The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-03
FA|RFA HARRISON IS GUEST IF HONOR AT BANQUET GIVEN BY CIVIC CHAMBER Over 250 Business Men Hear Him Speak on
 Work of Prosper
 Ous Railroad RAILROADS AS WELL AS PUBLIC HAVE BEEN ABUSED, HE DECLARES Roads Have Needs as We'll as Obli- gatiOns-PrOsperOus Road Means Much to Community in Main
 taining and Promoting
 Prosperity

At a dinner at the Southern club be-
 ginning at 6:30 last night, Fairfax Har-
 rison addressed over 250 business and pro- fessional men of Birmingham. The din-
 ner was given under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce. and all the other
 civic organizations joined hands with the
 chamber to make the event a success. Paschal G. Shook. the newly elected pres fdent of the chamber, presided for the first time in his official capacity at a
 really big affair. and it was the first large event held in the Tudor room of the Southern club
 The Rotary club came in body and
 had a separate table, as did the Board of Trade. Representatives from the other civic organizations, railroad men and
 business and professional men were scat tered throughout the length Of iise large room.
 Attends Concert
 Immediately after the dinner MT. liar
 rison accompanied by members of the
 Chamber of Commerce, adjourned to the Jefferson theatre to attend the Flonzaley concert. Those in the Chamber of Com
 merce party were:. F. G. Shook, l.. Se- vier James Weatherly, Solon Jacobs and William c. Radcliffe, with MT. Harrison
 as guest of honor. The Rotary club oc- cupied two boxes and the following mem- bers were present: J. E. Shelby, H. B.. Wheelock, b. w. Moore, J. S. Johnston, Frank Stevens, R. H. Woodrow, George A John C. Henley, Jr., and Samuel Rand.
 The Board of Trade box party was: R. w.
 Ewing and Mrs. Ewing, J. D. and Mrs
 Rosenberger. J. H. Finder, R. V. Evans
 and w. Blanks Everett.
 President Shook of the Chamber of
 Commerce introduced Commissioner
 Weatherly, who, in turn, introduced the
 speaker of tho evening. Mr. Weatherly,
 in part said: "I hope that MT. harrison, who Is In the full vigor of body and mind will be permitted to stay with this great institution (the Southern railway as it's
 chief executive official for years and years and years, like another great pres-
 ident of the Southern, until his very life and character and genius become m-
 bedded into our life, and until we be- come parts of one great unit; and it is in that sense that I welcome for the city of Birmingham as the third president c. - Southern railway"
 MT. Shook responded to MT. Weatherly's address and introduced MT. Harrison whose speech follows:
 Tn the middle of the nineteenth century the contemporary philosophers believed and claimed that the high tide of eco- homie felicity had been attained in Eng , land and America. All men were free to
 W ork out success failure within the limits of the 10 commandments. The su- preme regulating authority was the natu- raj law of competition: the philosophers held that man-devised law for the regu- lation of business was inconsistent with the free play of competition, and states
 men forbore to interfere. The rule was laissez faire. We have today adjusted ourselves so completely to an entirely dif- ferent philosophy that it is curious now to read Adam Smith and Jeremy Bent
 ham and Herbert Spencer. and to remem-
 Der how their opinions once actuated the
 world; but it is even more curious to re- ! alize how we have harnessed together
 what those philosophers deemed to be in- compatible forces.
 To Compel Competition We are today seeking by law to com pei men to compete, and at the same l time to prescribe rules to govern in min- ute detail the conduct of those engaged l in such competition. There are still old- fashioned men who maintain that these l theories of government cannot success | fully persist in harmony, and that the | true master of competitive supremacy, who Is to take the place. we are told. | of the whilom captain of industry, can l exist only when left free under general laws which hold him responsible more l for his results than for his methods. | Such reactionaries are, however criers | in the wilderness
 Democracy must believe in the potency I of statutory law, or confess itself a fail-
 ure: and we. are today in the very midst of vital test of such new freedom Abolished Many Abuses Until TOW the public utilities have been
 the principal objects of public regulation, but there are few to claim that that regulation has as yet been a complete success. We all must and do admit with
 inexpressible relief, that regulation has | abolished many abuses, but, without criticism, we must also recognize that 1t has not yet responded to a sense of re- sponsibility for results. So far as ap- piled to the railroads. regulation has until now been, concerned solely with discover ing and enforcing the obligations of the railroads, and in that respect 1t has achieved a large measure of success: but it has undoubtedly been handicapped by
 an undiscriminating attempt at the same time to recognize. foster and applaud tha t
 kind of competition which all experienced
 men know is responsible for many of the
 most fragrant abuses that have been regulated and abated.
 "We know that the ideal is fair com petition and fair regulation, but just
 as in the past much of the competition we have known has been unfain so much of the regulation we have had has been unfair. For myself. I belive and have always believed in the regulation of the
 railroads by public authority. I have seen the manifold good 1t has done but have never been blinded as to what has been the practical meaning of much of the regulation. we have had until now have regarded 1t as the necessary pio- neer work. and not to be judged as a full achievement. have hoped steadily. and now believe confidently, that we are about to realize a system of regulation
 which will recognize that railroad has
 needs as well as obligations and that
 there are abuses by the public of the
 needs of a railroad as great as any
 abuses by railroad of its obligations to
 the public.
 More Apparent Than Real
 "The past divergence of interest be- tween public authority and private in.