Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1907-12-29

tinue to do all in his power TO has
ten the speedy completion of this
building.
increased appropriations had been
secured for the rivers of Arkansas
and in this Mr.. Robinson had been
active and diligent. He looked for-
! ward to day when every river in the
State would become an artery of COM
MERGE and pledged himself to renewed
| efforts in this direction
More general legislation of national
Importance had been enacted durin,g
| the four years he has represented the
district than perhaps in any other
| similar period Of the political hister:
of the country. The Government had
asserted the right to regulate and
| control railroads engaged in inter
state commerce, by the passage of the
! Hepburn bill and the doctrine Of
prosecution for the corporations and
| immunity to their officers for viola
| tons of the interstate commerce law
had been abandoned by the party in
power, and the Jail doors were being
| unlocked to admit kings of modern
finance, who had sought to climb to-
ward the sun upon the ruins of their
competitors and upon piles of ill-got-
! ten dollars The Honorable John
Sharp Williams, he said had declar-
| ed that the Robinson private freight
car bill was the best bill introduced
in Congress on that subject
Railroad Accidents.
The speaker took issue with Mr..
Hogue as to the best means Of pre-
venting accidents on railroads. Mr.
Hogue had declared himself in favor
| OF making the railroads pay $1,000
for every person killed without re-
gard to the circumstances of the kill
ing. Mr.. Robinson said that this plan
while he believed in holding railroads
amenable to the public and penaliz-
ing them when they do wrong, he did
not believe in this plan and declared
that Mr.. Hogue was seeking to OBJ
tain favor through alleged public
sentiment against railroads.
Liability Bill.
Mr.. Robinson said he had support
ed actively the employers liability
bill, which had abolished the fellow
servant doctrine and introduced into
the law the doctrine Of comparative
negligence. Under this law any en-
ploye of railroad company, Or his
heirs, can recover if injured or killed
through the negligence Or wrongful
act Of the company Or other employees,
and he is no longer barred by reason
Of his own negligence, but the jury is
empowered to compare the negli-
gence of the employee and the compa-
ny and render a verdict in proportion.
He also favored prompt action by the
several state railroad commissions and
the Interstate Commerce Commission
requiring railroads to keep their
tracks in repair and to use safety ap-
planes and equipment. This, he de-
cared was the natural means of re-
ducing accidents on railroads and not
by penalizing them when they We're
without fault as Mr.. Hogue advocated
Another means of protecting pas
sengers and employees engaged in in
terstate commerce is by reducing the
hours of labor for telegraphers and
road employees generally.
The speaker denounced the prac-
tice Of issuing "watered stock" and
declared that the Interstate Com
merce Commission should be empow-
cred to ascertain the true value of
all railroads and railroad properties
engaged in interstate commerce, and
that stock issues should be limited
to fair vaules. Mr.. Robinson dis
cussed the trust question and advo-
Gated the suppression Of all trusts,
referring to speeches made on the
subject in Congress and elsewhere by
/ himself He criticised Mr.. Hogue's
! government warehouse plan,' in
which he suggested that the Govern
ment construct cotton warehouses and
receive cotton and issue scrip upon
it and fix minimum price of eleven
cents. Mr.. Hogue, he said, had ad-
vocated this proposition at Ward, at
Benton and at Sheridan in public
speeches, but had dropped it and made
no reference to it in his newspaper
speech
The Farmers Union had met in Lit7
tie Rock just two days after he ad-
vocated this proposition at Benton
and fixed minimum price of fifteen
cents and Mr.. Hogue Immediately
abandoned the proposition. Mr.. Rob-
inson said that the farmers of the
country had already built their own
4 ~