The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-12
Attorney General Alleges Compress Company
 Is a Trust. PENALTIES IN THE SUITS
 AGGREGATE $lo5,OO0 Suit as Result of Union Springs
 Complaint. Charged that . Majority of the Stock ox the Atlantic Compress compnny is Owned by the Central
 of Georgia.

Suits for penalties aggregating sio5.- 900 on account of alleged discrimina- tions against the Union Springs Com press Company and the town of Union Springs and for a mandatory intnnc- tion against the Central of Georgia Railway to compel that line to desist from their present practices in this State in handling compressed cotton. were filed yesterday in the Montgomery City Court by the State of Alabama and by the Railroad Commission of Alabama
 This move on the part of the State is recognized as a deliberate attempt to break up what Attorney General Alex Garber and the Railroad Com mission believe is an illegal combine of the carriers to control the business Of cotton compressing in the South. The suits do not set out any definite com plaint as to the combination being a trust. nor does the state claim that all the railroads are parties to the aileg- ed trust. The complaints do, however. alege at length certain discriniinations practiced by the General of Georgia against the Union Springs Compress Company, and thereby indirectly the town Itself
 Briefly told. the papers prepared by the Attorney General charge that majority of the stock of the Atlantic Compress Company of Montgomery is controlled or owned by the Central of Georgia and that cotton in bales for compression that should. in the na- tural course of trade. concentrate at Union Springs. is diverted or shipped to the Atlantic Compress Company Tn this city. If the methods employed bv this carrier arc continued in this way. II is complained that the Union Springs enterprise will be crushed out of husi- ness.
 1t is probable that the cases win be set down by Judge A. D :. Sayre Of the Montgomery City Court for. a hearing on June s22. The suits may Ie joined by a request on the part of the Skata. and both will be heard at the same time. !
 The suit for penalties on account Of determinations proper only involves ss.o0o. as that is the naaximurn line iss- posed for Q single ofHense under Sac. tion IT of Senate bill 43, passed by the Legislature aG the last regular sess sion, and amended at the extra session The suit for the remainder 0rSi0O,U0O. Is brought under different section. which imposes penalty of s2,000 day for every day that a railroad corpora  Railroad Commission. This amount. multiplied by fifty. gives the aggregate penalties claimed under this action or $l00,000, as there were fifty days of non observance of the order between the expiration of the time the dsfend- ant should have cbeyed the order and the time of Che filing of the suit.
 On oct. z. 1907. the Railroad Com mission held public meeting at which they considered the complaint of the Commercial and Industrial Association Of Union Springs against the Central of Georgia and other railroads sntex- ing Union Springs. This Complaint charged substantially the same thing that is alleged in the suits filed yes. ferday. After taking the testimony in this hearing the Commission issued an order requiring the Central of Geor- gia to desist from the alleged discriIn- nations against the Union Springs Compress Company. The complaint against the Seaboard Air Line and tha Union Springs and Northern Railroad was dismissed as it was found that they were not guilty of the discrimina tory practices alleged against the Gen. tral of Georgia.
 The allegations of the state tell tersely the history of cotton com presses in the South. They were sn- vented and put into operation upon the initiative of the railroads to economics in the car capacity of the railroads and the carrying capacity of the steam CTS themselves in the export trade. A chain of congresses was built by the various lines of railway, the Central of Georgia originally having owned many of them. According to the complaint. the road afterwards disposed of some of the congresses, but they were soon combined under the title of the Atlantic Compress Company having enterprises at various concentrating points for cot ton in this section of the South.
 The specific complaint against the Central of Georgia is that 1t uses the device of crediting a through bilI of Iadine for cotton bale shipments with the local freight charges from tho point of origin to the compress point. When, therefore. the shipper from an interior point near Union Springs sends his cotton over the Central of Georgia to a certain destination, that lina, tn- stead of compressing at Union springs. carries 1t on to Montgomery for the compression to be done by the Atlantic Compress Company Here the buyer. it .ls alleged. presents his expense bill which the agent of the road recognizes at once and credits the through bill of lading with the amount of the local freight charges from the interior point of origin to this city.
 The Union Springs Compress Com paay, sas does the State. alleges that the Central of Georgia denies the ship per the privileges just described If the cotton is compressed in that town, and. in fact, does not compress any cotton at that point, or if 1t does. pays noth- ing for It. The State claims that the independent concern, so-ealled, holds out just as low charges for compressing. namely Ia cents per 100 pounds, as does the Atlantic Compress Company. and has ample facilities and capacity for compressing all the cotton that should come to the plant and would come ''if the discriminatory practices of the defendant were not continued
 In all shipments of compressed cot-s ton the cofhpress charges are made & part of the through rate the railroads paying the compress companies and chnrrlnn nn The nhlnnar rlifh fhn aalna