The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-27
WEATHER FORECAST. Washington, March 26,--For Ala basnas Fair Wednesday and Thurs- days light to fresh south winds.

be studied and investigated so far as the public is concerned. The railroad attorneys who brought the suit. no doubt. dissected them and weighed care- fully their possible effect. The Leg islature which passed them. and the people who gre interested in them. did not fully understand them. One after another of the bills which makes tue general system of railroad legislation. wero brought in and quickly passed by the House and the Senate.
 The Administration leaders announc- ed that they were administration bills. But little time was given to their dis- cussion and but little discussion of them was had, for the legislators did not know what they contained. When question was asked or an amend was offered. the leaders would say:
 "This is an administration bill. The Governor approves it. The amendment kills the bill. move to lay the amend ment on the table"
 And the amendment was tabled
 No doubt as some of the bills are being dissected in the courts. smem- bers of the Legislature will read with interest the contents of the bills which they sed.
 Can fsskht of Appeal Be Taken Away.
 The nrst legal and constitutional question to be settled by the litiga- tion will be the question as to whe- ther the Legislature has the right to forbid a person or corporation from go- ing to any court of the country. The railroad attorneys confidently claim that any law having that effect will be in direct violation of both the Consti- tuition Of the United States and the Constitution Of the State of Alabama.
 They claim confidently that aside from this. the provisions of the acts in question forbidding corporation from bringing q suit or removing suit to the Federal court. is in direct conflict with provision of the State Constf- tuition. This provision declares that s corporation shall have the same right to sue and be sued as a natural person would have. It is therefore claimed by the friends of the piain&iff in the pending litigation, that no matter how it may be regarded. the provisions of any act forbidding corporation re- course to the courts which are open to any citizen, is void and unconstitution- al.
 One of the vital questions to be set- tied by the litigation is whether the contention of the railroads, that i1as- much as none of its property can be devoted exclusively to intra-state bus AAANsHf interstate business. is we'll founded. If that view of the contention is taken. the courb may possibly hold that the laws which handicap the railroad prop erty and cripple its usefulness. are laws which interfere with interests commerce. which is exclusively under the control of Congress.
 Whatever the ultimate decision of Judge Jones Is. no part of 1t will be sxrff inf al ing on that phase of the question. That part of his ruling. will, of q necessity. be read with special interest through out the country.
 Tn the bills they have filed. the ratl- roads assert again and again that the rates have been 50 arbitravfly and un- re#sonabl ss reduced that the effect of tho operation of the laws would be the confiscation of the property of the ds- fendant company. They claim that the Legislature has not the right to com pei them to haul persons aud freight al a loss They assert further, that the operation of the laws compelling them to haul persons and freight at rate less than 1t actually costs the defend ant companies to carry the trafic are confiscatory laws which take their property without due process of low
 What is the Intra-state values
 This, of course, is a question Of facts for the court to decide The laws ap- ply only to intra-state trafic, but the question of dividing up intra-state bus mess and the proportion of the roads property which should be considered aa the basis for possible earnings is Q knotty problem!
 There arises, too. the question as tc how the value of each road Is to be considered. Value. under the general rule. is a question of opinion. What is the most reliable opinion? One form of valuing a railroad Is to figure out exactly how much 1t would cost to re- produce it. The court may or may not take that as the rule. It is pointed out that this is not reliable rule tc follow. as in addition to the cost oi Y foon.,uua.s mn p.v. r,.v.rI