Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1907-07-19
MR.. FINLEY's SPEECH.

w. w. Finley, president OF the South
ern Railway Company, delivered an ad-
dress yesterday evening before the Louis
Vile Commercial Club, on "The Rail-
road Question"
After pointing out that railway rates
we're controlled by economic laws and
could not be fixed on any arbitrary basis
and that the South--far distant from its
most desirable markets-could i'll afford
10 accept distance as the principle Of rate
making. Mr.. Finley said that the public
frequently fails 10 realize that length OF
haul could not control charges; that In
many instances, a railway must accept
less for longer haul than it receives for
a shorter one, and that in so doing it
does no injustice to those shipping over
the shorter distance.
He illustrated this by showing how
rates from Louisville to Lynchburg and
other Virginia cities we're beyond con-
troll of the Southern Railway Company,
which had longer route than either The
Chesapeake and Ohio, or that by way Of
the Louisville and Nashville and Nor
folk and Western, both OF which lines
we're operating between the West and
the Virginia cities before the organiza-
ton of the Southern Railway, with rates
practically the same as at present.
Referring to Chairman Kuapp's dec
laration that Gan immense amount OF
fresh capital must be invested in rail-
road improvements in order that our in
ternal commerce may develop and our
prosperity abide" Mr.. Finley said:
81 believe that popular misapprehen-
sion as to the financial resources Of the
railways is responsible for much of the
agitation for legislation that would tend
to destroy All earning capacity that must
be preserved, and even increased, if the
credit OF the roads is to be 80 maintained
as to enable them to secure the new
capital that Is needed. There seems TO
be a mistaken belief, in some quarters,
that The railways have great and mYs
FERROUS resources, outside of their current
earnings and their credit. 1t is unneces-
sary for me to tell an intelligent audi
ence, such as this, that this Is serious
mistake, and that the railways have no
mysterious inexhauslible treasures on
which they can draw for the immense
amount Of new capital referred to by
Chairman Knapp.
"The men who are demanding that
we shall improve our service, and who,
at the same time, are proposing legislation
to reduce our income, are not coming
forward with offers to supply this capital.
If it is to be provided, we must depend
upon investors. These investors are
governed by identically the same con-
siderations that influence the man who
invests bis money in farm, in q
mercantile establishment, or in factory.
They want to know that the commodity
which the railway has for sale - trans
portation-can be sold at prices and
under conditions that will probably pay
all expenses OF running the business and
leave a fair margin over for profits. They
want to be assured that when the trans
portation company has performed its
service at reasonable rates, has avoided
unjust determinations, and has complied
with all its legal obligations, whatever
remains to it, be it much or little,
shall be recognized as being Its property,
entitled to the same degree Of protection
by the laws of the land and by public
opinion as property in any other form,
or obtained in any other legitimate
Manner