The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-05-06

request of public officials, free passes to | the number of 63S2, representing transpor- tation to the value of $6l,727s and the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railroad, a majority of whose stock is owned by the Louisville and Nashville, issued to public officials and at the re- quest of public officials free passes to | the number of 16,5S0, representing trans portation to the value of $164521. Do you | approve of this practice of issuing free
 passes?"
 Senator Lea of Tennessee, author of | the investigation resolution, interposed an objection before the witness could an- ] swer. Mir. Lea said that he would pre- ! fer to have this line of questioning de- ferred until he could be represented by | counsel and the question was allowed to pass.
 MT. Smiths explanation of the circum- stances attending the suicide of Captain | Staples was that it was due he thought, | to financial worries arising out of Cap
 tain Staples inability to make expenses \ in operating three vessels he owned on 1 the Tombigbee river in competition with | a newly developed line in 1913. The Louis-
 vile and Nashville, MT. Smith said, was
 not financing the competing company. DETAILS OF STAPLES CASE Captain Staples was loaned s5OOo0 by
 the Louisville and Nashville on his three | steamers, MT. Smith said
 Later the captain came to see the wit
 ness and was greatly depressed and told ] MT. Smith that he could not make op- 1 erating expenses. Witness said he was | afraid he did not fully understand the captains troubles, and did not do as l much as he might have to relieve them. 1 Captain Staples went away MT. Smith l continued, and soon afterwards witness l was advised by wire that he mad com
 mitted suicide. A week later his biggest
 boat was destroyed by an explosion and l several lives were lost. The insurance, which Captain Staples had agreed to keep
 up, had been cancelled or had lapsed, and
 the Louisville and Nashville lost consd- | erably by the transaction
 l MT. Smith was asked if he knew R. E. l Fleming.
 1 Yes" he replied MT. Fleming is our 1 legislative agent at Louisville for about I two months every two years. The rest | of the time he is our immigration and industrial agent. It is his duty as legis- lative agent to watch out TOT proposed | legislation which is injurious to the Louis l vile and Nashville, and to do what he can to defeat it. Sometimes I believe l he helps in proposing helpful legisla- | tion''
 'Is it his duty to become acquainted with members of the legislature?" asked l MT. Folk, "to take them out to diners 1 and to entertain them?'
 | T do not know how he performs his duties" MT. Smith replied. His ex- | penses, however, are paid by the Louis vile and Nashville, I assume I MT. Smith thought that the road had l similar agents in Tennessee and Alabama,
 although he did not recall their names Work of this sort in Georgia, he thought I was attended to for the Louisville and Nashville by representative of the | Georgia railroad H did not know whether Sydney J. Bowie had received
 sso,o00 from the Louisville and Nashville l for work done in opposing certain legis- 1 lation in Alabama in 1912
 | There was no intention, MT. Smith said on the Louisville and Nashvil1e's part tc discriminate against Mobile in favor o1 Pensacola in routing export shipments ol l cotton. Mr Folk asked about termina and shipping facilities at the two ports
 "We have poor facilities at Mobile and
 excellent facilities at Pensacola" MT | Smith replied.
 1 Counsel expects to conclude MT. Smith examination tomorrow. The investigation will be then transferred to Nashville, be- ginning May 23.
 l HELPED ALABAMA | MT. Smith testified today that not only | had the Louisville and Nashville come l to the financial aid of Alabama in 1912 l but frequently had come to the aid o1 other commonwealths.
 we loaned money recently to the Ncity | of Lexington, .Ky.," he said. Also tt | the city of Birmingham, Ala, and no | long ago to the city of Columbia, Tenn. "Who asked you to help out the stat l of Alabama in 1912?' asked Joseph w l Folk, counsel for the commission.
 We didn't lend money directly to thu
 state" the witness replied. "We loaned l SPAS, 900 in 1912, and about the same amour 1 in 1913 to the First National bank of Bir mingham. Its president, w. F. c. Hard | ing, now member of the federal reserve board, came to the Louisville and Nash | vile and asked it to join with other in terests, railroads and banks, I suppose l in buying up state warrants, there be- 1 ing no money in the state treasury tc pay them at the time
 Why shouldn't the Louisville and Nash vile help the state of Alabama? We l have millions invested in the state. We are more interested in it's prosperity than anybody else except, perhaps. the people | themselves. Isn't it fit proper, and nat ural that we should try to aid it to be prosperous?"
 Tt is an exceedingly difficult matter, ? | MT Smith continued, "to protect the property of a large corporation in states | from confiscation by the people
  ANYTHING FOR MONEY By the people of those states, acting through their law-making bodies You know all men are free and equal but we couldn't get along without our pluto crats. Under our form of government, it is permissible to do anything necessary | to get another mans property, providing you can keep out of jail.
 s'All legislative bodies are menace. Tn action they are unsafd calamity. They are many and numerous and we have | trouble at times with all of them, be- ginning with Congress and going on l down the line to the town council. We must do what we can to conciliate them I all. We have to protect ourselves | Mr. Smiths declaration was made at the end of long argument among counsel as ! to admission to the record of a paper I which he had started to read from the l witness stand.
 l The witness had given his own defni- | ton of politics and launched into char acterization of what he termed disadvan- tages of the present forms of the gov ernment.
 l He then began to read paper on poli- | tics in Tennessee and the political sit uation there. The paper contained ref erence to Senator Lea. author of the Sen ate resolution, providing for the investi- gation.
 Senator Lea jumped to his feet with an objection.
 | SENATOR LEA OBJECTS l "Tha subject under inquiry here.' he