The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-10
PROMINENT ALABAMIANS
 IN BIRMINGHAM YESTERDAY Y

A. R. Brindley of Etowah, member of the legislature and one of the prohibit ton leaders of the lower house, passed through Birmingham yesterday en route the recess committee of the legislature, the function of which will be the refor- nation of the judiciary system of the state.
 "Our work is destined to be trying" said MT. Brindley, because it's result will effect every individual in the state. And we will have to deal most extensive ly with lawyers, and I know from expe- rience what that means. However. I be- 1ieve it is the ardent desire of every member of the committee to so arrange the judiciary system that quick justice in all controversies might be obtained, and that the system might be conducted hereafter at a much lower figure than at present.
 Dr. William C. Oates, state mill and prison inspector, spent yesterday in Bir- mingham looking over the county jail. Conditions, it is understood he concluded after his inspection, were as good as could be inspected in the jail of Jefferson, especially in view of the fact that it is now crowded with inmates.
 
 and the part of the gross receipt that went to the stockholders as dividends was $346,- So5.5S2, or 12 cents out of every dollar In fact. SS cents of every dollar paid by tHp nlIh1ic fnr ff,cr taxes and interest, before there was cent for new facilities or dividends.
 "The matter of dividends today is very small part of the equation we must solve. The public must be interested in the items that make up the operating ex- penses cf the railroads if it desires both adequate facilities and reasonable rates.
 Much Good and Some Harm
 For more than four decades the fed eral government and the states have en- ac. ed laws supervising the practices and regulating the rates of the railroads, and 1t cannot be denied that much good and soms harm has resulted to the public
 "If the beginning the railroads denied the right of any government to control what they were pleased to call their pri- vate property, but they overlooked the fact that the grant given them was to maintain public highway in which the Pupbt WdS dS fuuCIl luttItSltu, II nOt more so. than their stockholders. Step by step governmental regulation has ad- vanced until today railroad corporations are controlled by the public in respect to every detail of their business, and this control has been accepted and recog. nized by their managers.
 Tt cannot be denied that public control has reduced the rates charged for trans- portation. No one now contends that localities as well shippers, should not be treated with equal fairness.
 "But the greater problem remains un- solved. Can the money be provided to ex- pand and develop these great public works in a manner commensurate with the expanding moods of our commerce under the present system of public con trol.
 For a time the growth of population on new lines, and increased motive power | for train service on old lines, enabled the management to provide new facilities and at the same time reduce rates. but the limit of development along these lines seems to have been reached.
 'In recent years accumulated surplus of railroads have largely disappeared; i; dividends have been greatly reduced and the ability to secure longtime loans at low rates of interest has passed away. Without cheap money for development new facilities can not be obtained and low rates for transportation be main tained.
 "We must all give credit to the pres ent system of regulation for the accom- plishment of much good in the interest of the public. but those who are giving careful study to the railroad problems that confront us are bound to admit that our present system of regulation is break ing down; in so far as 1t has supervised the finances of our railroad systems with a view to allowing them to properly pro- tect their securities that their credit may be maintained to aid the present and fu- ture development.
 'If railway investments cannot be made attractive to capital, is not the nation threatened with an inevitable breakdown of it's transportion systems?
 Must Be Settled Wisely
 eve can never have permanent pros perity in the country until our great prob lem of transportation is settled and set tied wisely. There is no more difficult problem awaiting it's solution ahead of us and no more inviting field for the exer- else of true statesmanship has ever faced our public men.
 "The problem can be solved and will. be worked out satisfactorily to both the investor and the shipper, but it can be solved only by wise. fearless and patriot ic men. in the daylight of publicity, with the determination to do exact and even handed justice between in vested capital and the public.
 Let us concede without cabal that transformation and commerce can only advance when they go hand in hand.