The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-14

The Senate also concurred in the House joint resolution providing for an examinatiof ofs the accounts of all State officials. W
 Maximum Rate Btll.
 The consideration of the maximum rate bill was beguns-and lSenator Moody took the ffooor- He said that Sena- tor in a speech declared that he had ridden Into office on the railroad regu- lation wave. .Fa
 T have never fooled with waves. said the Senator from Tuscaloosa, "ex- cept the wave for temperance For twenty years struggled in vain for temperance legislation and now that the temperance wave is running high, have not sought public office through my long connection with the cause and my hard work for 1t"
 The speaker declared that he differed from the Governor on some matters. but admired him in other respects
 II do not know the President of the Louisville and Nashville Tiaii1 oad. I wouldn't recognize him if passed him on the street. But know his road has done much good for Alabanna. It made the Birmingham district and II it had not been for this work, vhe- tax values of our State would not be one-
  Two Questions Raised.
 He declared there are two phases or the questfon-are the proposed bills legal and are they expedient
 He said the Constitution guaranteed a public corporation a reasonable re- |durn on It's investment, and he did not believe the Senators were informed on whether or not the roads were receiy- ing moresthan fair return.
 He said that for one, be had not gone thoroughly into the nature of the bills. and he believed this is-generally true of the entire membership of the Sem ate. BtA
 He thought the Legislature was not acting as U chancery court or a com- mon jury. No testimony has been taken, with the single exception or few brief committee hearings. At these hearings, the only testimony taken was given by, a President of a railroad, who spoke with evident sin- cerity. He declared he could not .oper- ate under the proposed laws THIS statement, the Senator declared, had not been contradicted.
 Not Making Any Money.
 He was personally familiar with the Mobile and Ohio disvision between Columbus and Montgomery and he had good reason to believe that no money had been made on this division ana 1t had been in operation for seven years. of d number of other roads in Aiaba- ma" 1~ sts
 "Does .the Senator from Tuscaloosa know how much money the railroads spent in Alabama for political purposes and charged to operating expenses! queried senator Lusk.'
 T do not know, but if there was money spent 1t was perhaps Tor seif protection. The question of spending money really comes to ., point or cor. poration against corporation, one set of corporations wanting the old rates and another set wanting reduced rates. Is don't want the impression to so out that approve of this action, but T am simply. statingHa fact" replied Sen. ator Moody.
 Continuing. he said that some roads had made fair returns on their in' vestment and he was glad of It..
 Let Them Develop Our State.
 s'The best thing we can do for Ala. bama is to let the roads make rea- sonable profit and improve and ex- tend their systems in this State. Let them put in double tracks. develop sec tions of our State that are not now developed s,,. and, stimulate our trads'' He was interrupted by a number of Senators who told him of railroad building now in progress. He was also asked by Senator Reynolds If the bank of which he Is president was not d- nancing 1 branch road in West Ala bama. M
 Senator Moody denied this. That road doesn't owe us a nickel. and would be afraid to lend them one until after this unfortunate agitation is over" he said. @ He favored the taking of testimony. If 1t was proven that the rates were just and reasonable he would stand for these rates. but # ttif5y- V ere szzze just and reasonable; T for one will have the manhood to stand by the railroads" He discussed the reference to Judge Jones, and said that although he would have preferred that the matter be de- decided in the state courts, still he recognized the right of the case to be taken to the Federal, courts, and that the States attorneys alone are respo- sible for failure to have the testf. mony taken. ~sl
 You just say to the railroads by not taking the testimony. that you may be right, but you had better submit" said Senator Moody. M Er
 states Rights Not tin Question.
 He declared that the question of state s Tlshts oiu hots CotlS ihto ehS question and that John c. Calhoun. the apostle of States rights. argued the right of a non resident to transfer ca- ses to the United States court Senator Moody closed with an appeal for calm consideration of the question.
 Senator Hammer took the opposite side of the question and denounced the | corporations that carried the cases in- to the United States court, as defiers of the laws of ths7state.