The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-26
.SELHE|MER STATES GOVERNORS WORDS ARE UTTERLY FALSE Special Counsel In Rate Cases Issues Statement
 on Recent Agreement WAS NOT ADVISED OF CONTEMPLATED PLAN Only Suggestion He Made Was Ig- nored-Characterjzes Proceeding
 As 'Humiliating Surrender to
 the Railroads"

n. C. Se1hefmer special counsel for the state of Alabama in the railroad rate litigation yesterday issued a state ment charging the governor of Ala
 bama with falsehood when he asserted
 that Mir Selheimer had the rate agree ment fully explained to him.
 MT. Selheimer says the statement
 credited to the governor 'in all its
 parts and in the differences to be drawn
 from it is false and misleading" He
 adds that he made but one suggestion
 and this was not adopted and that "the
 failure or refusal to adopt this sugges-
 ton characterizes the entire proceeding
 as humiliating surrender to the rail-
 roads and deprives it of all semblance to a compromise
 MT. Selheiner continues: T had
 worked over and studied these cases
 for seven years was thoroughly familiar with all the facts necessary
 to be taken into consideration in de- termining upon a just settlement of
 the litigation. Tho governor and pres ident of the railroad commission were entirely ignorant of these facts. Yet upon presentation to them by the railroads of proposition of settle ment, they accepted the proposition, agreed upon the terms thereof and re- duced the same to writing before I had any intimation that a settlement was contemplated
 Quotes Governors Words MT. Selheimer's statement in full is
 as follows:
 Tn his speech at Montgomery on Monday night, as the same is printed verbatim in Tuesdays Birmingham News, Governor O'Neal is reported to
 have used the following language with reference to my connection with the recent settlement Of the rate cases: Before the agreement was signed MT. Selheimer was called up at his of flee in Birmingham and had the agree ment fully explained and read over to him and every suggestion which he made embodied in the agreement. Not
 one word of objection did he express to the compromise.'
 This statement was evidently made
 for the purpose of conveying the im-
 pression to the people of Alabama that I was consulted with as to the ad- Visibility of making the compromise agreed upon between the railroads and Governor O'Neal aud the railroad com mission and that l approved the com promise as effected. As such the state ment is so utterly false, so misleading and inconsistent with the fact that I feel that I should not allow it to pass
 unchallerged. It Is false in all it's parts
 (except the bare fact that I was called
 up over the phone) and in the inference
 that was intended to be drawn from the
 whole.
 Selheimer's Connection
 My sol. connection with the mat
 ter was as follows: The agreement of
 compromise was signed on Saturday,
 February 21, 10 days before it was made
 public, Betwe cen 1 o'clock and 1:30 on
 that day .he attorney general called
 me up over the long distance phone
 and told me that the railroad people
 tnaming them) were in Montgomery to settle the rate cases. He said they had agreed to put in a 2h -cept rate for
 intrastate ard interstate passenger
 travel ard that all litigation was to be
 dismissed. He then said he wanted to
 read to me one paragraph of the agreement and get my opinion about
 it. He then read to me over the phone
 the thir3 paragraph of the agreement
 which provides that nothing in the agreement nor in the decree of Judge Jones shall be construed or pleaded so
 as to preclude the railroad commission from exercising it's lawful powers to revise the passenger and freight rates in the future. This was the only part
 of the agreement that was read to me and the only. part that was explained to me except thar the railroads agreed to put in 2k cent rate. Not a word was said about that part of the agree
 ment wEich relieves the railroads from liability to redeem the passenger cou- pons and freight receipts representing excess charges in the past. The part of the agreement read to me was so unimpoftan and so unnecessary that I gave t no particular thought. made some suggestion in regard to it so unimportanr that do not now recall what it was.
 q then inquired what the railroads had agreed to do as to the freight rates. He replied that they had not made any agreement as to the freight rates. then told him to insist on their settling tEe freight rates as well as the passenger. He replied that they were unwilling to agree upon a settlement of the freight rates then; that they wanted to take that matter up with the railroad commission later. I then
 asked hin ff he wanted Judge Weak ley and myself to come to Montgomery. He repliesl by asking whether we could get there by o'clock. replied that we could net: that the train did not get there until about z. He then said that the railraod people intended to leave al o'clock. ended the con versation by asking him to let me know ie anything definite was deter
 mined or.
 Called a Second Time
 About 3:S0 the same afternoon the att torney general again called me up. He said the railroads had adopted my sug- gestion as to the third paragraph above mentioned. asked him if the agreement had been signed. He replied, Why it was signed this morning. He then said he would send me a copy of the agree mnet for my opinion. On the following Monday. February 8, received from him by mail a copy of the agreement. It was dated February 21, and was signed: : Louisville and Nashville Railroad com pany, by Henry L. Stone, general coun- sel, and William A. Coston, general so- 1 licitor; Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railway. by H. F. Smith. vice presi- dent; Western Railway of Alabama by R. E. Steiner. it's attorney in fact and assistant general counsel; Central of Georgia railway. by R. E. Steiner. its attorney in fact and special counsel Charles Henderson, president, constituting the railroad commission of Alabama. Approved by: Emmet O'Neai, governor of the state of Alabama; Robert ~ Y1-l-