The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, January 30, 1914, Image 6
SOUTHERN RAILWAY
BELONGS TO SOUTH
SAYS PRESIDENT HA MM I SON OF
SOUTHERN IN FIRST PUBUC
ADDRESS.
MONEY RfcMAINS IN SOUTH
J -.\ I
. <
New President of Southern Analyzes
Intimate Relation of Company
to People Served.
f 'haUiitio>H'ii. 'h iiii. S|?? ali'iiK a' Itio |
annual h'ui'|i|H of I ho CliatlaiMiuKU.
c l.tamlior ?>f ('omiiifrcv, Mr I'airiax!
I lari'j:,(<n, the new prii.s Weill of tin- ,
fciouilK'rn Hallway 'tympany, made;
whai may hi; conHiiJeri'd hin ill I pah
lie declaration. hlimo 111; uhiiiun uj
micceed th<* Jaii; Mr. W VV I'lnh y
All*. llairi?<?ri haiil .
'I'll. m Honlht'iii Railway Hj.dem In
jc'tulen 10.000 injlo# "I rallnini i>n
wj.i !i 5?-, 000. <d (jeers and omployeUH
Fairfax Harrison, President Southern
Railway
perform public services, in return for
which more than one hundred millions
of annual revenue is collected Those
are bin figures and. in a country in
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 Hallway
System should be, and I believe is,
a source of pride to tho South, but
exactly In pro|H>rtion 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 largo 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 whs a quasi
public Institution, but today, happily,
It might better be described as a quasi
private institution. It is private still
In the opportunity it presents for tho
exercise of individual initiative and
competitive service, tint in practically
every other sense It is now recognized
thrt It Is public.
It Is a matter of sincere regret tp i
every railroad manager that rail mad '
?emrltles are not more generally held,
directly and immediately, in the coin
tuaaitles which the railroads serve.
The lack of such holding deprives him
01 a powerful and sympathetic ally in
tho relation of public opinion to his-j
problems, Tho time was when the rail
road stocks were owned immediately
home, and by the people who were
tnost Influential in shaping public opin
ion, but today, while railroad stocks
me generally held by the same kind of
people ? by those who. through the rx
ervise of prudence. Industry and cour
age have laid by a competence, and byJ
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
etill a phenomenon is part of the
financial history of the t uited States,
but tho fact has given r>(- to a feel
lng among many of tho^e w tui use the
railroads daily and come into immedi
ate contact with their management*,
that the raNrmds belong t<? -on,? mys
terlous, remote and foreign powei to
Irresponsible potentates, who bear, in
popu'ar Imagination, the generie nam,'
of "Wall. Street We rend in maga
*l*;es and newspapers of the romantic
lives attributed to a few individual.-'
who are supposed to "control" the
destinies of whole communities by pos
sevs.on and exploitation of the instni
ments upon which such communl
tie*; depend for their neces^arv trans
porWion, who "fix" rnti-s and arbt
tra^i'y determine condition.- of serv
ice. and so ' tax" the people they ought
to serve, withdrawing mo? < v earned r
, *
tlio nwi'ui Of t ne brow from the com
munities where It I* earned, to be dissi
pated ttl it dUlalico in extravagant fol
Ilea. Hurh u. vision jx not the result
I of pure imagination It has had mi
: fortunately n? foundation of justifica
tion ill H fuW COllKptCUOUH lUStaUCCM
which If 'Hp lo the lip* of everyone who
iIIscuhsoh our present day industrial
problem*; but every Intelligent man
knows (hut It l? no longer, if it ever
v\uh, the I'lllti,
In considering such lamentable Indb
vldual canes, the public, when forming
1th potent judgment on the present h?i
tuition or t ho railway Industry, must
recogni/.e (hcili um the unhappy *:X
Hons limy are To Mm who Insists
that tin; mil roads I?1 he judged by
their blw k It <*> tulr In uiiHvscr
to invite attention to many exemplars
of hlKh'inlmhMl Integrity in the ad
ministration of railroad property, W?
in the South can ? iii- shining examples
of burh rectitude. I may lit* forgiven
u proud reference to my lato <"li l?*f .
William Wilhon Flnloy, v\ hoso oppor
tunities worn not less than thone of
any of tho tlaKrant IndividualH to
whom allusion has been made, but who
after yearn of devotion to a public duty
and tin; practice of a largo private
charity, left an estate the amount of
which, um announced In tho public
press, Is at once a certificate of can
did character and an Illustration of
Just administration. One who knew
thi-m can add to the Ha me roll of honor
two more executives of railroads In
tlio Kouth who have recently Kone to
the grave Thomas M. Kiner?on and
John W TliomaH, Jr.
lH*spite tin! holding of railroad stock
outHldo of the territories the railroads
servo, and despite the aberrations from
integrity In the administration of some
particular railroads, I believe that 1
am not claiming too much when I as
sert that such has been the develop
ment of the recognition in recent years
of the public nature and responsibility
of the administration of the railroad^,
and such have been the practical con
sequences of that recognition, that to
day iu every essential a railroad bo
longH to thi> communities it serves.
