The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-28
 EXTENSION
 IS DESIRED Thirty-fiye Railroads Petition Commission. BEING HEARD AS ONE CASE Officials Claim Competent Operator
 Cannot Be Secured.
 
BEING HEARD AS ONE CASE
Nearly All the Petitions Indicate That If the Law Is Enforced, Msny small stations Will Be
 Closed.

Washington, Feb. 27.--operating or heiais of railways from all parts or the country today were in attendance upon the hearing given by the Inter state Commerce Commission of appn- cations for an extension of the time or the going Into effect of the nlne-nour law. .x. rAceived by the Commission asking Tor tha extension. Two of them already have been denied. those of the Georgia Southern and Florida, and the st. .Joseph and Grand Island Railway ne- cause, in the opinion of the Comn.s- sion, did not show what In the teIIns of the act, would constitute vou r cause, for granting the relief re- ouested. The applications of the other thirty-five lines are being heard as one case because the petitions are substan- tally identical.
 Ali of them assert that they have found it impossible to procure the ser vices of comp etent. efficient and oe- pendable telegraph operators m suSn numbers as will enable them to comply with the provisions of the law; and that. even if they could obtain the necessary operators, the enforced en. nIovnient of so many additional men would be a financial hardship which the carriers ought not to be subjected 10. Nearly all of the petitions also indicate that if the circumstances Of the law is enforces, the companies will bssobiiRed to close many small stations on their lines, thus Interfering with the service, causing inconvenience and pos- sibla loss Go tho travelling and shipping public and preventing the prompt move ment of the trains.
 sssr IL is regarded as significant that, Af YOTK Central lines, none of the great East ern roads have made application for extenslon. These include the Pennsyl- vania. the Erie, the Deiewarae. Lack awanna and Western, the Lehigh Val ley, the New Jersey Central the En H. adelphia and Reaaing, the New xork, New Haven. and Hartford. the Boston and Maine, and others. Tn the North west. the Eisconsin Central, the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific are moi represented among the applicants. Under the law and a ruling of the Com mission, no road which does not apply for the extension can be a beneficiary of any other granting the extenslon 70 other lines even if such order should be issued.
 It is assumed, therefore. that the oompanies which have not applied have made arrangements to conform to the provisions of the law when # becomes effective on the 4th of March.
 LeEasIative Features.
 At the opening of the hearing Chair man Knapp of the commission. made 1t clean in brief statement that the commission could not undertake to pass upon legislative features of the law or such features as clearly involved legis- latiYe policy.
 In the course of the hearing two important systems of railways. the Chi- tWNNa n4 4nA Southern railway indicated by state ments and evidence that while it might be possible to procure the necessary additional labor required by an ob- servance of the law. it would involve Q great financial hardship upon the railroads. General Manager Ackert of the Southern Railway frankly stated that his system could not bear the bur den of the additional expense and that if the law was enforced 1t would mean simply that curtailment of operating expenses, in every direction would have to be made, throwing many out of employment.
 H. B. Berham. president of the Or der of Railway Photographers in statement declared that there was no question about the ability of the rail- ways to obtain the necessary number of operators required under the law; that he had knowledge of thousands of operators in all parts of the country who are now out of employment and who would be wiling to accept posi- tions on the railroads.
 c. H. Aclkert. vice president and general manager of the Southern rail- way, testified that as to three hundred stations, his system asked the commis- sion for relief. He said that the de- crease in business on the Southern since the first of October had been tremendous, resulting In part Tn the taking off of passenger trains alone amount of 5000 miles a day.
 He explained that 1t would be nec- essary under the law for the South ern to employ 22o operators additionai to those now in the employ of the company. he said that for six or eight months the Southern had been endeav- bring to obtain list of competent operators and to that end had sup ported schools at Mooresville, N. C., and Danvflle. Va. He did not think 1t would be possible for the company