The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1913-12-12
Uhen UiW it End !?
(By Req. L. E. HALL

in particular. This antipathy towards
capital has well nigh put an end to
all railroad building. These great
sources of material improvement, in
tellectual and social development
which have done so much in the trans
formation of the country, and which
are now so greatly needed, appear to
be criminals in the public mind al
ready convicted and sentenced to de-
struction. This is seen in endless law
suits. Endless in number and in dura-
ton.
/ I believe that railroad corporations
and any other corporation or individu-
al should be responsible for damage
done to others through their neglect
or carelessness but to hold either re-
sponsible for damage which they could
not help and which no human pru-
dence could foresee or avoid, is unjust,
cruel and wicked. l affirm that many
of the lawsuits which are now being
waged against the railroads and other
corporations in this country are I'M
just. Those who expect to be the ben
eficiaries as plaintiffs, know that they
are unjust and they expect success not
because their claims are founded in
principles of justice and right but be-
cause perverted public sentiment Is
in their favor. This is no secret.
Everybody knows it.
Is it any wonder that men have ceas-
ed to put money into great railroad
, enterprises? Here in the South.
where we are so much in need them,
the building of extensive lines seems
to be . thing Of the past. Then we
=. remember that every city Of any size
in our own state. as we'll as every town
Of any importance owes its existence
to some railroad or roads, is it any
wonder that the material condition of
the country is suffering because no
more are being built, and because
those we have are threatened with
destruction. Those who manage rail
|
labor to keep them in order. They
have to pay for same. If their earn
ings are consumed in the payment of
claims that are unjust, the roads will
not be kept in safe condition. Wrecks
will be the result and then lawsuits
for thousands in damages to the in.
jured So far as the railroads are con-
cerned this is like injecting the poison
of rattlesnake into cancer with the
expectation of curing it.
l confess that I feel sad over the
outlook for the future. Our own city
of Hattiesburg is suffering because
OF conditions that have grown out of
the senseless conflict which is the sub
ject of this article. l have in mind a
railroad, the building of which would
add five thousand to the population of
this city in three years. 1t would
double the number of its inhabitance
in FIVE years. 1t could be built, and II
would be built, but for the injustice OF
which railroads all over the country
are being made the victims.
/ want it understood that l have NO
more interest in railroads than have
in anything else, on the success io1
which depends the future good of the
country. They owe me nothing nor
do l owe them anything. l do not
, even take the advantage of the re-
: duced rate they allow me as minister
when I travel on them. l pay just
the same amount as is paid by others
and expect to continue to do it. l am
concerned that justice should be done
and that the laborer and the man who
pays him for his labor shall each give
: to the other the justice that he claims
, for himself. l know that the future
) good of my country is involved in thu
, issue. l know that the very life o
| the nation is dependent upon it.
have written mostly, in this brie
article, about the situation as 1t is IL
/ the South. When we look at the mat
5 ter as it stands in the large cities an
! great manufacturing centers of tn
t North with their dense and dissatis
S fed populations and take into the ac
1 count the fact that conditions ar
2 such that it frequently requires a
=. the powers of the government, bot