Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-04-04
Industry Which May Find Encour-
agement in observation-disclosures
Over Prohibition.
By WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

| Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
| Chicago Record Herald.
MOBILE, Ala, April l. 1909.
The anti-railway agitation which swept
over the country in 1907 and 1908 was
quite as fierce and far-reaching in the
south as in any other part of the country.
The legislatures of all the southern states
enacted radical laws to limit the earn
ings and regulate the operation of the
roads.
Boards of commissioners were appointed
with arbitrary powers. and were generally
composed of politicians who had no ex-
perience in railway operation and knew
nothing of the business. but were fully
aware that they were expected to bring
the corporations to terms and provide all
the shipping conveniences that anybody
wanted at the lowest possible rates The
anti-corporation agitation was as general
and far-reaching the prohibition move
ment, and both have been used by the
politicians to the best of their ability to
secure office and influence.
/ AS is usually the case when people go
4 to extremes reaction has set in and
the public is beginning to show signs of
| displeasure toward those who are re-
sponsibe for the radical railway legisla-
4 ton.
Some people predict that the radical
4 sSldtlOH VIII DE IOllOWcu
by similar modification of public senti-
ment, but there are no signs of that as
yet. On the contrary the Governor Of
Ala bama is intending to call a. special
session Of the legislature to tighten up the
loose places that have been discovered in
| the attempt to enforce the prohibition
statutes and make them more rigid and
far-reaching.
Regulators Eyes Opened.
| The railway commissioners in the differ
ent states are beginning to understand the
business also. and are beginning to realize
| the requirements and difficulties of rail-
way management. They are learning to
realize that the railways, as we'll as the
public, have some rights which should be
respected. and that the laws, which were
drawn by country politicians, entirely fg-
norant of railway affairs. contain provi-
sions which cannot be enforced. With
this learning and experience the railway
commissioners are becoming more reason
able and efficient in the execution of the
| law.
The Southern railway. the Mobile and
Ohio, the Queen and Crescent and several
other roads in this part of the south en-
tered into an understanding with the rail-
way commissioners in all the states, under
| which they have been allowed to charge
passengers two cents and a quarter a
mile fiat. whatever the distance in out
of the state.
The Louisville and Nashville and one
or two other roads still continue to charge
the old rate of three cents for local traf
nc and meet competing rates at other
points at the defiance of the law. They
went into the United States courts and
got an injunction prohibiting the railway
commissioners of Alabama from enforc-
ing the new rate law which is similar
to that passed by the Minnesota legisla-
ture few years ago. and overruled by
the Supreme Court of the United States.
The case was argued few weeks ago
before the United States court of appeals
at New Orleans, which is expected to de-
eide in favor of the railway compa MES
and deny the right of the commissioners
to fix rates for freight and passenger
transportation. as authorized by the legis-
lature. Pretty nearly all the big lawyers
In the state are employed on one side or
| the other.
If the court should meet public ex-
pectations and knock out the railway law
OF Alabama the reaction in public senti-
ment will be even greater than it is now
Politicians who have been riding on the
| anti-corporation waves will lose their pop-
ularity.
Depression Changes Sentiment.
Another reason for the change in senti-
ment Is an almost universal belief that
the financial and industrial depression
| that has prevailed here for the last eight
cen months, although not nearly so gen
eral as in the northern states. was caused
by the anti-raAlway legislation.
Shortly after this legislation went into
effect the railway companies suspended
work In the improvements. as we'll as in
the extension of their lines, throwing
thousands Of workmen out of employment
and cutting on the very profitable bust
| ness enjoyed by local merchants. from
| whom the contractors cOmmissaries
bought their supplies, and at whose stores
the iaborers spent large portion of their
earnings.
| For example, the Central Railway of
Georgia laid off 400 men Of all grades
upon Its short line. The effect has been
felt by every tradesman in the counties
| through which it passes.
The decision Of the United States Su-
preme Court in the Minnesota case, and
the courts of several states in repudiatjng
two-cent fare laws has weakened the
| faith OF thinking people in anti-corpora-
ton legislation, and they have become
very tired Of the agitation The dema-
goRues ran the issue too hard: every
! body who wanted to secure public favor
for any purpose whatever, howled, Down
| with the corporations"
Although that issue was very popular 1t
| has been overWorked. The best informed
people here tell me that no candidate for
| ONCE could make a successful campaign
today on an anti-railway platform. AL
though better fee hing prevails. there are
still real and imaginary grievances. Dis
examinations are still complained of by
| shippers In several sections of the state.
For example. New Orleans and Noble
get much better rates than Montgomery,
Birmingham and other towns.
Two large shippers told me yesterday
that the railroads carry freight by the
! carload through to Mobile and New Or
leans at lower rates than are charged on
that dropped off at. intermediate towns.
| This is. of course. because of water COM
petition. and Is due to the natural ad-
vantages Of the gulf ports. rather than to
any prejudice on the part of the railway
managers.
| The shippers. however. are difficult to
reconcile They are willing. however. -
settle these questions in a busnesslike
way.
Cane Sirup Raising.
People here say that there is more
money in raising cane strip than in any
other kind of farming except garden
truck. 'Sirup plantations" are said to
be the most profitable undertakings in
the agricultural line: far more SO than
the staple crops Of cotton, wheat or oats
here or In any other section of the coun-
try. Comparatively little capital is re-
CURED
cultivate from half an acre to five acres.
make their sirup in a crude way in small.
old-fashioned mills. and sell 1t to local
merchants and the commissaries of the
lumber camps. There is no uniformity in
the output, and the quality varies with
| the skill and care of the producer. which
has been a handicap to the expansion of
the industry.
| The largest strip maker in the south.
located in south Georgia. cultivates only
| fifty acres OF cane and has about $500
invested in a modern plant. He puts