The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-02

Circuit Court of Talladega County through which runs the line of the Southern from Birmingham to Atlanta. The railroad company, foreign cor poration, acting under its supposed rights under the Federal constitution. and assuming that the injunction granted against the so-called "outlaw act" was binding. at least pending final adjudication. in due course or time had the case transferred from the State Court to the United States Circuit Court at mingham. The clerk of tho State Circuit Court at Talladega at once certified the fact of tha removai of the case from the State to the Federal Court, and the ac. tion of the Secretary of State followed the receipt of this certificate.
 Just how far the State ofhcials are prepared to follow this revocation or the Secretary of State is problematicAi' but it is not believed that such far- reaching action would nave oeen the ofhcials of the State ana the 1t- torneys who have been advising them in the present railroad controversy. some lengthy conferences between scsovernor Conner and the attorneys who appeared for the State in the pro- ceedings brought by the railroads Tn Judge Jones's Court were helo tne nIs@ of the week. The question or tne P,o- spective extra session of the Legisia- tnre to adopt such amendments to the railroad laws as might make them as effective in Alabama as in North caro- fina was zone over, and 1t seems en- tireiv probab able, in view of the latest development of the situation. tnas the certificate from the Talladega court clerk was also gone over at these co"- ferences. ...,u..,on
 or the probable effect. in a legal way,
 of the new movement by the state N
 is pointed out that the in1unctloh i'
 sued hv Judge Jones, at the instance
 of the foreign railroads, runs
 against the State Railroad Co ma
 sion, it's meml CTS indivlou1lly' ~,
 Attorney General Garber. Secretary or
 State Julian Is in no sense p~'
 defendant to that injunction.
 Is Not in Contempt. In view of this fact. 1t may De heto that MT Julian, SO long as he may oe acting for and on behalf of his own of,ace alone, no matter by what Intet ests his notion may have eeSn . TsSersl ed. Is not in contempt of tne Feoers' Court. Neither personally nor omciai- Iv. SD far as the service of any papers from the Federal Court is concerneo, does MT. Julian know of the issuance or existence of the injunction that wal promulgated. .,h Rnt, ii this be the angle upon which tho Revocation of the charter is hung. if is possible the State authorities may
 run up against snag Tn any enort that might be taken to enforce the revocation. For the ofilce of the state
 unon whom would devolve the duty of prosecuting the railroad. or its om- ciais for transacting business without license. would be the Attorney Gen. kA ynOS6 enioined from enforcing or attempt ing to enforce the outlaw act.' The provisions of the Outlaw act. as na sed at the winter sesison of the Legislature, would. as a matter or
 course, apply only to the intra.state business of the Southern Railway. The interstate business Is regulated hv act of Congress, and is not in any manner subject to the control of the Legislature.
 The result of the revocation of the license of the Southern. therefore,
 should 1t be ultimately upheld by the
 courts. would not affect the the inter.
 state business. The raiiroao wouio s".
 still maintain its offices in this State. and would in any ev,nt. without com ing in conflict in .ny manner with the State law, continue to sell tickets
 for the inter state business 1t being permissible. in spite of anything the
 State and its officials might do. to con-
 tinue selling tickets beyond the State
 line. and to permit passengers to ride
 from without the State to points in
 Alabama. entirely without molesta- tion.
 Effect Only Intrastate. The business strictly within the State would be all that would be af fected in any manner. And there seems
 no question but that, in all human
 probability. the Southern Railway, its
 officials and employees. will absolutely refuse to pay any attention whatever to the revocation by the Secretary of
 State, clainnng and insisting that he lacks the authority to take any such
 action, iR confiscation of the property
 of the company.
 In short. the action simply means that the Southern Railway will. when ever the State or any of its officials
 make any attempt to enforce the revo cation order of the Secretary of Statn. or do any other overt act in contraven- tion of the order of Judge Jones, at once take the matter again into the Federal courts in a different phase from that now pending.
 The property interests of the South ern in Alabama are far too great to permit it to take any other course. Its officials cannot, in justice to the stock holders. permit any considerable DOT
 tion of its property to be tied up by any such order of State official in
 such manner that it would derive no
 income, and would simply constitute
 dead weight of many millions of dol lars worth of property to he cared for
 and maintained. without hope of re- ward.
 The Southern Railway, of it's own
 right and in its own name. owns some
 800 or 1.60o miles of railway track in
 Alabama, not including that held by
 allied railway corporations. There are,
 besides, millions of dollars worth of
 depots, sidetracks. roundhouses and other terminal and station property. much of which is used almost exclus
 ively in business strictly within the
 State.
 The longest individual line of the
 Southern in the State, in fact, lies
 wholly within Alabama. and a great
 proportion of it's business. doubtless. is
 of an intrastate character. and would
 be interfered with by the order of
 revocation. if followed, practically to
 the point of annihilation. This is the
 line from Birmingham. through Selma,
 to Mobile.
 The two. other principal lines of the ca,,tbar, within the State are the old