The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-09

supreme court The only final decrees after investigation ever made in these
 cases were in favor or the complain-
 ants. Ii is. therefore. ridiculous to as sihne that the railroads were defeated in their litigation. Nothing is further from the truth Meanwhile, the railroad com mission of Tennessee instituted similar proceedings in that state and bills were Introduced in the legislature to reduce the passenger fare in the state of Ken lucky. Although the complainant be- heYed it's position was justified, it was concluded that in view of the enormous amount of litigation that would be neces- sary to protect it's rights. that the mat ter should be compromised so far as the passenger rate was concerned by put ting in the rates coptended for by the state permanently The freight question was in no way involved in the recent litigation. but it was also determined that there should be a reasonable and fair adjustment of this question as soon as the matter could be given proper hear ing and consideration.
 Precedent for Settlement
 The railroad commission of Alabama in this instance did only what had pre- Niously been done in the case of the Southern railway and it's allied lines to- sether with the Frisco, the Seaboard Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line: that is to say, the rate proposed by the state was accepted as a permanent one for the future and the appeals taken by the state authorities from the decrees in the original cases were withdrawn. No rebates or refunds were ever made by the other roads which settled their cases nor was it proposed that they should The commission merely followed the prec- edents established in the old cases and composed a difficulty that has given se- rious trouble to the state for a period of many years
 Personally. I regard the settlement as unfortunate. | do not believe a 21a- cent rate is fair in the state of Alabama and l have had no hesitancy in saying so. l do not believe the small gain to the people involved in this matter equal to the cost. Contrary to general impress sions or statements, it IS not true that the railroads in Alabama have been mak- l ing money under the 25-cent passenger rate I do not believe they make ex- penses under this rate.
 L. X N. Freight Rates
 The only profitable part of the rail 1 road business is freight and the Louis l vile and Nashville freight rates have on the whole been materially lower than the rates of their competitors, not only in this but in adjoining states. The Louis- | vile and Nashville railroad had been a | pioneer in lower freight rates. It has been a builder and developer of the state. l It has expended more than $60,000,000 of real money in this state. It was entitled | to receive, and it should have been all ! lowed to receive. a fair and just return | upon it's investment. It has not had it. , The management. however, felt that it l would be better to yield 10 what seemed to be general public demand in the hope that peace and quiet might be re- stored and that it would be permitted to continue business without constant nag ging and undeseTved aouse."
 MT. Bowie concluded his interview by 1 saying; "The present political situation In Ala bama had nothing whatever to do l with the settlement of the rate cases"