The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-02-05
CANNON OUTLINES
Low RATESCHEME
President of Norfolk and Southern Admits That
Legislation on Basis of Earnings Per Train
Mile Would be Fair.

of youthful memories OF pleasantly
! jiuglinE pocket Of benignaut pats on
the head and or aTesome c~onsidera-
ton Of q parsonage who j. to have
the easy chair ana who is a fOrcruu-
nor Of the pest turkey ana the finest
desert. There is the thought Of n
nature which wears s~anctity without
effort and dignity with just a trace
Of consciousness. nat is used to hon
! ors n takes pleasure iu them; that
can toll Il joke with the best of good
spirit, when properly introduced.
Judge Watts round face. his smooth
chin, his English chops of grey give
him q severity which the twinkle of
his eyes ana the witch Of his lips
belle. He holds himself very straight
in Il frock coat; he tucks his chin
several times into his collar for EN-
phasis. What he says he most en-
tirely ana openly believes ana when
h finds that some one else does not
believe the same thing, he is more
than surprised; he is panied.
Every line he was panied yestcr-
day, however. he showed the true
gold OF his nature by at once for
! giving the thrust. His heart bled
tor the unbelicVing. bat he labored
still for their salvation. Where Mr..
Page would have made rctort, Judge
Watts bestowed a look of surprise and
started all over again with q patience
that was infinite ana not to be ruffled.
''Tut. Tut. Mr.. Ju~stice."
Towards the end of his speech,
when Mr.. Justice sought to get him
TO say that he believed that there
should be no rate regulation on any
roads. however much needed On
some because the indirect effect might
be to iljure the S~eaboard, Judge
Watts refused in the most gentleman
~ way to say the conclusion to which
his argument led.
Mr. J,Sfina co in htr oh ia lnyIiar
forward, his finger emphasizing each
inSiStent question.
Before him stood Judge Watts. i'm
passive and unmoVed, his elbows
close to his sides and his hands
spread out, palms upward in q gas
turc Of eloquent depreciation.
once ana once again Mr.. Justice put
his question in varying terms, and
again and again Judge Watts ex-
planned, while his look of bland
amazement deepened and he explain
ed all over again.
Judge Womack. who had been oc-
casionally putting in an oar when
Judge Watts seemed to halt in md
stream, put in quickly with:
ASK him whether he thinks il
right that all the railroads in the
State should be destroyed in order to
get q low rate on one division of the
Southern
81 am not here to ask questions.
bul 10 answer lllclIl, Sdlu JuuSc
Watts r~ebukingly.
He turned again to Mr.. Justice.
What he said was what he had said
before. What e~verybody's conscious
ness heard him say as he finally took
his seat. was:
Tut. tut. Boy, Tut. TUT"
After two and a half hours of
Judge Watts somebody suggested
that there was "a Mr.. Johnson pres
ent" who would like to have some
; L - rln~- ,t-nC ~ n1rc l
scurry for hats. but the fright of the
committee was allayed by Chairman
Graham, who stated that Mr.. John
son had already departed under an
intimation that he could not be
heard.
MI. Justice Would Swear Greatness.
In making his statement to the
committee in the beginning. Mr.. Jus
tice stated that he did not want to be
considered as rejecting on anybody
when asking that certain witnesses
be S~ubpOenaed and sworn to answer
specifically and categoricaHy certain
questions which he, as a member OF
the Legislature from GuilfOrd county,
should desire to ask. The commit
tees, he die not think had so far been
able to get certain information which
he thought they ought to have. Such
facts as had been touched upon We're
in the main those already contained
in the reports of the Corporation
; Commission. They had had argu-
ment in plenty and that was all very
proper. but as for himself there We're
facts he wanted which had not been
forthcoming.
The House committee, he stated.
had repaired certain heterogeneous
which had been forwarded to the
S~eaboard. the southern and the At
lantic coast Line.
The only reply that had been 50
Gov ,anaA;x-n1 vla 40 "
sWer could be made in three
months. It would be Il strange CO.
incidence, he said. if it SHOULD AXE
three months to answer each one of
the interrOgatOries.
Continuing, Mr.. Justice said thai the
House had passed a resolution giving
the committee power to summon wit
nesses which the Senate had amend
ed by providing that they be sworn.
! When Mr.. Finley had stated that the
Southern Railway had not directly, in
directly or implicitly threatened the
/ SeabOard with repriSalS. he had asked
him to be sworn. after which Mr.. Fin
ley had stated that if such a threat
had been made he did not know Of it.
He referred to this simply on account
of the criticism of some newspapers
and individuals as to the propriety of
swearing President Finley. If that
was not just. he declared, then nobody
ought ever to be sworn.
He then requested that the COM
mittee summon for examination Col.
A. Il. Andrews. Mr.. 7. NJ. Emerson,
of the Coast Line. and Mr.. Barr. if he
should be within the State and if not
that he be requested to attend.
Major Graham stated that the SEN
ate committee would take the request
into consideration later. and Mi. Jus
tice further stated that he did not
want it understood that what he asked
was an interference with the program
of the House committee; that even if
the answers to the questions could not
be obtained until after the adjourn
ment Of the Legislature, they might
be useful for future reference.
\ Brief Vein Of Oratory.
II starting his speech Judge Watts
began in an oratOrical vein which
| soon ceased TO show pay dirt and fin
ally patered out entirely. He eX-
planned later on that he had seen the
! suggestion in the News and observer
that the committee was long on ora