In tills itHpecl and in a very real
sense tin* Southern I tail road belongs
to the people of the South. It in not
only tln lr highway to market, but its
fiscal operations arts part of the life of
the communities along its lines.
At homo risk of trespass upon your
attention, I venture to support this
claim with a brier argument froiu sta
tlstles. They record a condition which
is astonishing and I confess astonish
ed me when I saw how far they go
along the lines of a tendency which
I knew to obtain. Of the one hundred
and three millions <>l" animal revenue
collected last year by the railways in
cluded in the Southern Railway Sys
tem. there was immediately paid out
again along its lines at least seventy
six millions, an amount not far short
Of the total collections from the peo
ple <,r the Sohtli: for approximately
twenty two millions of the total reve
nues were collected from people out
side of the Southeastern States ? a
fact not often taken into considera
tion. the explanation of which Is that
an appreciable part of the passenger
traffic of the system consists of the
transportation of residents of other
localities traveling In the South, and,
furthermore, that to a large extent
freight charges on Southern products
shipped to other localities are paid by
the consignees.
What then becomes of these groat ;
revenues collected In the South? Are
they hurried away to some cavern In
Wall street? No. The fact is that
all the moneys collected in the South
are deposited in Southern banks which
are drawn upon from time to time
only as funds are needed for proper
fiscal purposes. The funds of the sys' j
tem thus become an Important factor
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 these funds are
withdrawn from Southern banks from
time to time only as needed for proper
fiscal purposos, but evon In that opera
tion. to a large extent, the moneys col
lected for transportation service on
our lines are not withdrawn at all from
I tho Southern communities In which
they are collected. This can be dem
onstrated by an analysis of Southern
Hallway expenditures for the last fis
cal year. Such analysis shows that,
of everv dollar disbursed, 41.71 cents
went to tho payment of wages, sub
stantially all of which are paid along
1 the line of the road, and so remain
| in Southern banks, a disbursement
' which, for the Southern Railway prop
i er. averages about two million dol
| lars a month. The purchase of ma
! terials and supplies used 23.30 cents,
and. under our policy of buying as far
( as practicable from Southern people,
19 1 2 cents of this was expended in
' the South and only 4 18 cents in other
localities Miscellaneous operating ex
j pense* required 6.09 cents, all spent
! In the South. Taxes, all paid In the
' South, required 3.65 cents Interest,
1 rentals and other miscellaneous pay
j ment* accounted for 20.83 cent*, and
I the holders of the company's prefer
| red stock received 4 42 cents. It Ts un
fortunately Impracticable to determine
the proportion of interest and dlvl
! dends paid to Southern owners of
Southern railway securities. I witdi
it wan all paid to Southern people;
but. leaving these entirely out of ac
count. it is seen that at least 70 67
contx out of every dollar expended by
the Southern Railway remains in or ip
brought Into the South It may b? add
ed thai these figures do not take ac
I count of expenditures for additions and
betterments amounting last year to
i three millions and a half and in ten
i years to twenty-seven millions ot
which the major part, expended on
! roadway and structures, was practical
j ly ail paid out along the line of th*
I road We may then take it as esj
' tah'.lsbcd tha* what the Southern peo
pie p ay the Southern Hallway lines for ;
transportation remains a part of (In- i
working capital of tin* Southern poo ?
pie; but It Is interesting to pursue
the thought a step further t ti a real!-,
ballon of uhat flume disbursements hy
the Southern Hallway in the South
meim in the life and growth of the j
Southern people, Of the total of h?'V:
mityslx mtll Ioiih paid out along the |
Southern Hallway linen lust year ap
proximately forty-three million dollars'
went to the army of 69,000 employees :
and tltiiH, on tlx* conventional hams of
five to a family, directly supported j
about 205,000 Bout horn people, or)
ahout six and one-half times the pop
ulation of Chattanooga at the date of
tho lust census
I have spoken of our ipfefemd
sto< kholdei'H, hut tho real preferred
stockholders of the Southern Hail
way System, iu the matter of priority
of claim, are t lie pollticuj govern
ments of the State*, counties, and
cities along its lines. Their claim
upon railroad revenues comes ahead
even of that of employees, ami they
t'?ok $TI,7 4 3,704 HU in the last fiscal
year, It la bard to grasp the signifl
calico of (Inures as large as this
what our tax payments really mean
to the coniinunlt I<m along our lines
can he hotter understood hy an illus
trative analysis of our payments on
account of school tuxes and road and
bridge taxes In the southern states.
In l'JI2, our school taxes in these
states amounted to something over
$800,000, or an average of twenty
eight hundred dollars for each coun
ty traversed hy our lines. At the av
erage annual compensation of school
teachers in the Southern States as
reported hy the United States Bureau
of Education, this would more than
pay for ten teachers In each county
It represents $2.H4 out of every $100
of school taxes paid In these States
and amounts to fifteen dollars tor
each school building iu the States
traversed hy our lines. Every dollar,
paid to the Southern Hallway for
transportation charges thus Includes
a substantial contribution to tho
maintenance of the system of public
education in tho South.
