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SOUTHERN RAILWAY i BELONGS TO SOOTH .SAYS PRESIDENT H Af? RI SOM OF j SOUTHERN IN FIRST PUBLIC ADDRESS, i - ?MQNEY REMAINS IN SOUTH New President of Southern Analyzer I Intimate Relation of Company I to People Served. I Chattanooga, Tenn.-Speaking at the annual banquet of tho Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Fairfax Harrison, the new president of the Southern Railway company, made what may be considered his first pub lic declaration, since his election to cucceed the late Mr. W. W. Finley. TVlr. Harrison said: The Southern Railway System in cludes 10,000 miles of railroad on which 59,000 officers and employees Fairfax Harrison, President Southern Railway perform public services, in return for which more than one hundred millions o? annual revenue is collected. These axe big figures and, in a country ia which there has always been a pride in big things, in which every commun ity has been wont to boast of that which it has which is the biggest, such a big thing as the Southern Railway System should be, and I believe is, a source of pride to the South, but exactly in proportion as it is big also in its public service and faithful in its public trust. The administration of such a vast machine, affecting, as it does, the comfort and well being of the people of a large territory, is, therefore, itself a large public service. The time has passed when it might be exploited for merely private and selfish ends. The lawyers -used to tell us that a railroad was a quasi public institution, but today, happily, it might better bo described as a quasi private institution. It is private still in the opportunity it presents for the exercise of individual initiative and competitive service, but in practically every other sense it is now recognised that it is public. It is a matter of sincere regret to every railroad manager that railroad securities are not more generally held, directly and immediately, in tito com munities which the railroads serve. The lack of such holding deprives him * of a powerful and sympathetic ally in the relation of public opinion to his problems. The time vas when the rail road stocks were owned immediately at home, and by the people who were most influential ba shaping public opin ion, but today, while railroad stocks are generally held by the same kind of people-by those who. through the ex ercise of prudence, industry and cour age have laid by a competence, and by the women and children for whom they worked-such investors now do not as a class reside in the territories in which they have made their invest ments. The explanation of this phe-; nomenon-so well known to us all, but still a phenomenon-is part of the financial history of the United States, but the fact has given riso to a feel ing among many of those who use the railroads dall- and como into immedi ate contact with their managements, that the railroads belong to some mys terious, remote and foreign power, ta irresponsible potentates, who bear, in popular imagination, the generic name "Wall Street." We read in maga nc?s and newspapers of nae romantic Ives attributed to a few individuals rho are supposed to "coatrol" the festinioB of -whole ooapnaucMefl by po&> ?ssJon and exploitatk? of toe m s tru nienta upon which such communi ties depend for their necessary trans portation, who "fix" rates and arbi-. trarily determine conditions of serv ice, and so "tax" the people Ikea7 eugat( fo sert*, withdrawing money e?pag ia, the sweat of tho brow from the co munities where it is earned, to be dis pated at a distance in extravagant f lies. Such a vision is not the rest of pure imagination-it has had t fortunately its foundation of justifie tion in a few conspicuous instanc which leap to the lips of everyone wi discusses our present-day industri problems; but every intelligent mi knows that it is no longer, if it ev was, the rule. In considering such lamentable in< vidual cases, the public, when forain its potent judgment on the present s uation of tho railway industry, mu recognize them as the unhappy exce tlons they are. To kim who insis Miat the railroads should be judged 1 Uitjir black sheep, it is fair in answ to invite attention to many exempla of high-minded integrity in the a ministration of railroad property. VI in the S ou th can cite shining exampli of such rectitude. 1 may be forgive a proud reference to my late chit William Wilson Finley, whoso oppc tunities were not less than those i any of the flagrant individuals whom allusion has been made, but wi after years of devotion to a public dui and the practice of a large privai charity, left an estate the amount < which, as announced in the pub! press, is at once a certificate of ca did character and an illustration < just administration. One who kne them can add to the same roll of hom two more executives of railroads I the South who have recently gone 1 the grave-Thomas M. Emerson an John W. Thomas, Jr. Despite the holding of railroad stoc outside of the territories the railroad serve, and despite the aberrations froi Integrity in the administration of som particular railroads, I believe that am not claiming