The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-02-26
GRAY IS DOUBTFUL
ABOUT |. & N. ACT
Surrender After So Many
Years Full of Mystery
HE SCENTS A JOKER
Former Lieutenant Governor Thinks
Ii Strange They Should Request
Reasonable Rates" After Be
ing Whipped in Courts

Ia an interview given yesterday In con.
hection with the offer OF surrender by
the Louisville and Nashville railroad and
allied lines in the rate war, Henry h
GRAY former lieutenant governor of Ala.
hama and a most ardent Conner man.
says that after being whipped in every
court OF the land 1t was time for ths
Louisville and Nashville to surrender to
the viii Of the Alabama people.
Il have tried diligently To get the full
meaning Of this move of the Louisville
and Nashville and have failed" said
Governor Gray YESTERDAY However.
nave reached this conclusion. When ono
Is whipped by federal courts, three Judges
or the court OF appeals and lastly by the
United States supreme court. one is al
most willing to surrender However. tho
Louisville and Nashville and its lines are
different. After being numerically
whipped and after having cost the peo-
pie OF this state an untold amount OF
money, they now come forward with
an offer. It is said to dismiss all litI-
cation provided the government allows
the state railroad commission To fix req
sonab BILE rates.
Undertakes 10 Make Trade
1t appears to me that the railroads
have no rights in the premises This
line alone and its allies has been re-
ceivtng the excessive rates for the past
-four years or more while every other
line in this state has been under the
lower tariffs and all have been making
money. ! am told. Despite this we
have the unusual spectacle of a whipped
moneyed interest walking boldly up to
the people and undertaking to effect a
trade. Why the proposition should he
treated with Indifference
1T required all the wisdom of the ex-
ecutive of this state. the lower house
and the senate to fix rates to stand
against the onslaught OF the louisville
and Nashville and its interests | am
willing to admit that the present rail
road commission is composed of men
of superb wisdom. but what right have
they to make laws for this state and
fix reasonable rates How can the three
railroad commissioners shoulder a load
that required that superior man. Conner
to work increasingly and the legal depart
ment of the state and its lawmaking bodies
to work overtime To solve the riddIea
| would not be understood as Wishing
to cast any reflections upon the wisdom
concealed about the persons of the rail-
road commissioners. as | like them very
much, but I think the proposition of
the Louisville and Nashville after be-
ing whipped to frazzle. is laughable
If Conner were governor | can guess what
he would answer them ON such prop
ostion
Not Driven on Rocks
Another singular thing: The I.ouisviIls
and Nashville said the rates fixed nv
Conner would drive them on the financial
rocks Yet they now come forward after
trial Of the rates and will announce
II IS said, their willingness to operate
under reasonable rates. All the limos
that have been operated under the rates
have prospered And the other day the
Louisville and Nashville sold s37 900 0O
worth of South and North bonds without
flicker and the bonds were oversub-
scribed amazingly. especially for this time
of the year.
81 thought | possessed reasonably den-
mite information about the adroitness OF
railroad interests but this move OF the
Louisville and Nashville goes clear over
my head. TO use the vernacular
1T makes no difference what the Louis
vile and Nashville does. the election OF
Conner, as Ned Brace put Ii some weeks
ago. Is foreshadowed and the LouisvilIe
and Nashville might as well cease its
Wild hounderins aud maneuverng. The
courts of America have upheld the hands
OF Braxton Bragg Conner In fixing those
rates and the people are going TO send
Conner back 10 Montgomery to see that
the laws are obeyed by the Louisville
and Nashville and its allies. and also
TO do some other constructive and pro-
sressNe work in the interest of the peo-
pie of this state