The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-10
ANTI-RAmRoAD MANIA.

| adds:
 These developments of single day | indicate the widespread agitation | ican railroads Apparently it pleases | a great many people to see Legisla- | lures and the authorities. both State and National. pummel the common car riets and 10 magnify grievances | against them.
 It would puzzle the wisest student of affairs to explain and account for the anti-railroad feeling that is just now | prevailing in all portions of the coun- try. It appears to be an epidemic l which affects the people. the legisla- tive bodies and the judiciary system as well. In the old days of the Donny- brook Fair in Ireland. when each sturdy son of Erin carried his shillalah, the common advice was: "whiniver ye see head stickin' up. hit it," and that seems to be the prevalent feeling to- wards railroads. If you can find noth- ing else to hit, swat railroad" is the way the feeling runs.
 That the railroads themselves are responsible for some of this ill-feeling is undeniable. That they not infre- quently take advantage of their power and opportunities is equally true. Like other corporations they are some times guilty of injustice. oppression and intolerance for which there Is at least no moral defence, and it is shown at times that they have no legal de- fence for the course they pursue. Rail- road corporations lack a good deal of being faultless.
 Admitting all this to be true. it of- fers no excuse for crippling the roads. or for trying to crush them and put them out of business. Even if they are guilty of all the sins of commis- sion and omission charged up against them. they are the great empire build CTS of our modeYn life It is all very we'll for the old timers to refer to the days when there were no railroads ana ruminate regretfully on what they are pleased to speak of as the good times enjoyed by the people, but that is part of the dead past and can never be re- called. If there were not a railroad existing anywhere we would all fare alike. all sections of the country would be equal, and perhaps all would be content in a way The good that we have never experienced and enjoyed may not be a source of regret or long, ing.
 We are living under a new industrial dispensation now. The section that has no railroad facilities is bound to fall behind in the great struggle of life. As every man is for himself in this busy day, so does every section and community look out for it's own existence. The advent of Q railroad into a backwoods village Is always signal for a new order of things in the community. It opens, as it were, the outside world to all the people and gives them opportunity to get out and see something. It enables the mer- and to sell them cheaper. It offers 8 market to the farmer, the fruit-grower and the dairyman for his products and to the mechanic for his labor In short, the coming of a railroad is the beginning of better times for all; the enhancement of property values, the multiplication of opportunities and the addition to the conveniences and com forts of life.
 All this is true, as every observing person knows. few days ago we were talking with a friend from little town up in the hill country which less than two years ago was without railroad. He owned considerable real estate in and around the town for which there was little demand. either for rental or purchase. When the project for a rail- road to the town was under considera- tion he subscribed as liberally as his circumstances permitted. He stated that since the railroad had reached the town, he had sold. for good prices, enough of his real estate to pay his subscription. and a goood profit over. and that his remaining property is now worth twice as much as all his real es- tate was worth before the road was completed.
 This is one instance. but it can be duplicated all over Alabama. The rail- roads are builders of prosperity wher- ever they go. These are facts. but they do not give any railroad a right to impose unjust or unfair burdens on the community by taking advantage of their powers. neither do these facts give the people or the authorities any right to impose unjust burdens or ob- ligations on the roads. Railroad cor porations should receive the same fair and just treatment that Is accorded to individuals. as far as circumstances will admit. They should be protected in their rights as individuals are. They should be taxed on the value of theT property just as a citizen is taxed