too much when I a sert that such has been the develo] ment cf the recognition in recent year of the public nature and responsibilit of tile administration of the railroad; and such have been the practical coi sequences of that recognition, that t< day in every essential a railroad Ix longs to the communities it serves. In this aspect and in a very res sense the Southern Railroad belong to the people of the South. It is nc only their highway to market, but it fiscal operations are part of the life c the communities along its lines. At some risk jf trespass upon you attention, I venture to support thi claim with a brief argument from sti tistics. They record a condition wilie! is astonishing and I confess astoaisl: ed me when I saw how far they g< along the lines of a tendency whicl I knew to obtain. Of the one hundrei and three millions of annual revenu collected last year by the railways ir eluded in the Southern Railway Sys tem. there was immediately paid ou agaiu along its lines at least seventy six millions, an amount not far sh or of the total collections from the pee plc of thc South: for approximate^ twenty-two millions of the total rove nues were collected from people out side of the Southeastern States-? fact not often taken into considera tion, tlie explanation of which is tha an appreciable part of the passenge traffic of tile system consists of UK transportation of residents of othe: localities traveling in the South, and furthermore, that to a large exten freight charges on Southern product: shipped to other localities are paid b] the consignees. What then becomes of these greai revenues collected in the South? An they hurried away to some cavern ir Wall street? No. The fact is thai all thc moneys collected in the Souti are deposited in Southern banks whicl are drawn upon from time to time only as funds are needed for propel fiscal purposes. Thc funds of the sys tem thus become an important facto: in strengthening the banks of the ter ritory and so are at all times at the service of the Southern people. I have said that Uieso funds arc withdrawn from Southern banks from time to time only as needed for proper fiscal purposes, but even in that opera tion, to a largo extent, tho moneys col lected for transportation service on ourlines are not withdrawn at all from the Southern communities In which they are collected. This can be dem onstrated by an analysis of Southern Railway expenditures for the last fis cal year. Such analysis shows that, of every dollar disbursed, 41.71 cents went to the payment of wages, sub stantially all of which are paid along tho line of the road, and so remain in Southern banks, a disbursement which, for the SouUiern Railway prop er, averages about two million dol lars a monUi. The purchase of ma terials and supplies used 22.30 cents, and, under our policy of buying as far as practicable from Southern people, 19.12 cents of this was expended in the South and only 4.18 cents in other localities. Miscellaneous operating ex penses required C.09 cents, all spent in the SouUi. Taxes, all paid in the South, required. 3.G5 cents. Interest, rentals and other miscellaneous pay ments accounted for 20.S3 cents, and the holders of Uie company's prefer red stock received 4.42 cents. It is un fortunately impracticable to determine Uie proportion of interest and divi dends paid to SouUieni owners of Southern railway securities. I wish it was all paid to Southern people; but, leaving these entirely out of ac count, it is seen that at least 70.57 cents out of every dollar expended by Uie Southern Railway remains in or is brought into Uie South. It may be add ed that these figures do not take ac count ot expend? turee for addi?on? and betterments amounting last year to three millions and a half and in ten years to twenty-seven millions of Which Uie major part, expended on roadway and structures, was practical ly ail paid out along Ute line of the raid. We may thea uko it a* tajriirfu* feat veto* tfc? itm?bMh warn pie pay tho Southern Raliway lines I transportation remains a part of ti working capital of the Southern pe pie; but it is interesting to pursi the thought a step further to a rea zation of what these disbursements 1 the Southern Railway in the Sou' mean in thc life and growth of tl Southern people. Of the total of se enty-six millions paid out along tl Southern Railway lines last year a proximately forty-three million dolla went to tho army of 59,000 employe! and thus, on the conventional basis i five to a family, directly supporte about 295,000 Southern people, < about six and one-half times the po ulation of Chattanooga at the date I the last census. I have spoken of our pref erre stockholders, but the real preierre stockholders of the Southern Rai way System, in the matter of priorit of claim, are the political goven ments of the States, counties, an cities along its lines. Their clan upon railroad revenues comes ahea even of that of employees, and the took $3,743,704.39 in the last fis? year. It is hard to grasp the signil canee of figures as large as this what our tax payments really mea to the communities along our line can be better understood by an illui trative