The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-30
Why DemoraIIse The RaiIroadss

1T R cole, in Atlanta Constitution.)
 But just press a little harder ana what will be the resultY The puliu- ing of roads will soon cease therepy throwing more than a thousand men out of employment in the State-men who earn their bread by the sweat ot their brow. Take for instance tns Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic rall- road, which, In the last two years, nAs in the building and equipping of its line or roads in Georgia alone, spent millions of dollars and now peLore U has had time even to begin to make the interest on the borrowed money tle bridle of oppression is placed upon lt and it is hardly allowed chanSe so complete what had already been pe- gun. I am aware of the fact that they are still allowed the three-cent rate; but that only helps them locally, TOT an travel will go over the competing lines at the two and one-half cent rate. How can we expect them or the coun- try either to prosper? The one IS de, pendent on the other. Yet tyrannlcai legislation and the greed for office VIII soon crush them out, Already Ine lumber market in this section of south Georgia has fallen off thirty per cent. Fighting railroads does not only hurt the corporation, but other enterprises suffer just the same, and the prlneiphl part of it falls upon the Worklhg man, man, for there is no enterprise In the state which furnishes or employs more Wofk- ing men than do the railroads, nor does any other enterprise pay better wages for the different classes of work. but
 mark my prediction, If they are oR1 pressed a little more tightly, there VIII be undoubtedly be a cut In the wages of their thousands of employees, ana then the country will witness one or the biggest strikes ever knoWn, No' 1 say give the roads tair, Legitimate | showing Allow them full compensa- .tion for their work that they may place l their roads in peter condition ana pay | competent men better wages for thelr | service and make better schedules' Don't crush them out of existence to
 ga tisfy personal ambition. Give them l justice in the court room and work as | much as possible to their interests without injury to the commercial m l terests of our country, ana If a man | can't pay three cents mile ana go III | the style in which they carry hiIn' Just | let him take terra firma.
 1 am inclined to think that two | thirds of this great railroad getting | rich problem is imaginary. Their eN- penses should also be taken into con
 sideration, Lock at the many pnaVoir, ,CaS,,
 able wrecks which occur nearly every
 day Look at the standing army Of | lawyers they have to employ py the
 year to get even half justice in the | court house for killing anything rom | a Wcman's pet canary bird to a circus | elephant. l trust that the roads may
 prosper, even with all the odds against them, but I can't see how. l cannot
 blame the Central of Georgia for shut ting down its building operations In
 Macon nor the Atlanta, Birmingham m and Atlantic for doing the same al l Fitzgerald. I can't see how thelI
 managers could have done otherwise
 and done their duty to their stock
 holders, for If they had kept on the
 whole concern might have been bank
 rupt in a short time. But that does
 not help those poor men who have
 families to support, who were throwf
 out of employment. That is the clas.
 that is hurt at last. When you fight
 a railroad to such an extent that It hal
 to shut down it's work, you shut jus
 that many laboring men out of job
 whose labor is their capital It may
 be made to appear that man wh'
 would be instrumental in doing such
 thing would be the peoples friend, bu ac.1aa. c.f IL ca1n,t If that way