The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-12

pare the students to be teachers and do not know of any greater force in mo- ton for the good of the state. The Polytechnic institution at Auburn was given $224,000 for increased buildings and it is the greatest school south of the Ohio river and just pride to the state. At the university all the old buildings have been repaired and restored and number of new modern buildings added. We now have at the university facili- | ties for academic, scientific, medical and | legal attainments that a great many | young men are taking advantage of and | great panorama of possibilities has | been laid out and established. | At Montevallo the Alabama Girls In- dustrial school shows wonderful develop ment Nearly 500 girls arc now avail | ing themselves of this offering that Ala | bama has made to the young women of the state Every economy and provision 1 for successful education is there offered. | In all the systems of schools which | Alabama now offers to the citizenship of
 the state, the design is good and the success should be unmeasurable. The Negro
 | Between the negro and the whites there
 has been less friction than ever before, and the negro has made advancement. In
 sections where the negro is largely in the majority the census report shows de-
 crease in wealth and population. In all sections. mineral and agricultural, where l the whites predominate the census shows | an increase in wealth and population, 1 thus evidencing the fact that the pres
 ence of the white race is necessary to
 the advancement of the negro.
 As the price of cotton advances and we | get better returns from farm lands and,
 through a diversification of crops the high price of cotton is maintained, there will | be a greater disposition for the whites
 to go back to the farms. This will bring | about better conditions among the ne- groes.
 While the state expends large sums of | money from the general tax fund on the | education of the negro and the main- | tenance of rural schools for their benefit,
 there has been complaint that the negro
 of the black belt did not have adequate | schools Tn a measure this may be true, | but it must be remembered that the negro
 schools greatly surpass the white schools | in that section of the state. l do not agree with the claim that the educator
 of the negro is bad.
 | The Harbor at Mobile
 The Merchants Exchange at Mobile has
 taken up the question of the right or
 the state to control and regulate the
 docks Complaint was made that the
 Mobile and Ohio and Southern railroads did not extend to the independent ship | pers the same rights that they extended | to certain connections shipping into and
 out of their docks, making it practically l impossible for the independent docks, bus 1 mess men or shippers to compete in the | trade going out of the port of Mobile. | This is, in my opinion. most serious | question The harbor at Mobile, or any
 part of it, should not belong uncontrolled | and unregulated to any railroad or 1n- dividual whatever. The harbor at Mobile | does not belong to the city of Mobile; 1t
 does not belong to Alabama; 1t does not
 even belong to the United States. There | should be maintained there right for ev- cry shipper, for every commerce and this
 should be to the best interest of every shipper or corporation that constructs dock, because any different course would
 bottle up or throttle the catholic use Of | the great port of entry,
 l Previous to this administration, there
 was practically no restriction on rai1-
 roads. express or other public service cor poratons. on their freight passenger and express tariffs or on their rules governing
 their relation to the shippers of the state.
 The railroads kept a paid attorney in
 the lobby at the capitol while the legisla- | ture was in session, not for the purpose of practicing law, but to wise and control all lawmaking. They also maintained regular giver whose business 1t was | to environ and control as far as possible
 with passes and .favors those who were
 attempting to shape the policies and pol
 itics of the state.
 Even during the past session of the leg
 islature, the president of the Louisville and Nashville railroad bugled through the state calling the business men to come with him to Montgomery to go to the capitol and demand that the legislature adjourn sine die advertising that the legislature was dangerous and destruc- tive to the business interest of the
 state.
 It has been said that no man was good enough to own another man. Along the line of this aphorism, the legislature be-
 lieved that no corporation could be trusted to own the state or it's people
 and that the salvation of the business
 of the state, even of the state itself, de-
 manded that exact laws limiting the
 charges and the conduct of the public
 service corporations should be enacted
 and that from this would come the safety
 of both the people and the public service
 corporations.
 :. In my opinion, all this has been ac-
 complished' and it would be most dan gerous for the state to recede one iota ] in the protection of its citizens and it's integrity.
 Even now the papers report that the
 Louisville and Nashville railroad will not ) increase salaries until the state Quits are
 settled, intimation being given that if the
 suits are decided against the railroads and the rates are maintained, then there will not be any increase in salaries A r petition will be presented to the legisla- ture--I do not kuow under what factotunl Ito allow an increase in freight rates so