The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-25
MAY BUILD
 BIG PLANT IL. & N. Officials Con- sidering Plans. HELD UP FOR PRESENT Adverse Legislation Has Delayed
 Work. Roads Business Has Felt Effects of the Strike. But 1t Has Not
 Hurt Like the Ansi-
 Railroad Leg
 tsintion.

Plans for an enormous steel con- struction plant employing 1000 men to be used exclusively for the con- struction of the parts of. and It's own locomotives. are being considered by the officials of the Louisville & Nash- vile Railroad. At present the desire of the road Is to build the new plant at or near Birmingham, but there is a probability of its being put up in Mississippi, Tennessee or Kentucky.
 Discussing the matter yesterday an official of the road said:
 The maln drawback to building the new plant in Alabama is the possi- biiity of adverse. and to all intents and purposes, socialistic legislationT The belief of the uninstructed public and fanatical legislators that the word cor poration Is synonymous with vast wealth has done more. To hold back corporation improvement in ths part of the country. than panics strikes. and everything else combined. A railway cannot invest in much needed new rolling stock or put up new shops. but immediately some fiat fool starts bell lowing, they are squeezing the poor public to death, choking tho sweat out of the farmers, and generally coll laring the theoretical wealth of the community at large.
 From 1893 to 1898 the Louisville & Nashville Railway did not pay one dividend on an invested capital of $10s. 100000. The treatment of the road by different states authorities was such that because of the install lation of much needed improvements the road was soaked to such an ex- tent it took all 1t made t6 keep out of banlxruptcy.
 "Fhe possibility of such a sentiment is ali now that stands between Alaba- ma seeing one of the biggest and most up-to-date shops put up in tine state in the comparatively near future. The business of the road demands the con struction of this shop. The road be- lieves in purchasing the best of ma tetiai for it's use as the fact that in buying steel for tools to be used in it's shops testifieB. This metal could be purchased st four cents the pound and so treated 1t would be it for use, hut instead the road pays seventy-hye cents for blue chip steel. It is the same in all other departments. exper- fence of others taught the founders of the road that cheap things do not pay in the long run and they implanted this idea in the minds of those who followed. The new shops will be of Che best
 "The proposed Birmingham shop will be fitted with the most modern machin- cry lnsuring the most perfect output. This shop is needed to handle special work and the construction of new lo- comotives The road wants to build it In Birmingham. but 1t would be all the same to the road were 1t built in another state.
 The present strike In the Birming- ham mining district has brought pre- parations for the new plant to q standstill and nothing further will be done until the strike Is over.
 At present the strike has hampered the work of the road in its business for there Is less rough material to be hauled and consequently not so much rolling stock is in use in Alaba- ma. The effect of this Is to throw some men temporarily out of work and merchants depending on these men to consume their stock are suffering. Outside of this the affairs of the road are looking ID considerably getting back to something approaching the conditions that existed before the pan dollars, as was paid out to the Louis vile department alone one month, last October, is. not to be looked for yet a while. ts certain.
 '"ThA principal shops of the read now are in South Louisville. the big gest and most up-to-date shop in America; Decatur, Ala, Howell, Ind, covington, Ky, Mobile. Etowa. Tenn, Paris. Tenn, Birmingham. Boy1es and the small shop here which only ern- ploys now about two hundred and fif- ty men. The new shops could be built in conjunction wth any of these.