The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-03-25

said, the jobber, the dealer and the
/ consumer would benefit The rail
/ roads would not suffer for they
! would get the carload haul AMI then
the local haul and just about a.
much business
Mr. Neathers then turned 10 Mr.
| kealhofer OF Jacksonville. and paid
him compliment on Jacksonville
| and its growth and prosperity. oil
| which he, like all other Floridians
was proud. He scored him warmly
for coming into this fight OF Ocala
and the interior for relief, knitting
us and helping the railroads.
Commissioner Dunn asked Mr..
Weathers at the conclusion Of his
talk il he thought the commission
should enforce the long and short
haul law literally. He said il was
on the statute books and should be
enforced, and if it was not found to
be satisfactory after being tried, 1t
could be repealed.
Forceful evidence was given along
the same line by Messrs. j. E. Chace.
c. \. Kirkland, r. L. Heating and
others.
Spencer Summed Up
Mr. Spencer then stated that he
had prepared an extended brief
upon the question that he would file
at the proper time before the COM
mission, and that he hoped TO be able
to make oral argument before the
commission on the proposition at
the conclusion of all the testimony.
He said that at this time he would
call the attention OF the commission
to what he considered the law on the
question. Under the law it is nee
essary for the carriers to prove two
things: First, that where a low scale
of rates were maintained to any
point that the conditions at that
point, either of actual competition
or other conditions, warranted that
scale of rates. Second, that they
must show that the rates to the in
terror points along the same line that
were higher were not unreasonable
the interior points. He stated. fur
Their, that the law was passed to pre-
vent Determinations and prevent one
community from being arrayed
against another; that the purpose of
the law was to bring about unity and
peace among communities and pre-
vent the railroads from building up
one city at the expense of another
He said that the feeling in the inter-
Tor portion Of the state, as manifest
ed at this hearing, showed that the
people of the interior felt that they
were being Disseminated against by
the railroads and that they were be-
ing eunjustly and unfairly treated in
favor of the seaport cities of the
pie Of so large q section as the inter-
TOR of this state felt like that, that
must be wrong He said
that for years Ocala had tried to en-
large its business, to establish manu-
factories and wholesale houses, but
that under the present rates it was
and that if the railroad
commission found it impossible to
carry out the letter of the long and
short haul law they could at least
carry out the spirit of the law and
make such corrections as would tend
20 aid business OF the interior rather
than to destroy it.
OFF to kissimmee
The members of the railroad COM
mission left this morning for Lake
land, where they will spend the day.
They will be at Kissimmee tomor-
row, for the meeting to be held at
that place. and will then have two
hearings on the East Coast and two
at points between Jacksonville and
Pensacola. And they they will have
to go to Tallahassee to rest awhile |
and study about it and go over all
the testimony and some other things. |
Meantime, the people will go on pay
ing the rates. and they may elect |
some other men on the railroad |
commission before the present men,
oers come to decision