The bee. (Earlington, Ky.) 1889-19??, 1916-02-04
SQUARE DEAL
FOR RAILROADS
Urged by Vice-President Ma
pother of the L. & N.
Opp osing the
Smith-Scott
Bill
TOO MUCH AUTHORITY
GIVEN COMMISSION
. BY Harry Bloom =


Frankfort, KY, Feb. 2.-WIble L.
Mapother. first vice president, and
since the illness of Milton H. Smith
chief executive of the Louisville &
Nashville railroad, talked for half
an hour In protest against the en-
actment of the Scott-Smith bill to
extend the powers OF the Railroad
Commission before the joint COM
mIttees of the House and Senate last
night. Then Mr.. Mapother dotted
his official toys, andsmAde what he
termed . man-to-man talk to the
committees.
Forget that 1 am . railroad on
ciAl," he said, land that you are
lawmakers. What 10 the situation
IN the United StateS2
"I know Of no parallel In any
country on the globe where the
greatest single industry 10 left In the
absolute autOcrAtic management Of
political bodies, who make no &C.
counting to anyone and possess NO
qualifications except to get votes.
Can you beat itH RaIIroading IL the
greatest and most scien tlflc business
except war;" -
Roads Want Square Deal
Sharp fire was directed by Ma
pother against the power to suspend
rates pending an investigation Of
their justice. "ThAt 10 the most In
Iquitous law ever enacted" he de-
ciared. "All the railroads want is q
square deal, and rate suspension
doesn't give it to Them"
He related the case of the suspen-
sion of coal rates out of East st.
Louis for a year and eleven months
Dy the 1. Q. @. At the end OF this
time the commission declared the
increase was justified. The railroads
lost hundreds of thousands OF dol
lars because of the suspension. Had
the rates been kept in force and la
ter reduced, the railroads would
have been compelled to rebate the
increases with interest, but they
could not collect for the period of in
vestigation. Mr.. MapOther termed
suspension as confiscation of prop.
erty.
He also inveighed against the pro.
vision to give the commission pow
or to make joint rates. Sixty-flve
per cent of the L. & Ms. business,
according to his estimate. was han
ding coal and arbitrary imposition
of the joint rates might tie up the
coal business.
In his opiOnion no more drastic
or radical legislation could have
been designed than the bill under
consideration. 1t was inoppOrtune
in his opinion, and would set back
railroad development in the State.
The L. & N. he declared had spent
$40, 1000, 600 in the past FIVE years in
the development Of East Kentucky
but he believed that the passage of
the law would threaten future de-
velOpement.
The country may now be on tho
verge of the greatest business pros
perity IN It's history" said Mr.. Ma
pother, following 1t withla quotation
from a message by President Will
son favorlng the scientific investi-
CATION of the needs Of the railroads
and the ascertainment of the wisest
regulation.
State Rights Must Go
Estate rights must CO." was Ma
pother's prophecy. 1.-The railroads
have too many masters. The l.. &
N. today IS compelled to obey four
teen commissions. One commands
one sort Of screen, the next another
kind. This state tells the road to
use certain candle-power head
light, aud the next state may COM
mand another that may not be a bit
better. They conflict on every hand
and this sort of thing can't go on.
Tba ttt,a uytll ony,a ~ hon Al. o..