The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-04

the debate on Senate Bill No 16. in tFoduced by Mir. OYerton. known as the Maximum Rate Bill, delivered ai able speech in which he forcibly pre- sented the railroad side of the situa-
 MT. Moody made a strong. plea against the batting of the railroads: He advocated laying aside preludice and asked for g. consideration or the Dill from the standpoint of justice 10 the railroads and an impartial decis-
 Senator Moody's speech in full fol- lows:
 Mir. President
 It has been suggested by the. mem bers of the Senate that we all came here with specific instructions to enact bill substantially like the one under consideration.
 cannot speak for others but % as for myself, such was not the case. The people of my county were kind and considerate enough to elect me to this body. without giving me direc- tions on this subject They were am here to give them and my State my best thought and judgent in ref erence to the pending bill
 made about thirty speeches in my canvass last summer, and l was not requested to state in any speech, whether I was for this candidate or that candidate for Governor The voters of Tuscaloosa County gave put little attention to the views of the candidates for Senator and Represen- fative in reference to this matter. , On one occasion, as I was finishing my speech, some one asked: What about the railroad question:? re- piled that I was in favor of giving the Railroad Commission power to pre- vent improper and unjust discrimina- tion. and power. to improve the gen eral efficiency of the road. but that thought we ought to go slow in the matter of serious reduction In the rates: that if we made harsh reduc- fion In these rates, we might check the building of railroads; that we were in need of one or two more roads in Tuscaloosa County, and that the building of these roads would be worth more to the people of the county than the saving Of scme trif1ing amount to the purchasers of freight shipped on the present loads.
 Spoke of Projected Railroads.
 The Mobile and West Alabama Rail road had been surveyed from Mobile to a point on the Tennessee River, and from that point It expected to make connection with ChiLago. If this road were built tt would run. distance of some fifty or nixty miles, north and south, through Tuscaloosa County. The act of building the road would itself put in circulation large 1t would be of great service to thepeo- pie in enabling them to go to and from the county site. and the differ ence between the cost of hauling freight fifteen or twenty iEiles by wa gon on the one hand. and the cost of hauling 1t on this new road on the other would, In the end, be great saving.
 I spoke of another road that was projected to run from a point in Mis- sissippi east thirty or forty miles through Tuscaloosa county, toward Birmingham. The foregoing was about the only reference made to the railroad question in any of the speech es made by me fin the recent canvass. I doubt not that the districts repre- scented here by other Senators would be benefited by the building of new roads through their sections of the country.
 Tn the discussions on this subject. often mentioned. My environment has been rather against railroads l own no stock in any railroad My oldest son, a short time ago, on the sug- Kestion of a friend who was trying to lnaugurate a new railroad enterprise, subscribed for a few shares of stock 5n that road. With this exception. none of my relatives own any rail- road stock. I have a farm that lies near the city of Tuscaloosa, and on It.. I undertook to raise fine stock. A killed two animals. of the COW breed, which had been imported from Scot land. and had cost me $500 to $1.0o0. Besides these two the railroad also killed a large number of graded heif- ers, and the consequence was I was involved in litigation with the rail- road for a series of years, and I final