The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-24
PRESIDENT SMITH WRITES
 OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR

the pending controversies. He tells the Governor nssr the close of the
 ~You have fomented public clamor which you are directing and by which you have obtained preferment, but in doing so you have inflicted fncalcu- iable injury upon your state"
 The letter in full follows;
 Montgomery, Ala, Oct. 23, 1907. Hon. B. B. Conner, Governor of Ala
 bama.
 Dear Sir--The importance to the citizens of Alabama of the contention between the State and corporations operating railways between it's bor- ders prompts me to make . record of some of the reasons earnestly urged, at our interview at the Executive once on yesterday. in an effort to induce you to cease your endeayors to prevent the arbitration Of the Issues by the tribunals created and maintained for that purpose, with the hope that the views presented in this way may be more effective than when verbally ex- pressed.
 The Railroad and the People.
 "The Louisville and Nashville Rail- road Company first became interested fin Alabama when 1t assumed the. con tract between Sam Tate and associates <ANt0 AAtC h9Sotit anu ANOKb bn AtADaind ttaI- road Company, to complete the con structfon of the line between Montgom- cry and Decatur, which was done, and the line opened for traffic on October 1, 1872. The transaction proved to be an onerous and burdensome one.
 Under the then existing conditions the cost of the road was very great, and the ensuing panic in 1873 rendered operations unprofitable, and the result 1H x.F a1..A \. = been sufficient to pay interest upon in- debtedness, notwithstanding the enor- m ous investments made by the Louis vile and Nashville Railr oad Company in constructing branch roads and ac- curing roads which have been main tained as feeders.
 sNevertheless. the Louisville and Nashville, as-endorser of the bonds of the South and North Alabama, and owner of the majority of the capital stock, has paid each obligati on as 1t matured. and the credit of that com pany is. therefore. certainly as good as that of the Louisville and Nashville. Y 'In 1871 the Louisville and Nash vile leased the Nashville and Deca- tur Railroad. operating twenty-three miles in Alabama, agreeing to pay divi- dends of 6 per cent per annum upon the capital stock. About the time the l6A6b WaG ltduG, UT SuVItiy UCkOICY tnC stock was selling as low at 10 cents on the dollar.
 '1n 1880 the Louisville and Nashville pudchased from the then owners the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad, pay ing very full price therefor, although that company or its predecessors had defaulted. and tue property sold under foreclosure and acquired by the own CTS of the securities; in other words, AN.1 kH.a xnNv tioil (soufe of which believe was con- tributed by the State of Alabama and some by municipalities) were lost. Yet the Louisville and Nashville was not benefited by this default, because it paid a full price--probably equal to the original cost of construction--for the property.
 Builainx the System.
 "About the same time it also acquir- ed the New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Railroad, operating twenty-five miles in Alabama. This company was the successor of corporations that had de- faulted and sthe property acquired by lien holders. The Louisville and Nash Vile, however, paid for the property of the reorganized company a full price, approximating, believe, aDoul s45, 900 per mile.
 'gphe Railroad Company was there fore in possession of a main line fin Alabama extending from Elkmont. on tha Tennessee line, to Grand Bay. on the Mississippi line, a distance of about 4ie miles. We may assume that in ac- quiring the line passing for so many miles through Alabama. the manage ment was influenced by the possibility of developing the mineral resources known to exist in the vicinity of what IS now Birmingham.
 such main line, however, developed such resources to but a limited extent m 1884, the |. & N. Railroad Company began acquiring and constructing branch roads for the purpose of de- xeloping the mineral, agricultural and forest products of the State. and has since that time created branch roads of about 300 miles in length.
 Owing to the character of the traf- ac in the mineral district, the percent age of sidetraek to main line mileage is great. The total amount expended in adding to the property of the com. pany within the State of Alabama, in- cluding equipment allotted on basis oi