The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-12
FORGETTING BUSINESS CARES, BANKERS OF STATE MAKE MERRY
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(COntfuued from Page TwO) the bankers. The principal question is how far can We reduce freight rates and transportation rates of all kinds and yet permit the transportation com panies to make fair and just profit
 after dedueting their operating ex- penses. Last summer when business looked dead and there were small
 hopes of recovery, delegation of business men came to Washington.
 They asked for higher rates, they
 stated that they could not make both
 ends meet that their securities vers declining, that in order to raise money they had scld $500. 0.Ooo,oO0 worth ur short-time notes to Europe, that tn ose notes were falling due and Europe was not in a position to renew them aud finally that if the American public did not come to the rescue over one-third of the great railway systems of tie country would go into the hands of a receiver.
 l Now. my friends. why should we 1 ellow this rock of disaster to longer 1 threaten the great ship of commer 'e' l The railroads are the greatest single purchaser of supplies in the country. l The pay envelope of the railroads If | this country equals that of the era 1 iattled armies of Europe. If the rail- 1 roads were to suddenly withdraw al- l together from the markets of tl:e 1 country stagnation of commerce an'i trade would result.
 In Regard to Rates
 We talk of freight rates But after l all, individual freight rates do not mat 1 ter so much so long as comparative 1 freight rates between you and your
 com petitor are on a sound basis. The 1 question of the transportation com- 1 pany's ability to finance it's business is 1 ny far the more important question. l After all there must be disaster if the l man who rides and the man who serds 1 lis freight and his products over the l tra importation lines does not pay to l that transportation company rate from which it can Day Its operating expenses. its maintenance and cost Of l .Iew equipment.
 "1 ask you bankers. what are you go- l ing to do when the business interests 1 you represent get back to normal The
 railroads will not be able to handle the l business because they have not been mak- 1 ing sufficient revenues to keep up theil systems and their equipment as 1t should l be kept.
 "Unless the American people make this l their affair and undertake to fix it equit- ably the great commercial fabric of the ration will be in danger of breaking down. | have no patent medicine remedy I con | fess I myself do not know how this great 1 problem is to be solved. I believe it is 1 too much for any one man and there l is no need that 1t should be decided by any one man or set of men,
 .I believe that the Congress of the Uni
 ted States should appoint a committed 1 to take up this great question and then l that committee should invite every in- 1 terest of the country involved to come
 before it and give testimony and when l one side makes a point let the other | side have an opportunity to answer it. ] Thus. by the process of elimination, We | will be able to separate the wheat from the tares and, finally. it may be after 1 two or three years of hard work, we will l be able to solve our transportation prob- l lem as we have solved our currency and
 financial problem
 Oscar Wells Hazed
 Oscar Wells. president of the First Ma.
 tional bank of Birmingham. was intro l duced by MT. Morrow. MT. Wells de | clared he felt as if he were being hazet
 at college. He stated he preferred to en. I ter the association of the banks and bank l CTS of Alabama with that natural temerity | which he felt in the long run would prove I best although it might retard awhile his complete acquaintance and fellowship | with his new associates. MT. Wells urged II l be optimistic, but he warned them agains letting optimism creep into the portfolio l Of their institutions. and that when the, 1 took notes they should always be sur, | that they were lending money througl
 other reasons well as optimism. Mir l Wells made a very favorable impression | The closing speaker was Congressman l Heflin, who in the true Tom Heflir style" told stories until the sides of hi' audience ached with laughter Then h launched into his unequalled flights o oratory on the greatness of Alabama, Ala | bamians America and Americans both 0 the past and of the future He made re peated thrusts at woman's suffrage, 0 which he possibly is the leading opponen in the United States, declaring that til Il place for the women of Alabama was Il the home where they always had and al
 ways would wield more influence in tn making of the nation and her destiny thal
 they ever could be able to do through tn
 ballot. ,. The banquet was interspersed wit cabaret features by selections rom lao soloists, male soloist and male quartet AlfC. Garber, president of the Birmins ham Clearing House association. whic | rendered the banquet, as the hosts or tn t visiting bankers, introduced the toast t master The committees in charge wer : as follows:
 l Programme Committee-C. M. William
 son, chairman; Otto Mooney Carl Steine sI Entertainment Committee-Thomas HOT
 kins, chairman; Edward B. Crawfort , John w. Sparkman.
 Il Reception Committee-T. O. Smitl l | chairman; w. w. Crawford, J. H. Barr Ia. H. Frye. Leo Steiner. w. A. Porte r Oscar Wells.