The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-18
.C0MER RACES, :"
 SAYS SMITH L. & N. President Issues Vigorous Statement. TALKS OF GOVERNORS ERRORS Cites Alleged Miscellaneous tn
 Interview, Declares that the Governors welI- axnown Intolerance Is an 'Tn- armitys--statement Deals
 With Governors Last
 Interview.
TALKS OF GOVERNORS ERRORS

B. B. Conner, published in full in last
 Sundays Advertiser. In his interview
 President Smith describes "the intel
 erance" of the Governor as "an infirm-
 ity."
 In his statement President Smith
 points out several paragraphs in the
 Governors interview, which he pro-
 nounces "erroneous" He says, for in-
 stance. that the Governor denounced
 the Louisville and Nashville for not
 giving through bills of lading through the port of Mobile.
 The Governors Errors.
 He points out that the advertising matter of the Louisville and Nashville detailed among other things, the sail l ings of twenty-one vessels. for which the road continu ously solicits business for foreign ports on through bills of lading. The whole vigorous statement Is 6 citation of the errors made in the Governors interview. President Smith presents the Governor as raging" and
 raving" against the courts and the railroads because the courts opinions are not drawn and the railroads busi- ness is not operated in accordance with | executive ultimatum.
 The statement follows:
 l Louisville, Ky, Oct. 1e, 1908. Montgomery Advertiser:
 My attention has been called to an extended communication from Hon. B. B. Conner, Governor of Alabama, published in your issue of the 11th inst, in which he, in characteristic. i frcnzied manner repeats the accusa- tions he has for many years been mak- 1 ing against railways, courts. etc The animus of hts expressions re- garding railways is that they do not always conduct operations in the man ner demanded by him, and that the court does not always make it's opin- | N IL F. l.. fVNN1 fWnNr | intolerance of the views or wishes of those who may differ from him is rec ognized by all who have dealings with him. and by many others. It Is an infrmity.
 The Governor Rages. He rages because the railways, es- pecially the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, have not refunded all of the claims for overcharge on lumber in accordance with the decis- ion of the United States Supreme Court | in the case of H. Ii. lift ct al vs. Southern Railway Company ct al. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Com pany is a solvent corporation, and, l whi ile 1t continues to be so, must pay l all lawful claims. Some of the claims | have already been paid. and others will be paid as soon as accurately ad- judicated. May 1t not relieve the poignancy of the Governors anxiety. that the chalmers shall be paid, to know that the largest beneficiaries are railway companies, they being the largest purchasers of yellow pine ship ped from points in Georgia during the period in which the contention was being adjudicated in the courts, and during which the claims accrued? Or does his animosity extend only to the railways in Alabama?
 This illustrates the erroneous posi- ton assumed by the Governor. when he complains that he Is restrained from reducing the rates of the rail- ways until the justice of his conten- tion has been adJudicated, and de- mands that the reduced rates be put in effect and then adjudicated when, if the decision should be favorable to the contention of the carriers, the revenue that they would have derived had they not been restrained from putting such rates in effect, cannot be recov- cred. while. on the other hand. the railways are required by the courts to give bond to refund the difference between the rates actually charged and those finally fixed, should the de- cision of the courts sustain the action of the State.
 stII Another "SIistake.~
 He charges that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company refuses to give through export bills of ladinE.
 
 shipments. I have before me an ad- vertising card, issued by the company. entitled "Sailings for October, 1908, from Mobile. Ala. in connection with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company" giving the sailings of twenty-one vessels for winch 1t so- licits shipments on through bills of lading to foreign ports
 He complains bitterly of the small advance in rates. effective August 1st, on packing house products, grain and grain products. from the Ohio River to points in Alabama. These rates have now been in effect two months plained of the increase? Let me again call his attention to the fact that much the larger portion of packing house products, grain and grain pro- ducts, consumed in Alabama, is pro- duced in the State. According to sta tistics compiled by the United States Government, the State of Alabama pro- duced 47.S4S.sS2 bushels of corn in 1906. The total shipments by rail from points on and beyond the Ohio and | Mississippi Rivers, and from Nashville | to points in Alabama, Mobile not in- cluded. during the year 1906, was B. 551,625 bushels.
 And Some More "dIstakes."
 He complains of the increase in | rates on cotton from points in Ala | bama to Southern mills. am advised | that such rates have not been ad- vanced; that there have been some slight adjustments from a few unim. portant points, involving slight re- auctions as well as slight increases.
 He raves because competing rail- ways publish and maintain uniform rates between competing points. How can the commerce of the country be conducted in an orderly way, except by uniform rates by competing car- riers? Different rates by competing necessarily cause confusion and discrimination between persons and places. which Is prohibited by ex- isting laws. Does he wish a return to the practices that so long prevail ed, which resulted in numerous rate wars, irregularity in adjustment of rates and secret rebates? Undoubt- edly in those times the Governor from his well known energy and activity. did not permit his competitor In trade to gain any advantage over him. If cut rates were inaugurated he would be among the first to benefit thereby. and his well recognized ability as a business man insures him his full share of the benefits derived from se- cret rebates.
 Ills rage against railways, especial ly Alabama railways, is unsuitable. It would seem that he ought to be sat-