The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-16
Acts Are Valid.


 'The prima facie presumption is that all acts of the legislature are consti- tutional and valid and they must be in- forced until adiudged unconstitutional. This same presumption applies to the fixing of rates as to other acts of this body, in fact our constitution makers and the people in adopting the constitution expressly vested this discretion in the legislature, and the argument that the legislature is without expert knowledge of rates and that therefore, cannot fix them is in direct antagonism to our whole policy of laws.
 "I was interested at the winter ses- sion when our 110 commodity act was before the committee for consideration and officers high in authority of the va rious- railroads appeared before com mittee on commerce and common car riers. These officials were asked first to designate which of the rates in the 110 commodity bill were too low. This they declined to do. Next many specific rates in this bill were stated and at the time an opinion asked upon that particular rate as to whether or not it was too low and the reply was that they could not say whether or not the rate was too low, that was a matter for an expert rate man.
 When questioned as to what it took to make an expert and whether or not there was any scientific or philosophical basis of theory for fixing rates no one of them said that there was, but it ap peared that what constituted d rate ex- pert was some one who had gone into a rate department without any previous knowledge of such matters and finding d rate sheet added on amounts here and reduced amounts there and in this, scattering way without any system or theory, made changes from time to time f.... a number of years still without develop ing theory or a scientific basis became an expert. This led me to the conclusion that there are no persons who can prop erly be classed as rate experts in the sense of making rates.
 An Actual Test.
 An actual trial seems to be the only test. The rates which form the basis of the bills now pending. have been tried in Georgia for something like 20 years. Having had this actual trial our knowl- edge of the conditions of business and of the prosperity ot the road proved that those rates are not too low. It is admitted by the opponents to the bill that these rates are per cent above the Georgia rate. Some of rail road friends have attempted to assert that for our agricultural products we should pay more than Georgia pays, be- cause specially LOW TdteS nave DeeH made to the mineral district. An exam ination will show that the mineral dis trict has more than cared for itself and considering that in connection with the agricultural district it is a help rather than a load.
 Criticism has been made on the classi- fication of the roads, particularly the classification of the Alabama Great Southern. I readily concede that if the Alabama Great Southern be treated as a separate entity it should be in a higher class than it is now placed. but it Is treated as a component part of the Southern system and the Southern sys- tenn, productive and unproductive lines considered, we think is fairly classified If the same rule were applied to the component parts of the Louisville and Nashville, the South and North would properly go in a distinct class to itself higher than any of the classes we have made but treated as component part of the Louisville and Nashville, It is in its proper classification.