The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-21
PRES. FINLEY WILL APPEAR Railroad Officials to At tend Hearing, TO PRESENT THEIR CASE Reported That Representatives of
 Lines Will Talk. Common CArriera Indicate Intention of Following Open Methods to Oppose Pending LegisIation--Lobby M
 is Absent.

President ". wiFinley, the new head of the Southern Railway Company who succeeded the late Samuel Spencer; President J. r. Hanson of the Central of Georgia Railroad. and Third Vice. President A. R. Smith of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, will, in all probability. attend the public hearing of the railroad bills. which has been set by the Senate Committee on Com merce and Common Carriers for Tues day afternoon at o'clock.
 While no official statement of the intention of these prominent railroad men to appear before the committed and make presentation of the side or the railroads in the pending legisla- ton, has yet been made, 1t is neverthe- less probable that these, as we'll as a number of others. will attend the hear ing and present the side of the rail- roads in the important litigation pow pending. The committee hearing is to continue for two hours, which will be given to hearing addresses and argu- nlents from the railroad men.
 The committee is headed by Senator John w. Overton of Randolph, and to it has been assigned the railroad meas ures which are supposed to have the enlargement of the administration oi Governor Conner. The most important of these measures Is Senate bill. Is. which gives the. Railroad Commission Of Alabama the right to classify the railroads of Alabama, and fix rates on those classes, The bill itself fixes rates on many of the commodities that arc commonly shipped in Alabama.
 Embodies Conner Issues.
 The bill embodies several of the is- sues raised by Governor Conner in his successful campaign last summer. They are primarily the classification of the railroads of the State and the fixing of a law-made rate on articles most ir use in Alabama.
 The bill was drawn with exceeding care. It shows on the part of the man who arranged the big schedule of rates thorough knowledge of the subject railroad man who examined the bill said:
 Tt has been drawn by some broken down railroad man who has had expe- rience with rates. He simply sliced of part of the rates with which he was familiar
 The railroads claim, too. that the employers liability bill, which Is now before the Senate, Is not fair to the railroads or the other corporations of the State. They cIanm this bill will
 
 advantage in all damage suits. The reasons upon which this claim is based will be adduced at the Tuesday hear ing, or at some other time during the progress of this particular bill through the Legislaturea
 The bill which decreases the passen- ger rate in Alabama from cents to 2 cents d mile Is on the calendar of the Senate. with favorable report from the Committee on Commerce and the bill will be so amended In the Sen. at 2 1-2 cents a mile, the rate favored by Governor Conner.
 Another railroad measure, and one in which the railroad officials are vitally interested is the bill entitled mission of Alabama" This bill Is ip- tended to supplant all existing laws as to the present Commission. It em- braces the ideas of Mir. Conner and his friends as to the power with which the Commission should be clothed. It Is only less important than the rate sched- ule bill.
 Policy of the Railroads.
 With the announcement of the com ing of the leading railroad officials of the South. the policy of the railroads towards pending legislation Is devel- oped. It is now the policy of the rail- roads to make their fight out in the open. with appeals for fairness. What they shall have to say, shall be said so that all may hear it. They will en- deavor to show why and how any pro