The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-23
MIR. FINLEY SPEAKS
DUTY OF SOUTH TO THE RAIL-
 ROADS.
President of Southern System Declares That If Section Expects To Prosper Must Be Liberal
 To Investors.

 that the interests of a railway and the people depending upon It for trans portation, President Finley of the Southern Railroad Company, as one of the principal speakers at banquet here tonight at the meeting of the rail- way officials and lumbermen. made strong plea for fair treatment towards the railroads of the country on the part of the public. All that the rail- roads asked. he said. was the assurance of perfect liberty to develop their bus mess under the protection of Just and fair laws.
 Contending that the future growth of the South depended in large measures on the attitude of the Southern com munities toward railway development he said:
 T cannot conceive that the people of any locality should deliberately fa- vor a policy that would restrict invest ments, for business men will not put their money in any locality unless they are assured that its transportation agencies are strong enough and prosper ous enough to expand their service with the growth of these. Since the construction of railways first began they have been the forerunners of in- vestments.
 Tn this day in localities already supplied with railroads, further devel- opments depend on the assurance of the railroad facilities. For these req sons Southern industrial development must go hand in hand in the future as they have in the past. Stife or restrict railway development in any section and the inevitable result will be to stifie or restrict all industrial progress and material advancement In that section.
 Must spend Immediately.
 MT. Finley said that if the railways of the South are to increase their effi- cheney as transportation agencies and as allies with Southern communities for Southern development, they must spend large sums of money within the next few years. He said that the vital question confronting the railways and the Southern people was as to how the money for this purpose was to be ob- tained.
 MT. Findley pointed out the made quacy of railway income to provide funds for betterments and extensions. showing that If every dollar of the net income of the Southern railway from its organization had been used for this purpose, it would have amounted to on- ly about $3.6O0 per mile. whereas the railroad has actually spent or contract ed to spend for capitalized betterments and Improvements more than 96.000. 900 of dollars. or within fraction of four teen thousand dollars per mile on its mileage.
 He showed that adequate funds could he obtained only by borrowing and that every attack on the earning power of a railroad through Legislation reducing arbitrarily its charges or imposing onerous and restrictive conditions on it's operation Is an attack on its ability to maintain and improve it's service and reacts on those it Is intended to bene- fit.
 Referring to the proposition to reduce passenger fares in the Southern States as an illustration of the character of legislation that cripples the ability of railway to perform service and i'm prove its facilities, Mir Finley pointed but that passenger rates that might be profitable in states with dense popula- tion and heavy traffic. like Massachu- setts. New York or Onio would he i'm possible in states like Tennessee and Mississippi where the population is so sparse that heavy traffic cannot be built up at any rates. He contended that all laws imposing penalties on railways for failure to perform impossible service were tnimicai. both to the railways and the public.
 Tn conclusion. President Finley said the South needs urgently and speedily a great expansion of its transportation facilities. The railroads are willing ana anxious to supply these facilities. he said. if given fair play and a square deal
 Col. F. L. Russell. Vice President of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad fol- lowed Mir Finley. He said he was in full accord with the purposes of the Interstate Commerce Commission and believed that body was composed of intelligent and honest men. He de- ciared that in the exercise of its prop CT functions the Commission is a good thing for the railroads and also the people.
 Former Congressman John NJ. Alien of Mississippi and Governor Patterson aIaA I1aaAA RddresseA