analysis of our payments o account of school taxes and road an bridge taxes in the southern state: In 1912, our school taxes in thes states amounted to something ove $800,000, or an average of twent] eight hundred dollars for each coui ty traversed by our lines. At the ai erage annual compensation of schoc teachers in the Southern States a reported by the United States Burea of Education, this would more tba pay for ten teachers in each countj It represents $2.04 out of every $10 of school taxes paid in these State and amounts to fifteen dollars fo each school building in the State traversed by our lines. Every dolla paid to the Southern Railway fo transportation charges thus include a substantial contribution to th maintenance of the system of publi education in the South. Payments by the Southern Railwa; System in the same year of taxes di rectly assessed for public roads am bridges amounted to $447,9M.63, o an average of $1,571.SI for each cour ty along our lines. Every dollar pai< to thc Southern Railway for transpor taticn charges thus includes also ; substantial contribution to the main tenauce of the public highways of th< South and is an indirect but none thu less real public support of the pro gressive movement for good and bet ter roads. 1 have referred to the impractica bil il y of determining the amounts o interest and dividends paid to hold ers of securities living along the lin? of tho road. We know, however, tua a large percentage of our populatioi have a very real though indirect per sonal interest in these securities ever though they may never have seen j railroad bond or stock certificate There are few families in the Soutl who do not hold an insurance polic} of some sort; either an assurance or life or against the risk of fire. The invested funds of the great insurance companies are, therefore, matter ol vital concern to the Southern people and in large measure, are their owi assets held in trust for their benefit We find that the chief iut.irance com panics report their holding of securi ties of the Southern Railway System including terminal bonds on which the Southern is a joint guarantor, aggre gating more than eighty million dol lars. In that great fund, the integrL ty of which depends upon the con untied solvency of the Southern Rail way lines, the Southern people have a vital proprietory interest, an inter est which, as they realize it, should be to intm a constant spur to protect themslves by maintaining, as they can and will, the basis of Southern Railway credit. I assert with confidence that the facts to which f have called your at tention are full warrant for the claim that iu a very real sense the South ern Railway belongs to the people of the South; so much so that its annual reports might more properly be ad dressed "To the People of the South" to advise you of the results of the management of your property, for today it belongs more to you than it does to the stockholders. More than this, its management is and always has been devoted to the interests of the South. Its officers are mostly Southern-born men and those who were not born in the South have been here long enough to become identified with our interests, our pe culiarities, oux- responsibilities, our prejudices, and our aspirations as a people; they talk the same language as the people of the South. I look forward to the time when there may be moro Southern men sitting on our Board of Directors, where I know that they will be welcome. As an organization then, the South ern Railway, with full appreciation of, and acquiescence in, the present tendency of public sentiment as to what a railway ls and should be, stands pledged to the Southern peo ple, and is proud to declare itself one of their own Institutions. As such it invites :he Southern people to help it to become mora and more their efficient servant and at the same time the object of their pride and af fection. They need have no fear of its future if it has their confidence. I trust you will permit me to take this occasion to say finally a> word of a personal naturo: I beliere in th? South and our Southern people with all my heart and soul. I have given most of the years of my manhood to an earnest, though subordinate,, part in aa effort li? r?alit? a high tw I Lhitrugh iniluBtry, of the probperi,.,, I of this our beloved motherland. 1 have not known in my own experi ence the horrors either of the military conflict which left our people prostrate, or of the dreary years of political disability and atrophied am bition which followed that great war between the states, in one of the chief theaters of which we are to night, but I know the bitterness of these things in the tradition of my immediate family, and I have learned from my parents that there can be no higher aspiration than to be a part iu the realization of the ideals of our Southern people. Facing the future, I iiave then dedicated my life to that duty and to identification with the Southern people. Man'- others have done and are doin;_ 'his and I am proud to be of the company which has accomplished, through co-opera tion and sustained effort, so much in tiie last quarter of a century. I am