the Mississippi. The whole popula-
ton of the United States. represented by
tln at Nos nprfo ct,A
assist In bringing the wool, hemp lum-
Der, turpentine, tar, cereals, cotton
sugar, tobacco, Lead of that wonderful
land into the markets of the world He
would favor the building of levees by
government aid to improve the navigation
of the finland sea- he would require the
government to build impregnable fortif-
cations at Dry Tortugas, to build a navy
yard at Pensacola, for instance where
vessels could be built and quickly re-
paired. and he would maintain such
naval force on the waters of the gulf
as would make the coasting trade secure
against all the world. Thus the head
apostle of united powers in the govern
ment pledged himself to provide by his
vote in the Senate costly navigation of
the finland sea-" a costly navy to con-
voy merchantmen on the high seas. all
for the benefit of commerce with a GER
tain region of the country.
The chairman of the historic Memphis
convention went farther in his pledges of
federal support to the trade of the I'm
land sea-" He said while the water route
from Memphis to Charleston or Savannah
was $500 miles, involving in a part of the
way peculiar perils of the sea, the dis
lance by land was only 500 miles No
railroad then spanned the line. He would
bring federal aid to a railroad to con-
meet Memphis with the Southern Atlantic
coast These views of the power of the
government over avenues OF commerce,
he said, were not new with him. Many
years before he was Vice President and
gave the casting vote on a bill to con-
meet Lake Michigan with the Mississippi
by canal with federal aid.
Mr.. Calhoun reduced, In his familiar
| power of condensation of thought. his
meaning to the following words at is
| the genius of Our government to leave
to individuals and to individual states
what can be done by them, and to re-
strict the power of the general govern
ment to that which can only be effected
through its agency" etc. Words of Call
houn, Vol. s. The idea was to open
the commerce of the Mississippi valley
Because individuals could not achieve the
end the government OF the people must
accomplish It. The entire problem of
government control of railroads was thus
comprised by the great statesman In
advance of the fact. | venture to sus-