The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-02
Interstate Commission
 Still Sitting.
PROTEST AGAINST ADVANCES
Expert of New Orleans Board of
 Trade is Here.
Complaints Are Against Advance of Rates on Louisville and Nashville From New Orleans to Mobile,
 Montgomery and Selma.

Of tariffs and other figures introduced m the hearing of the case of the Montgomery Freight Bureau, Inter- state Commerce Commissioners Jud- son c. Clements and Edgar E. Clark. piunged directly into the so-called New Orleans cases yesterday a few minutes before noon. The Montgom- cry hearing had consumed the major portion of the morning session in the Federal Court room
 For more than three hours and half, the Commissioners witnessed A wrestling match on words and figures between C. B. Compton. General Traffic manager Of the Louisville and Nash Vile Railroad. and John A. Smith. freight Expert of the New Orleans Board of Trade. The hearing was an aoiolrned session of the Commission, wwno were storm bound in reaching New orleans the first part of the week ana so had to complete the taking of testimony in Montgomery, where defin- ite dates had been set.
 Anasmuch as the hearing accorded the New Orleans Board of Trade has some relation to railroad freight rates t0 Montgomery as we'll as to Mobile and Pensacola, some interest is being manifested by local merchants and job bers In the outcome Of the New Or leans cases. 4 vigorous protest has been made by the wholesale merchants and distributors of the Louisiana port against the advance in rates by fhe Louisville and Nashville between New Orleans and Mobile and Pensacola. This advance came last August.
 The evidence of both sides on the complaint against this advance of rates was all in yesterday afternoon when the Interstate Commerce Com mission adjourned This was at 5 o'clock. But the members of this trib- nnai appear to have taken Alabama's motto literally, Here We Rest" and they are going to spend another day in the Capital City This morning they hope to complete the hearing of the complaint of New Orleans on rates from New Orleans to Montgomery and Selma.
 somethInx of . Resemblance.
 In way the New Orleans and Mont gomery cases coming one right after the other present a rate rebus to the members of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The trend of the testi- mony offered by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in defense ot the advance of rates between New Orleans and Mobile was to point to the weak oned water competition between the Alabama and the New Orleans ports . IL was urged by representatives of 'he' A<DuiAFAilo ana N1SnVllle that tHG-F1OWI rates from New Orleans to Mobile which obtained prior to last August waa the result of an abnormal lsitua, ton. There was a time when the water route between the cities fur nished a potent factor in competition Therefore, since 1888 the Louisville and Nashville maintained a certain level Of rates from New Orleans to Mobile Last August, it was urged, the rates were advanced between those points since the abnormal conditions were abatsd which in the first instance caused the low rates.
 That the New Orleans case bears a. kind of reverse resemblance to the, Montgomery complaint can be seen when one of the plans of defense by the railroads in the Montgomery case ia considered. To justify the low rates from the West and Middle West to Mobile the railroads at the beginning of the hearing Wednesday emphasized that, Mobile is on the gulf and there fore in water connection with New Orleans For this and other reasons 1t was said that Mobile should enjoy the same rates as New Orleans.
 Thus it will be seen that the Gulf of Mexico withal has figured exten- sively In the hearings In this city. and it seems to have figured backward and forward. At least that is what the two sets of complainants are alleE- ing.
 Mir. smith Testified.
 The testimony of MT. Smith, of the New Orleans Board of Trade, was to bring out the material advance In the class rates, as he said, which is in- volved in the recent tarif applying on the Louisville and Nashville from New Orleans to Mobile. He testified that r the advances ranged in many instances as high as 70 per cent. over the basis which had been preserved since 1888. This was looked upon as about the maximum of advances. Advances in other rates ranged not so high and amounted to probably only per cent
 Still 1t was urged by Mir. Smith that if the new rates are allowed to be continued in force it will injure New Orleans's chances of competing with the Middle West and the East in trade with Mobile and Pensacola. There seems to have been introduced no dI- rect testimony indicating any loss of prestige by the prevalence of higher rates so far as experience Is concerned as the rates have been in force since only last August
 Another point of relationship be- tween the New Orleans cases and the Mobile complaint is in the rates from Memphis Nashville, Louisville and St. Louis to Montgomery and Selma. Mont gomery's complaint was that her mer- chants were getting unfair rates from Louisville aand Memphis to this city. This Is from the standpoint of the job hers New Orleans's complaint is from the standpoint of competition with the Western cities selling into M0ntgom- cry and Selma territory, alleging that