The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-01
STATE CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS B. B. CONFER, CANDIDATE FOR
 GOVERNOR.

GOVERNOR.
 Birmingham. Ala, April 1, 1914. TO THE PEOPLE OF ALABAMA:
 In the closing days of a heated gub- ernatorial campaign it is impossible to meet the many false and misleading statements made against the leading candidate, who, like Governor Conner, is championng the rights of the peo- pie and whom we all know to be a man of honesty and undaunted cour- age-a man of the highest character, whose fidelity to his pledges is rec ognized by all.
 Allied Opposition Concentrated
 Into the campaign. there has been injected crimination and recrimination. The political atmosphere has been rife with rumors of scandal and broker faith to official duty. From the be- ginning. it has been a fight for the people and against the people-Comer and Anti-Comer. The combined opposi- tion against B. B. Conner, backed by the allied interests, has concentrated and is still concentrating it's strength in the various Counties behind tonly one of the three allied candidates ac- cording as it may appear which one is the most available instrument to use in the fight against Governor Conner In that particular County.
 The One Great Issue
 Many extraneous matters have been hurled into the forum of debate by the ardent advocates of the opposition, but the great central point of this cam paign-THE ONE GREAT ISSUE has been and still remains the CON TROI. AND REGULATION OF RAIL- ROAD RATES in the INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE. In this great issue is embodied the millions of excess taxes which have annually been paid by the people to the railroads
 There has been every effort on the part of those seeking the defeat or B. B Conner to distract the attention of the people from this paramount question.
 ..VunjIiatiug Surrender"-SeIhei Hon. H. c. Selheimer Special Coun- sel for the State, promptly denied in the public prints all responsibility for the recent rate settlement made by Hon. Charles Henderson and Governor ONeal. And yet Governor O'Neal in his Montgomery speech, as reported in the Birmingham News. has made des- perate effort to becloud this great is sue between the people and the rail roads by charging that the agreement had been fully explained and read over to Mir Selheimer, that every suggges- ton which he had made had been em- bodied in the agreement and that the agreement had received MT. Selheimer s approval This brought from Mr. Sel- l heimer. who evidently construed Gov ernor ONears statement as direct attack upon his integrity and veracity l n most vigorous repudiation in Whlch | ne denounees the charge of Governor O'Neal as FALSE IN ALI, OF lIs l PARTS and in EVERY INFERENCE k to be drawn therefrom and character 1 fles the O'Neal- Henderson compromls Sc of 1914 "AS A HUMILIATING SUR RENDER TO THE RAILROADS" 1 This statement comes from MAN WHO HAS GIVEN SEVEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE to the STUDY OF THE IN TRICACIES OF THE ALABAMA RATE l CASES His utterances carry convic' ton to the impartial mind and shed flood of light on the so-called com nromise This statement Is further more convincing because it comes iron such a man as Mir. Selheimer-a mar whose legal reputation is as exalted as his mind is truthful and open Comer's Settlement of 1907 As MT. Selheimer states in his reply t' Governor O'Neal when Governor Conner made his agreement with the six railroads in 1907. ONLY ONE JUDGE STOOD be tween the people and an injunction oi their statutory rates, and that Judge had 1 indicated a preference for the in1unc ! ton. Every prospect was favorable tt the railroads. The decision in the Min
 nesota Missouri and Arkansas rate case: had not been rendered. When the Hen | derson-O Neal agreement in 1914 wa made. THREE JUDGES STOOD BE TWEEN THE PEOPLE AND AN IN JUNCTION and they had decided il favor of the people Every prospect wa favorable to the people, which fact wa.
 known to the railroads. to Governor O'Neal and to MT. Henderson; and tn Courts had already declared in favor O
 the people in the three cases abov | named.
 Tn March, 1907, eleven railroads file'
 bills to enjoin the operation of the sIatu tory freight and passenger rates. In tn
 fall of the same year six of the road made an agreement with Governor Co mer by which they agreed to put in fore not only a 21a-cent passenger rate. bu
 also the statutory freight rates whicl was done. The rights of coupon holder
 were never sacrificed and are fully pro tected by the final decree dismissin these suits
 Conner Saved Millions
 These six railroads adhered to thei agreement and ever since have had tn statutory rates, FREIGHT and PAS SINGER, in force. The practical effec
 of this agreement was that the shipper
 and passengers of Alabama HAV]
 SAVED AT LEAST $750000 each yea SINCE SAID AGREEMENT-a minimum
 saving of $5.O0O.0OO up to this time. 1 Compromise of 1814-A Sacrifice
 What has been saved to the shipper and passengers by the recent Henderson
 ONeal settlement? NOT ONE CENT