The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-02
COMMISSION
 ENDS HEARING Testimony in Montgom- sry Case Closed. PARTIES TO CHECK EXHIBITS Final Briefs to Be Prepared Dy
 June $. rr.me Manager Green of Southern and maaaser KealAofer of Fre.sht
 Bureau only Witnesses
 Examined.
PARTIES TO CHECK EXHIBITS

The taking of testimony in the near ing of the complaint of the Montgom- cry Freight Bureau by the inters'a'. Commerce Commission was compieteu yesterday morning few mlnu.es ne Sors ,,oon in the Federal Court room. Tba concluding evidence consisted oI tbe testinony of L. Green, Freignt Trafac Manager of the Southern Hah- way and the rebuttal testimony oI Manager H. S. Kealhofer of the Ffeish' Bureau.
 Commissioner Judson c. Clements, at the end of the testimony. announcso tbat the eompIafnants would be allowed nntil May 20 to check over the mass of evidence and exhibits submitted py Inc railroads and that from that date until June 10, the railroads would pc allowed the same privilege with ref erence to the testimony and exnioits or the plaintiffs.
 their final briefs. The complainants, 1t was also announced, will be allowed from June 10 to June IS in which to file whatever answer they so desire to the checking which has been made by the railroads. It is regarded now that on June 15. the hearing will be con sidered closed. There is no intima- tfon of when the decision of the Com
  ably be near the Fall of the year, If not later.
 The object of again putting Mir. Yealhofer of the Montgomery Freight Bureau on the witness stand. was to yebut some of the salient testimony Of MT. Green of the day previous. Mir. Kealhofer declared that Montgomery suffers more than her sister cities sim ilarIy situated in the general plan of rate-adjustnient for the South eastern territory. He presented exhibits of rates to Augusta, Ga. Savannah, Ga.. Brunswick. Ga, Macon. Ga, and Eu- faula, for the purpose of showing. as he alleged. that when rates to those points from Louisville and other Ohio River and Mississipni River crossings are constructed with reference to the ports. the interior points get mach the advantage of Montgomery
 AEr. IxeaIhofeR om Stand.
 Mfr. Kea1hofer claimed that Meridian. Miss, on the other hand. is not sub iected to the same position as Mont gornery in the plan of rats-adjustment. Even Eufaula. the witness declared. a local station on the Central of Georgia Railway, is able by superior freight rate advantages to compete success fully far into the interior of Georgia with the larger Georgia cities, and also a good length along the Chatta-
 
 claimed. Is shut into a she'll, so to speak.
 Some of the declarations of Mir. Real hofer about freight rate adjustments for the Georgia points from Baltimore and the West were contradIcted by Mir. Green on redirect testimony. He said he, would give the details of his objec- tions in written form to be submitted later.
 The closing of the evidence in the Montgomery hearing came about noon. when the Commission, through Judge Clements, announced that they were ready to take up the New Orleans hear ing which had been adjourned to Montgomery.
 roads interested in the Montgomery hearing left yesterday afternoon and last night for their respective head quarters. These include L. Green, Freight Traffic Manager of the South . ern; Haiden Miller. Freight Trahic Manager of the Mobile and Ohio: E. K. Voorhees,. Freight Traflc Manager of the Frisco: MT. capps. General Traffic Manager of the Seaboard Air Line: c. P. Biles, Freight Traffic Manager of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway. left earlier in the sessions, after having given only brief oral testimony in the hearing. e. B. Compton, General Trafflc Man ager of the Louisville and Nashville and Judge Ed Baxter of Nashville, with other counsel, remained over through the afternoon to attend the hearing in the New Orleans case.
 Third Morning Session.
 The third morning session of the hearing was opened at 10 o'clock promptly L. Green, Freight Traffic Manager of the Southern Railway was recalled to the stand by Judge Edward Baxter.
 Asked if there had been an effort by his line to advance New Orleans rates from the West and Middle West Mir. Green said there have been two such efforts since the complaint oi the Montgomery Freight Bureau had been filed. It was felt that too low rates prevailed to New Orleans from St. Louis and therefore, to Mobile.
 In the last effort to advance the rates to New Orleans the matter was pre- scented personally to Mir. Harahan president of the Illinois Central who refused to listen to such a proposition It was believed that such an advance would result in the loss of traffic tc the roads between St. Louis and New Orleans, which could not be regained
 Another substantial reason why ar advance in rates from St. Louis anc Chicago to New Orleans would be i'm. practicable is that the shippers of ths west are already protesting agains the extremely low rates from the Eas to New Orleans.
 Mir. Green repeated a statement oi his belief that Montgomery is getting a square deal by the railroads using the Mobile combination. The Southern Is perfectly willing to give the Mobile combination of rates to Montgomery fl al Important classes.
 Tn the opinion of the witness. thu rates to Montgomery are reasonably low at present as compared with Mo bile rates and the decrease of rates t' Montgomery to a point lower than thu Mobile combination would be unrea sonably low as compared with Mobile
 KeaIhOfer in RebuttaI.
 H. S. Kealhofer. manager of thu Montgomery Freight Bureau, wa called to the stand for rebuttal testi mony. He was examined by Counse Horaee Stringfellow. He denied tha Columbus Ky, is an absolute basint point. and produced a copy of tarif fsosntly published by the Missouri Pa