The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-07
Counsel of Southern Railway
 Expresses Opinion
VIEW OF COLONEL RUSSELL
President of Mobile and Ohio Road Declares There Was No Intention on Part of the Railway to
 Break State Laws.

1 Montgomery August Specially Col E. L. Russell, vice president of the
 Mobile and Ohio. and James Weatherly,
 division counsel of the Southern rail-
 way, both assert in statements made To-
 night that there was no intention to
 defy the Alabama laws in removing case from the state to the federal
 court. Colonel Russell. who is repre-
 senting the president of the Southern railway, said
 | My mission Is to counsel with MT. j. ! s. B. Thompson and other representa-
 tives of the Southern Railway company and see if the very embarrassing situa-
 tion caused by the revocation of the
 Southern railway license cannot be remedied. I wish to say that the re-
 moval of the Talladega case to the United States court was done in the
 routine of business, as had formerly
 been done, and was without the knowl- edge of the mana cement. The impress
 sion that has gone abroad that the re-
 moval of that case was challenge to l the state officials and in defiance of the state laws of Alabama is a mistake
 As matter of fact, this particular case does not come under this statute
 because the case was sued on before
 July l. 1907, and the act is against the
 removal of causes sued on after July l.
 Talk With Conner.
 T had a pleasant interview with Gov i ernor Conner this morning about this
 railroad tangle. Yes. you are right. the governor was positive in expressing his desire to uphold the laws of Alabama.
 But let me tell you, l and the other lawyers representing the railroads are Alabamians and are second to none in wishing to s,1 the peace and dignity
 of the state sheld. For one l wish
 the necessity had never arisen for ] esise to be pending .n any court en- titled Railroads vs State of Alabama
 and sincerely hope that there will be f none pending entitled State vs. Rail
 roads, The pipe of peace Is my only | weapon What has been done? Oh nothing except for us to be assured that the parties to this controversy are ' on business basis, fair alike to the people and to the railroads. Hold on, you have made me say possibly something I did not want to- and now you must hear me on a sub | ject I am not aVerse to speaking about. l want to congratulate the legislature | on their selection of Joseph r. John ston and John II. Bankhead as senator's It is one of the best pieces of work they have done during the session and will result in great good to the people i of Alabam ma and great advancement to | the state.
 | "Yes, Mrs. Russell is with me. We had a delightful trip, and while the weather is not as cool here as in Que bec the heartiness of our reception by l our many friends has made us forget discomfort and feel like Montgomery Is a second home.
 Weatherly Talks.
 Mr. Weathery said: My first informa- ton that Secretary of State Julian had cancelled the license of the Southern Railway company to do business in Ala bama came to me when l was in North f Carolina last week, where l had gone 10 see my family, and especially to spend Il few days with a daughter, who had been quite ill., This information was derived
 from a copy of the Montgomery Adver- tiser.
 Shortly afterwards I received inform1- | tion to the same effect from my office in Birmingham, and came home to see | what was the matter.
 "I found that the trouble was all about l the removal of a suit for personal ln- juries against the Southern Railway com pany in the circuit court of Talladega county to the United States circuit court at Anniston. the removal having been ef- | fected by our counsel at Talladega IS 1 provided by the federal statutes and in | the usual course of business. ] came 10
 Montgomery to investigate the matter | further and find that the case in qucs- | ton was commenced in October, in 1906. | and had been pending in the circuit court l at Talladega since that time. It was not removed however because the amount demanded in the original con- plaint was less than S2O0, the jurisdio- | tionai amount in the federal court, but in the latter part of July, when the case | came on for trial, the complaint Was | amended so as to claim s1000. and the case thereupon became removable to the | federal court and the law under which | Secretary Julian acted in reVoking the | southern's license does not apply in such a case.
 Construction of Law.
 "As I construe the law although ap- | proved March 1, 1907. 1t did not become | operative before July ] next thereafter, | and it provides that after July 1. 1907, for | eign corporations doing business in Ala | hama and ha ving the required license, on heinz sued In q state court In Alabama, and filing petition to remove the case
 to a United States court, should forfeit