The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-17


 nor. You had two and one-half cent rate and three Federal Judges had de- eiare" that the rate could not be made higher Had the case been carried to the Supreme Court everybody knows it would have been affirmed
 SURRENDERED EVERYTHING
 They say the State withdrew inc cases following an agreement If did not; 1t surrendered everything it ever won when the names of the officials were affixed to that agreement If any army had surrendered in the way the State surrendered ii would have been tried for It. and if there is any wav 'hls sans can be put in jail for the surrender it ought to be done" Mention of the name of O'Neal. fol- lowed by that of Henderson brought half-uttered misses from the audience. a Ex-ATTORNEYl GENERAL CAREER campaign manager, says:
 The thought has found lodement fl, the minds of many people that the negotiations leading up to the com. promise finally effected have a polit;- cal significance, aimed at the defeat of B. E. Conner and the elevation of Charles Henderson. president of tho commission It does seem strange that Colonel Stone. Major Steiner. other railroad attorneys and officials met the present governor. the attorney gen. eral and MT Henderson unexpectedly in Montgomery If not, and an appoint ment was made by these gentlemen why were not Judge Weakley and Mts Selheimer, the special counsel for thee state, who had devoted practically theIr4 entire time to the rate case for about seven years, invited to the conference? They were absent during the entire negotiatlons-in fact, were entirely ignored. Was this due to the fear that these gentlemen, with their thorough e Knowledge of the rate cases would not , nave given their approval to the agree ments reached, or was it due to the lact that they were said to be good friends of B. B. Comer9" JUDGE WEAKLEY NOT CONSULTED
 'i do not want to criticze the com=- promise. l don't want to criticse the governor of Alabama. Button the other hand, l do not want to be charged or credited with the compromise that has been effected I don't want any blame or praise. l have fought the cases for seven years. I want to say that I did not recommend this compromise and had nothing in the world to do with it. s It is the work of Charles Henderson.
 
 Alabama. I was not consulted concern- Ing any detail of the proposition and am in nowise responsible for the out come"
 WHAT JUDGE sELHEIMER SAYS MT. Selheimer co-counsel with Judga Weakley in the rate cases said that the people of the state would be the loser of some millions" He said ths reoate certificates would not be paid, as the decision of Judge Jones effective. ly cancels the rebates which were to have been returned those who paid the scent fare }T'1, T was not consulted concerning ths compromise. I had nothing to do with It. am informed that the matter waS handled by the governor and CharleS Henderson. As far as Judge WeakleV and myself are concerned we were not even faintly appraised of the probable, outcome of the case. I was very much surprised when informed that the afg fair had been settled as 1t was. I did not recommend 1t and would not havs recominenoed one compromise effected.s
 MURRAY BROWN M Murray Brown. member of a, great Bir. mingham wholesale house. Goodl all, Brown Dry Goods company, voiced the sentiments of the business man: tst
 Tn my opinion the state is handing to the Louisville and Nashville somethinS over $l00O,0o0 on a silver platter. In ether words, the people of Alabama love the Louisville and Nashville so we'll that they want to present this road with d few million dollars. Other railroads in the state have not only been able to operate under the 21s-cent rate but haSH shown profit. I think this is amply attested to by virtue of the fact that rha Sf,rtf1 f1,x.,- AE days ago in Birmingham outlined plans for an expenditure of sl.5oo.G0O in inll movements in this district 'Of course. the $1,500,000 which tha Louisville and Nashville will be saved will not come from the coffers of the state, but will be paid by the travelling men, wholesale men and jobbers of ths state.
 Tn my opinion. if B. B. Conner had been in the governors chair the cons promise would never have been effected II is apparently an attempt to weaken his candidacy .sS
 IN 4 BLAZE OF INFAMY ,N The melancholy ending of the O'Neal administration is solemn and porten- tous warning to the people not to elect another Governor to serve the allied in- terests. Mir. ONeal was elected as the instrument and agent of these allied n- terests. He has served them well, and behold. the clouds of scandals and iu- famies amid which his star hastes now to Its setting. For the Lacy theft is less a crime than the sale of the people to the railroads. The scandalous bargaining with Lacy is less a scandal and reproae,i than the bargaining of Henderson for n ! surrender of the State and people in ex- change for the support of Milton IT. smith and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and its attorneys Sha,neless- ness has no limit when 2 man gets h;s consent to serve the interests rathek than the people. .t So MT Henderson strikes his Guber- { material bargain with the railroads at,,. Montgomery and sends his camrai.,, manager to Nashville to make s,icirN -erms as Charlie Lewis chose to demard,s \ as the price of his support \! COMER's ANSWER TO STEPHAN Y
 Tn full answer to Mr. Sheehan.a card. have never seen Charles Lewie or communicated with him either di- rectly or through his agents. I have $ never offered in any way, shape or form to any interest any consideration fin ex- change for influence or votes. The charges of Mir. Sheehan against me are unQualifiedly false.''