The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

for myself or for anybody else, or to
influence newspapers or for any other
purpose whatever. 1t is not true that L
ever undertook the task, much less was
| charged by anyone with the duty, of
watching for land suppressing any inde-
pendence of action or thought by any
one at any time, either in or out of the
legislature.
Never LObbied
My convictions as to duties of attor-
neys to clients regarding proposed leg
islation are stated in the code of ethics
of the Alabama State Bar association,
which had the honor to draft in the
twenty-fourth section thereof which
reads as follows: "An attorney openly
and in his true character may render
purely professional services before, COM
| mittees. regarding proposed legislation
and in advocacy Of claims before depart
! ments pr the government, upon the same
principles of ethics which justify his
| appearance before the courts; but it is
| immoral and illegal for an attorney so
| engaged to conceal his attorneyship, or
| to employ secret personal solicitations,
or to use means other than those ad-
dressed to the reason and understands
ing, to influence legislation" have al
ways lived up to It,
No one knew better than the author of
this political epistle that never lobbied
with any legislative body, even in the
inoffensive sense OF the term. That kind
of service never appealed to me. The
right of the people to petition their rep
resentatives and inform them, however,
is sacred No man can fifty legisate
unless he hears the views of those who
are to be affected by the legislation. So
long as they do no. attempt 70 influence
action by other means than those ad-
dressed to the understanding and reason,
and refrain froa falsehoods, threats or
y Ipl,f 70 foIl- 20
their representatives ana to try to per-
suade them. That kind of lobbying is
neither Illegal nor immoral. II is often
promotive of wise 1egisla ton.
Everyone who ever knew me, or came
IN contact with me about s'7ch matters,
knew that I always felt and acted upon
the conviction tina. obligations to clients
ended with attention to their litigation
in the courts and advising them as to
their legal rights, and that the relation
could not and did not impose upon the
attorney. when any public trust was
confided to him, any obligation of any
sort whatever; but that claims of clients
to consideration in legislation stood ex-
actly like those of every other one OF
his constituents on the equities and mer-
its of his claims. This is shown by nu-
merous acts, well known at all times
during my public career, when as a legis-
lator I dealt with the claims or interests
ol thoSe WHO were my cllenIS IN other
relations
The Situation in 1884
Amittedly, the legislation urged by the
majority of the commission was not de-
sired to correct any evils in our domes-
tic commerce. The power and duty of
the state to regulate public service cor
porations their local charges, and to
prevent all manner of monopoly, extor-
ton and unjust discrimination and kim
dva axrfIo 1,nd Lao. Ixv IL a
policy of our constitution and had been
emphasized In our statutes. Year after
year in revising the carriers local tar
iffs the commission had corrected all the
evils of extortion and unjust discrimi-
nation and the like, whenever found in
them, and then, as thus amended had
approved the tariffs of local freight and
passenger rates of every railroad in Ala
bama, foreign and domestic. The COM
missions decisions in this respect had
never been disobeyed by single railroad
In Alabama in a single instance. "a An.
Rep. Ala. r. r. Com. p. H. statement of
Commissioners Bragg and Crook; p. 81,
statement of Commissioner Ballo
The state had gradually outgrown most
Of the ills of reconstruction. Business
and industrial conditions had measurably
recovered from the effects of the panic
and subsequent epidemics, crop failures
and the low prices of our chief staples.
AlaDama was just entering upon an ara
of great prosperity. The railroads of
the state had been great factors in this
prosperity, although quite number of
them had recently emerged from tho
hands of receivers. A just and regnant
public opinion while it insisted upon
wholesome regulation of them, did not
look with favor on such harsh control
of their affairs as would unduly hamper
their management, or impair their credit
or public confidence in their ability to
keep pace with the states growing needs.
Such was the situation when the re-
jected legislation was brought forward in
1884, to confer power upon the railroad
commission to regulate interstate COM
merce The sole issue upon the merits,
was whether the state had the power,
and If so, whether 1t would be wise to
exercise 1t. But the question soon became
entangled with considerations quite for
eign to the real issue.
Politics Brought In
The then members of the railroad COM
mission had opposed Governor Edward A.
O'Neal's reelection and helped to bring
out a candidate against him. In view of
the party precedents. the governor looked
kI,as., ~