The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-29
Says North Carolina Must Bear
 Part of Burden
4 T,ION INJURIES TRADE
Comptroller of the Southern Railway Is Subjected to Continued Cross Examination and Hints at
 Financial Panic.

Washington, August 2S.-The prob able adverse effect of state Legislation on the property of the railroads and the people of the country was the fea- ture of the testimony today of Comp troller Plant of the Southern Railway in the North Carolina rate hearing case. He pointed out that if a panic should result from the lowering of pas senger rates the state of North Caro- lima would have to share the burden of responsibility
 Discussion of this phase of the con troversy was brought out by ques- tion asked MT Plant by MT. Justice, speaker of the North Carolina legisla ture, as to whether there was conges- tion on the Southern Railway lines in North Carolina. Mir Plant replied that the congestion had been relieved 1 to some extent during the last six months by means of improvements to the Southern system. Asked if ne at tributed the congestion 10 the recent act of the North Carolina Legislature reducing passenger rates MT. Plant re- piled that the more rate Legislation the less congestion there would be be- cause legislation would have a ten- dency to decrease business in the coun- try as a whole.
 Agitation Decred. q mean to say" added MT Plant, that the gi eater agitation against the railroads of the country the greater the probability of d decrease in general trade"
 xffhxr Dof way does not increase its facilities for moving traffic faster than now, MT Plant explained was that the Southern Las not the cash to pay for such ad- ditional facilities To get the money for these improvements 1t muct go into the money market and sell it's securi- | ties
 | Tt cannot" he said, find a market | for securities in the lace of state leg islation tending 10 reduce itst ties be- low the point where 1t can earn the money to pay for the necessary im- provements."
 "If the rate in North Carolina is eXorbitant do you thing the South ern Railway company ought to criticise the state of North Carolina for mak- ing an investigation and fixing the rates to what 1t thinks are proper?p asked MT. Justice.
 If the rate sare exorbitant," replied MT. Plant, and can be shown to be- I do not believe the Southern would ob- 1ect to considering the reduction
 Cost of Operation.
 Practically all the entire morning ses- sion of the case, during which A II. Plant. the comptroller of the Southern railway, was under cross-examination was taken up with technical questions. The cost of earning dollar on intrastate traffic was discussed. In making his quarterly reports of the operations of the Southern railway lines ia North Caro- lima, to the North Carolina railroad cor poration commission, MT. Plant placed the operating ratio on intrastate traffic at certain figure, which, he said, was correct at that time to the best of his knowledge and belief. Since then he had reached the conclusion that the cost of earning a dollar on intrastate traffic was considerably higher and in his testimony today he explained this conclusion.
 From his investigations in North Caro- lima and elsewhere MT. Plant said that he was forced to figure the operating ratio on intrastate traffic as at least a minimum of IS per cent higher than the figure made in his reports to the North Carolina corporation commission.
 He added that conservative railroad men even placed the figure much higher than himself.
 MT. Plant protested because counsel for North Carolina declined to accept his change of figures, saying that at the time he made them they were correct.