The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-08

? l in favor of those roads that are fighting 1 our laws. l will also call your attention l to the fact that the president of one of 1 these railroads admitted that his road l has dominated the policies and politics ] of Alabama for years, and calmly asserts
 that this corporate dominance of q state government, by which he secured free dom from every regulation. both as to i rules governing their business relations and their freight rates, was for the good
 of the state This is a strange state ment to a free people; as in every age the dominance of the state by the corporations has been regarded as direful in the last l degre, and should be arrested al all hazards. Read the plaform of every party state and national. and you will see the uniformity of opinion on the sub iect of decrying this danger He would be a strange candidate for office in this state, who on he stump before the people. makes the statement claimed by this road that it's control of the state and freedom from control by the state is for the best interets of the state. This road, the one which has defied your laws and under the claim of legality has thwarted the will of the people and has done more politically to debaueh the state of Alabama than any other interest in the state, is here today with corps of environed men and enyironed interests for the purpose of dictating, of seducins, of influencing and making you commit the folly of turning away from the in- terest of the people and following the will of tins road, which seeks to escape, through you, the just demands of the people and have you turn back in your legislation and surrender the states sovereign right of controlling it's intra- state affairs
 It is claimed that the discussion of this great question and the laws of the state and the United States regarding same have deranged and hurt business. Any one who has followed the course of the high financiers of the east, the parties who control the public service corpora tions of our state and of other states, and has noted the wild orgies of specu- lation, the multiplying of securities in which billions of dollars, not millions, were written and tossed about on the market in regular football method, taking little notice or account of the interest of the people who pay the taxes, will be able to find the real reason for such business disturbance as has occurred.
 To Protect Interests.
 Those who have followed the course of this high financing will know that your laws have not been made too soon, and cannot be made too strongly protective of lHt l1l0TeSSI or the ptOple. IOudy lilt interest of these people, who have brought danger to the body polite and the financial world, is being saved by the producer. The producer, 1 repeat, Is being called upon to save their high finances aud their property fl om the utter destruction to which their wild follies seem to lead. It is the money from the cotton crop of the south and the food crop of the west which is expected to h,.if ha f~ty haaIy f1 Gafo a md solid foundation. This being true, as every one knows that 1t is, then for your part without hesitation or quibbling, 1t becomes a duty to make as safe as pos sible the manufacturers and producers of your own section; for it would be crim- inal to leave them unprotected in the hands of those who control these great public service corporations.
 It is said that MT. Vanderbilt, when questioned on one occasion as to what the public would think of some of his railroad transactions, replied: "The pub lie, be damned" It has been said that Mir. Hartman, when question regarding what certain legislation would do for his system of railroads and his method of running the same, replied that he could buy the legislature, he could buy Con gress, he could buy the judiciary. He did not mean that he could make this purchase as he wound buy horse or COW, or a sack of peanuts but he meant that he could so environ legislature. Con- gross and the judiciary that they would carry out his will
 The influence of railroads on the pol icies and politics of Alabama in the past has, as all know, been great and debauch- ing and the railroads have not hesitated as to the methods used in carrying out their policies. This influence has brought Us face to face with conditions which prevail in our state today, which make it your duty to fashion tbe law in such a manner as to change these conditions and remedy the evils r' ting from them.
 Morgan's Statement.
 Several years ago, when the Louisville and Nashville railroad was bought over night by John w. Gates, l am informed that the public statement was made by J. Pierpont Morgan that MT Gates was too dangerous man to own and control such a property. MT. Morgan secured an op- ton on this road and transferred 1t by sale to the Atlantic Coast Line. In the general upheaval that is constantly talk ing place in high financial circles, what is to hinder MT. Gates or some other man or combination of men, whom MT. Mor- gan or anybody else would consider dan gerous, from rebuying, not only the Louisville and Nashville railroad, but also connecting ines! Ine teHlfd1 or deOI- gia railroad has changed hands three times within the past few years. What is to hinder this great property, so in- terwoven with the vital interests of Ala bama, from passing into the hands of men whom MT. Morgan, or anybody else might consider dangerous? What is to hinder our entire railroad system from being bought and controlled in the same way? What Is to hinder such methods as these from securing such an interest in our transportation system as practical ly to hire out our producers and consum- CTS forever? The protection of the cti- zen is the first and last care of the sue cessful lawmaker.
 When we see the weighing and inspect ing rules of the railroads made arbitrary and unfair when we see demurrage rules made entirely one-sided and unfair, when we see claims of shippers for lost or damaged freight pigeon-holed and the settlement thereof delayed indefinitely; when we see the most arbitrary rules re- garding the purchase of coal from our mine owners and the arbitrary prices fixed for coal to be sold to the railroads refused unless their price is accepted when we see all of our important water ways, by combination of railroad interest boycotted and rendered of little use; when we see the Tennessee river connecting the Alabama with the Mississippi river system, system that is attracting the attention of the world and on which the federal government Is about to pledge the expenditure of many million dollars for the purpose of helping and cheapening fraiphf ca rrIa1 1p. Uhan txa' qaa tbfa t,raat