The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-16
CONTRQvE RSY OvE ER|
 POWER vALUAT ION. QUIET AT CAPITAL
Alabama Power Co. Claims Refusal to Show Records Come After Examina-
 nation Was Made
tcontinued From Page one)

dIleI HiS dtliNdi ICfC W hC
 accountant also refuted the alleged valuation credited to him in the state- ment of Associate Commi ssioners Cooper and Gaillard when the latter The reply to Mir. Aldridge charged that the Aldridge statement did not give all the facts.
 Letter to MT. AIdridge
 The letter to MT Aldridge follows: "This letter fs in response to your visit to this company's office today, requesting this company to further submit it's books and records for your examination in connection with the
 valuation proceeding which. prior to
 yesterday, had been pending before the commission for some two and
 one half years.
 "The newspapers announce that the
 commission on yesterday, the 18th
 instant, made an order in this case
 fixing the valuation, prior to that orr
 der and during the two and one-half
 years of pendency of the matter,
 this company cheerfully and freely
 submitted to numerous examina-
 tions of it's accounts and records by
 experts connected with the Alabama
 public service commission and at
 the request of the commission sew
 eral reports were made covering
 matters about which they sought in
 formation During September last,
 we were advised by the president or
 the commission that you had been
 instructed 10 come to this com
 pany.s office for further investi-
 gation of this company's books anu
 records and again on the Sth instant
 the statement was made by com
 missioner that you would be directed
 to come to this company's office
 for that purpose. You did not visit
 the company's office in response to
 these directions, although our books
 and records have Deen continuously available to any authorized repre-
 sentative of the commission. How
 ever. in response to what we undcr-
 stood to be the wish of the com
 mission. we, on the 7th, 8th and
 18th instant. carried to Montgomery
 and presented to the commission
 our books and records which had to
 do with certain items of our orlglnai
 cost, as to which the commission
 desired certain information. These
 TeCOruS sdNt tnc SOiiihioSioh ..+t
 the information for which it asked,
 and you checked this book with the
 copy of the entries made therein
 and certain entries which appeared
 on the original vouchers and after
 doing so stated to me that you
 were satisfied. We then felt that we
 had fully complied with every re-
 quest of the commission and that
 they were satisfied. It should be
 added that this information was sub,
 mitted to engineers and accountants representing the commission, and by the engineers employed by consiim-
 CTS of power to check the valuation in December, 1921, and this informa- tion is substantially embodied in a
 report of May, 1922, to the commits
 sion male by the commissions en-
 gineer, Mir. I. r. Mcdonnell.
 Denies Withholding Books
 "This company has cheerfully and freely placed at the disposal of the commission for the past two and one- half years all of the books, records and accounts in it's possession. and has responded to the limit of it's abil- ity to every request of the commis-
 sion for information and reports asked by the commission. nothing having been withheld.
 Tn the examinations in connection with this matter we have been called on by the state or the commission to pay large sums to it's various engi- lneers and experts, including your self. or members of your accounting staff, amounting in the total to more than s75,000. We now have a bill from the state for something more than s6,S00 for services which were alleged to have been rendered in this vrh irh inclndad charneS nf II. r. Mcdonnell, consulting engineer of the commission. at the rate of $50 to $50 per day, and members of your own accounting staff at s20 per day and expenses, payment of which is demanded in addition to the above named sum.
 See Unneceaxary Expense .In view of the fact that we have
 met every request of the commission for information regarding this mat ter and that a further examination of the books would simply be re- examination of matters already thoroughly gone into by the com mission. we feel that the end gained would be nothing and the expense to us wholly unnecessary, especially in view of the fact that the informa- tion now sought has been furnished and has been available to the com mission for long period of time. ssWe feel that we have done every thing humanly possible to meet the requests of the commission, and cer- tainly have given them all the infor- nation requested that Is in our pos- session. and in view of the further fact that the commission has fixed the valuation we can see no further necessity for prolonging the matter We feel sure that you and the com mission will agree that the two and one-half years that the valuation has been under consideration has been ample time for consideration of all matters affecting the same.
 "If 1t appears to the commission, however that a further examination of our books and records is desired, we assume that it will be ordered by the commi ssion. and to all such proper and legal orders of the com-
 mission. we will in future, as in tho past. comply. Yours very truly. , HEo oT rVTf~uIrTr4 T,re.