The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-10-23

IAGAts III %llk5 AoAAhot1hA d1u CStAUIlSn-
.ment Of, hotels, railroads, electric
light plants, cotton compress, fer.
tillzer factory, and in short, think that
L can say, in three-fourths Of the pub
lie enterprises which have been inau.
gurated in Pensacola within the last
twenty-five years. l speak Of these
facts. not boastingly, but as an indi-
cation Of my belief that accomplish
ment and not promise, furnishes the
best assurance OF what public SER
want may be expected to" do with
trust committed to him.
have had the good fortune to en-
JOY the respect and confidence of my
neighbors, and. as an incident there
to. a large practice at law. This has
been for the greater part q general
practice, embracing clients Of every
to the richest In the community, and
to each have tried to, render the
fullest measure Of faithful and eff.
cient service. Among such clients
have been numbered many corpora
lions, including the Louisville & Nash.
vile Railroad Company. l answer to
those who insist that such clients
have dominated me and would influ
| enee. my, action. Il J.. were elected to
| the United States senate, and were
required to- vote apon szm alters affect
ing thin, am glad to call attention
| to my entirely INDEPENDENT action In
such legis'atiye, bodies as i have
served in. l have had the Louisville
& Nashville Railroad Company as a
client from the year 1884 to the pres
ent time, and while its attorney,
favored and voted in the constitution
al convention for. .~:s.y.z. ..s..4
Section Z d. Article AS; Of the Con.
ztitution of the ofsFlorida,; which
prohibits the issuance Of free passes,
or the discuunting. Of fare by railroad
companies to members of the legisla
ture, or salaried officers Of the state
I favored and voted for,
Section 80, Article 49,. which invest
ed the legislature with the power to
pass. laws for the correction Of, abuses
land to preyent#uniust ediscriuination
and, excessive sch argos by persons or
! corporations engaged -; com mon car
triers; for transporting persons and
property, or performing other services
of public nature" in. pursuance of
which provision, the legislature has
established the railroad commission,
l favored and voted for, .s..-
Section 16, Article. 49,, which pro
4 tyides, that The property &tof> all cor
porations, ae4Qept the property OF a
5.corperation sWhich :sshall seonstrlct a
| ship oil, bargercanak aanoss the PENN
snla Of Florida, IL the legislature
should SO enact, whether heretofore
or hereafter incorporated, shall be
subject to taxation, unless such prop
erty be held and used exclusively, for
religious, scientific, municipal educa-
tional, literary ( Or :. charitable pur-
poses" / favored and voted for,
| Section 4 Article g. which provides
that mo tax shall be levied for the
benefit of any chartered company OF
the state, nor for, paying interest on
any bonds issued byS' such? chartered
company, or by counties, or BY corpo.
tons, for the above mentioned pur-
poses" I favored and voted for,
| Section 10, Article 8, which pro-
hibits the state from p1edging or loan
ing it's credit ito any individual, COM
pany, corporation or association" and
from becoming "a joint owner, or
= ton or cor poratfoh; y and idecfares
that the legislatureAshaH not authorize
ANY county, city, borough, township,
or incorporated district, to become a
stakeholder in any company, associa'
ton or corporation, or to obtain or
appropriate money for or to loan its
credit to any corporation, association
institution or individual"
Surely. in these votes Their. can DE
found no trace. of a leaning to corpo
ratiens as against the people 49,
l invite a searching scrutiny Of each
and every one Of my votes in the con
vention, and of each of the numerous
provisions which, /. assisted in placing
in the constitution.
In the senate Of Florida, favored
and voted for ...-
A bill to provide for the effective
application by the state railroad
commission. to the interstate railroad
commission, in cases where an inter
state rate into or out Of Florida, OF
} where any rule or regulation of a rail
road company, was thought to be cx'
cessive, unjust, unreasonable, or dis
eliminating, in its nature. I favored
and voted for
A bill to punish railroad companies
for failure to stop their trains BE-
fore crossing another railroad OF
street car track.
favored and voted for,
An Act providing that when there
is a total loss of personal property
insured, and the company fails to pay
the full amount covered by the policy
there should be returned to the as
sured the unearned premium for the
excess over and above the amount
paid in settlement .
voted against, 'S ...
ALI special legislation which relat
ed to or sought to grant special priv
leges to any railroad or other corpo
| ration, because I thought such legis
, lation would be in violation of the con
, stitutional amendment adopted II
: 1901, which, in my opinion, prohibit:
t the passage of any special law upor
r any such subject. l did this, al
though in many instances those in
: terested in teh passage Of the bill:
! were my personal friends and great,
} desired their passage.
: Again, l invite a rigid Investigation
: of my legislative records by all thos,
. who are approached with the argu
ment that l have been so associated
I with the argument that l have beer
= so associated with corporations tina
I mind hoS nj toy