humbly grateful for the wel come the South has given me to my new opportunity for its service. It has been such a welcome as you have given me tonight, cordial and with every evidence of good will. My hope is to justify this to those who allow me their confidence, who are willing to believe that if we some times fail it will not be through lack of good intention or desire to do our duty as we conceive it. I have no sense of personal elation in the reali zation today of an ambition cherished ever since I entered the Bervico of the Southern Railway Company 17 years ago. I feel most a sobering sense of a heavy responsibility, but I do not fear the event. I have served under two great men, Samuel Spencer, and Wil liam Wilson Finley, both men of action, eager to accomplish, conscious al ways of the imperious summons of today, and of the warning of Eccle siastes: -Whatsoever thy hand find etk to do, do it with thy might." I have known that before all they were patriotic men, faithful to the South, and with their example and their ideals before me my hope now is so to carry on their work as to gain the kind of public esteem they earned and to aid in building for the future, as tliey built, not only the Southern Railway, but the South itself. In this high endeavor, I am one of you, my fellow countrymen, who are simi larly engaged, and I appeal to you as co-workers for aid and co-opera tion. TheYouffi's No Present like it for any one in any home at any price. Give it to whom you will, you .will find all the family look ing for it. It is more than 52 numbers filled with delight ful reading-it is an influence for all that is best in home and American life. 52 times ajrear * not 1% Crjrt?tmasi Coupon Cut this out and send it with $2.00 for The Companion for 1914, and we will send FREE all the issues for the remaining weeks of 19*3 and Thc Companion Practical Home Calendar for 1914. TEE YOUTH'S COMPANION 144 Berkeley Street Motton, MOM. Subscriptions Received at this Office \ ? See Our Family Cooibinalioa Offer EbcwWe Notice of Final Dis charge. To All Whom These Presenta May Concern: Whereas, J. F. Bettis has made pplication unto this Court for Fi ai Discharge as Guardian of the Estate of Natalie Bettis Lucas on his the 12th day of January 1914. These Aro Therefore, to cite any ind all parties interested, to show ause before me at my office at ridgefield Court House South Caro ma, on the 14th day of February 1914 at ll o'clock a. m., why said order of Discharge should not be ranted. W. T. Kinnaird, J. P. 0., E. C. S. C. Ja?. ll? 1914. ... IT WAS NECESSARY for the Attorney to hav^ a personal talk with a client in a distant city. The journey would seriously interfere with several important engagements made for that day. . He used the Long Distance Bell Telephone, had a satisfactory talk with his distant client and was able to keep all his engagements at home. The Long Distance Bell Telephone increases che efficiency of business men who adapt it to their needs. It can serve you with equal satisfaction and economy. By the way, have yon a Bell T?l?phonai SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY Grow More Cotton to the Acre. Plant Simpkins' Prolifie Seed. The earliest Cotton in the World. Ninety days from planting to bale. Very prolific and a good linier. We sell the only gennine~Mr. Simpkins' own soed- di rect from his farm. Price $1.25 per bushel. 25 bushels at $1.15 LIBERAL DISCOUNT IP ORDERED BEFORE JANUARY FIRST On every order sent us before Jan. 1st take 10c off this price. Ordet now-the time is short. W. H. MIXSON SEED CO., - CHARLESTON Sole Distributors for South Carolina ! E. J. NORRIS, Agent Edgefield, South Carolina Representing the HOME INSURANCE COMPANY, of Now York, and the old HARTFORD, of Hartford, Connecticut. The HOME has a greater Capital and Surplus combined than any other company. The HARTFORD is the leading com pany of the World, doing a greater Fire business than any other Co. See Insurance Reports PRUDENTIAL LIFE "HAS THE STRENGTH OF GIBRALTAR.? E. J. Norris, FIRE AND 'Litt, uJSURANCE.'SSZJBBR Notice of Final Dis charge. To All Whom These Presenta May Concern: Whereas, B. E. Nicholson has made application unto this Court for Final Discharge as Administra tor in re the Estate of I>. W. Bet lis deceased, on this the 12th day of January, 1914. These Are Therefore, to cite any and all kindred, creditors, or par ties interested, to show cause be fore me at ray office at Edgefield Court House, South Carolin?, on the 14th day of Febraary 1914 at ll o'clock a. m., why said order of Discharge should not be granted. W. T. Kinnaird, J. P. C., E. C.S. C. Jan. 12, 1914. Lion Brand Shirt?, $1.69 aid $1.00 pfttteroi, ai $1.00. SaitkMarak Ot, Veternary Surgeon I am prepared to treat stock for ali diseases at reasonable prices. My head office and hospital are at Johnton at Jordan and Amaker's stable. Every 2nd Monday I will be found at H, G. Watson's stables at Edgefield. r - DR. J. M. LOVE. Jan. 7, 1914-3mos. To Prevent Blood Poisoning tpviy at once the wonderful old r*Hable DR. ANTISEPTIC H RA UNG Oil,. a ttir ?flcal ?wh| that reitere* pain and heai? mt Sw ?mac tee. 3?C a itokatont 25c. Ste-SU?.