The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-08

| citizens of your State from these 6reai public service corporations SO effect ively and finally that the State will al ways be an fnsurmountable power be- tween the citizens and such corpora tions.
 aMy PIedges and Your Piedses.s T repeat that every officer and voter
 mttsd ts stata so the or prnepes dp sna poeiss for which you have heretofore stood, the essence of which is the States right to regulate and control all agen- cies that operate within the State. I can only say to you and to the people | of Alabama that my position is your position. my pledges are your pledges,
 should not line up with you in this great contest in which the rights and | protection of the people stand as the .Outsids influence and outside pres- sure should meet with your resent ment. Your duty is plain and your course should be as straight as a string. The presence. of the chief rep resentative of the above road at the Capital City at this time. if 1t be for the purpose of influencing you to desert your. plain duty, is an insult to your
 "The statutes which recommend are in no sense of the word punitive or de- structive. The public service corpora and encouraged in every right. Only the dangerous use of power, a condi- tion which is now recognized by every
 State as aangsr9qs ths tS it's snd fn t5o corporations themselves, Is sought to
 be limiteG and controlled.
 These statutes then which l advise and which are recommended by the
 States attorneys are 20 framed as to be more effective fin securing obedience to your statutes regulating rates apd reg
 ulating the powers of public Service ce these bills as drawn.
 aTrust Your Attorneys"
 The changes are amendatory in nature to your former bills and are suggested by further study and the pending. These amendments are made in the same way that an attorney amends his pIeadings and brief as his case progresses. Just as in an individual torneys and follow their suggestions and advice, so in this great legal con- test of the State. you will observe the of prudence and wisdom for the attaln- ment of successful issue.
 'sThe purpose to be accomplished by the bills which I recommend for pass confiscation or the impairment of fair return upon investment of ft reign cor porations in the State. It was by Appropriations ions were permitted 10 hegin transaction of business in this State, and 1t was under this act of comity which was extended to them. that they acquired property in the State.
 This principle of courtesy is not now and never was one of right. It is not founded upon the Constitution, and there is no Constitutional provision. State or Federal. that protects it. It cannot be perverted into right so as to bring 1t under the protection of the Constitution.
 out stint that your right to enact laws looking to the regulation of for eign corporations is only limited and circumscribed by wise restrictions. which you should observe and which you are not asked to transgress. In the exercise of your undoubted right to enact laws looking to the regulation of public service corporations, whether they be domestic or foreign. you should be careful that the laws you enact tn their operation will not go to the ex- tent of impairing the capacity of such corporations to earn. where extortion Is not practiced, fair return, upon the capital invested. This marks the limit of the protection guaranteed by the Constitution, which have no dispo- sition to take from them.
 "No one of the laws urged by me for passage goes beyond this wise and safe limitation"