The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-10-17

4
the greatest personal kindness by the
court, the Judge asserts. The antago-
| nism of the solicitor to the order he
agreed to sign followed a conference
with the governor who" the judge con-
cludes, 'the governor wished to maks a
martyr Of that he might use the incl
dent to further swell the tide of public
passion"
With regard to his relations to the
Louisville and Nashville road. the judge
presents letters to show that he was
termed a crazy man by the chler counsel
of the system for entering the race for
governor and told, in so many words,
that he would lose his place as district
attorney, which he did, and never held
again. His practice for the road after
that was in the supreme court, with moth
ing on earth to do with policy.
President M. H. Smith of the Louisville
and Nashville had no part in his appoint
ment as Judge, but If he had gone out
to secure Endorsements he would have
held one from Mr.. Smith OF great value.
1T do not mind saying it., the judge con-
tinues, though the governor may differ
with me, that I believe M. Fl. Smith Is
a great man and has done more for the
development of Alabama than many of
us who have held the office of governor"
The Judge then goes on to show that the
members of his family, save one son,
have been in the employ of the road for
many years. and had been promoted
in the service long before he be-
came Judge A son, just of age. only
recently went to work for the road in the
local freight office, and it would have
been moral cowardice for him to have
prevented his service to avoid carping
criticism.
/ A Mean Charge.
With regard to the charge by the gov
ernor that he had anticipated what the
legislature would do and had made up
his mind to enjoin whatever laws were
passed, the judge says: "A graver or
meaner charge could not well be made
against judge. :. The inference is
the fruit of mind which scruples at
nothing to assassinate the character of
a fellow man." At the time he wrote
Judge Shelby the Legislature had acted on
the chief bills, though 1t did not become
law by action of the governor for some
weeks later Every intelligent reader
knew it's provisions, he says, as they were
presented in the public prints. Again he
says: "If the Judge had already deter
mined in advance upon particular order
in the name of common sense why should
he ask another Judge to sit with him-a
judge who ranked him, and whose opin-
ion, If he differed with the district Judge,
would control and might defeat his own
views, whatever they might be?''
The judge concludes by trusting that
''there may be no further necessity on
my part for discussion of issues so dis
tasteful to the public"
Judge Jones' Reply.
The Judge says: mo one feels more
keenly than I how unseemly, If it can
be avoided with honor, is controversy
between a governor and Judge about Of
fetal acts, and how repulsive It is to the
ordinary man, whatever may be his view
of the men or questions involved. How
reluctant l was, for these reasons, to
take any part in such a controversy Is
emphasized by my refusal for many
months to take any public notice OF a
venomous attack which Governor Conner
made upon me in his speech at Samson,
Ala, on July A. 1909.
J Forgetting that the occasion was In
tended to celebrate the independence and
honor of his country, and not his own
achievements, he treated the assemblage
his own glorifcation, and the denuncia-
ton of any who stood In his way. Re-
ferring to me, he said:
"'when a high judge descends to CO.
ercing the people, the ermine of his court
is being dragged in the dust. No court
can maintain higher position than to
hold the respect, trust, love and conf
dence of all the people. and when 1t
places itself in the position of an advo-
cate or intimidation, then there comes
recoHections of SWAIN Busted and a
Jeffreys.'
Every Albanian knows what a refer
ence to Busted or Jeffreys' was intended
to convey regarding me. It was a vicious
insult, which but for the high office
hold and the high office he holds, could
never have been the subject of an answer
in the public prints.
After an interval of a year, miscon-
STRUNG my silence. he again went on the
hf nd Of ri o1
malice. If there be need for justification
or excuse for publicly resenting such at
tacks, or a continuance Of the discussion
on my part. all rfght-thinlking men will
find 1t In the governors repeated assaults
on the stump, where he knew I could
neither go nor reply
Won't Discuss Rates.
Certainly cannot be drawn into any
4 discussion with the governor as to rea-
sonableness of the particular rates, which
the litigants claim are conflscatory. The
rules governing preliminary injunctions in
such cases are well settled. 1t takes
strong case to overcome the prima facie
presumption of reasonableness of rates
and whether that appears or not Is to be
determined by the evidence in the given
case. I held that upon the evidence the
Justice of the case required a prelirn-
mary injunction. Two of the judges OF
the court of appeals held that the prina
facie presumption as TO the BUSINESS or
the rates had not been sufficiently over
come by the evidence. The senior Judge
| of that court dissented agreeing with
| the lower court on that point.
No Elk Parte lnjunctions.
1.-THE governors unfamiliarity with le-
! gal proceedings leads him to say that
these injunctions were ex parte Every
| body In Alabama knows that the first
! preliminary injunction was issued after
hot date al
for the hearing, which had been extended
at their instance. counsel for defendants
admitted in open court In the then post
IRE of the case that the court had no
alternative but to grant the preliminary
injunction, and that they did not intend
to appeal from 1t.
"The other preliminary injunction, con-
corning the reasonableness of the new
rates was not issued until many days
notice had been given of the time of
the hearing Both sides, for a period of
several weeks, offered all the evidence
they wished, and in the mode the parties
themselves selected. Elaborate arguments
were had for days In which each side was
given all the time 1t desired. The court
devoted several weeks to laborious ex
animation of hundreds OF pages Of facts,
statistics and figures, and the considera-
ton of multitude of authorities and
several hundred pages of printed and
type-written arguments. What excuse,
then, for the statement that the injunc-
tions were issued 'ex parte, or ON ex
/ parte evidence?