PuymentB by Hi# Southern Hallway
System in the same year of taxes di
rectly assessed for public roads and
bridges amounted to $ 147,90?i.G3, or
an average of $1,571. til for each coun
ty along our lines, Kvery dollar paid
to the Southern Railway for transpor
tation charges thus includes also a
substantial contribution to the main
tenance ?f the public highways of the
South and is an indirect but none the
less real public support of the pro
gressive movement for good and. bet
ter roads.
I have referred to the impractica
bility of determining the amounts of
Interest and dividends paid to hold
ers of securities living along the line
of the road. We know, however, that
a large percentage of our population
have a very real though Indirect per
sonal interest in these securities even
though they may never have seen a
railroad bond or stock certificate.
There are few families in the South
who do not hold an insurance policy
of some sort; either an assurance on
life or against the risk of fire. The
invested funds of the great insurance
companies are, therefore, matter of
vital concern to the Southern people,
and in large measure, are their own
assets held in trust for their benefit.
We find that the chief insurance com
panies report their holding of securi
ties of the Southern Itailway 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 integri
ty of which depends upon the con
tinued 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 them a constant spur to protect
themslves by maintaining, as they
can and will, the basiB of Southern
Railway credit.
I assert with confidence that the
facts to which I have called your at
tention are full warrant for the claim
that in a very real sense the South
ern Railway belongs to the people of
the South; ho much so that its annual
reports might more properly be ad
dressed "To the People of the South"
to advise yon 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. our 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
more Southern men sitting on our
Hoard 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 is 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 the Southorn people to holp
it to become more and more their
efficient servant and at the same
time the object of their pride and af
fection They need have no fear of
it* future if it has their confidence.
1 trust you will pormit me to takf*
this occasion to nay finally a word
of a personal nature: i believe in the
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 an effort to realize a hi^h pur
pose of promoting the regeneration.
through Industry, of the prosperity |
jf tlily our bdovud motherland. 1
jiuvo not known iu my own experl
?nee the horrors either of the military j
conflict which loft our people
prostrate. or of the druury yearn of
political disability and atrophied am
oltlon which followed that groit war
jut^eon the states, in puc of the
,'hlof theaters o/ which wo aio to*
night, hut I know the Ultterneiui of
iIichu things iu tlio tri\ditlon of my
immediate family, and 1 have learned
from niy parents that there cup he
ait higher aspiration than to be a
;>art iu (Ik; realization of the ideals
of our Southern people. Facing the
future, I have then dedicated my life
to that duty and to identification with
Hut Southern; people. Many others
uuv?< done and are doing thin and 1
u.in proud to he of the company wh<ch
has acconipllHhed, through coopera
tion and KUHtaiiied effort, go much in
the last quarter of a century.
I am humbly grateful for the web
come the South haB given me to my
new opportunity for itu service. It
lias been such a welcome ub you
have given me tonight, cordial and
with <?v<?iy evidence of good will. My
hope Ih to jiiBtlfy this to those who
allow ni(5 their confidence, who are
willing to believe thut If we some
tlnicH fall it will not be through lack
of good intention or desire to do our
duty uh wo conceive it. I have no
pause of personal elation in the reali
sation today of an umhitlon eherlBhed
ever hIuco I entered the service 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 nerved under two
great men, Samuel Spencer, and Wil
liam Wilson Flnley, both men of action,
eager to accomplish, conscious al
ways of the Imperious summons of
today, and of tho warning of Eccle
tdasteB: "Whatsoever thy hand flnd
eth to do, do it with thy might.'' 1
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 they built, not only the Southern
Itailway, but the. South itself. In
this high endeavor, I am one of you,
my fellow countrymen, who are slml
arly engaged, and I appeal to you
as oo-workers far aid and co-opera
tion.
F< > UK< I A)SU H K S.\ I iK.
Stat? ofSouthOarollna
County of Kershaw
In the Court of Common Pleas.
Ij. A. WIt.koweky, Master for Ker
shaw County, Plaintiff
Against
Mittie 10. Truesdel, Fannie A. Watts
and L. Ij. Clyburn, Defendants.
Under and by virtue of a decree
of It. W. Memminger, Presiding
ludge, of date November 29, 1913,
In the above entitled cause, 1 will
*e'l at public outcry, to tho highest
oidder for cash, before the Court
House d or In Camden, S. C., during
-he legal hours of sale, ion the
f rat Monday In February next, be
i g the 2nd day thereof, the follow
ing described real estate:
AH that piece, parcel or tract of
land In Ke ehaw county, state afore
said, containing one hundred (100)
acr^o, more or less, bounded on the
North by Public Road leading to
Camden, on the East by lands of S.
J. T. Yonng, on the South by lands
of Hsnry Mann, and on the West
by lands of John R. and Camilla E.
Tr need el.
Term* of Mile cash
Lauren* T. Mills,
Special Master.
Camden, 8. C., Jan. IS, 1914.
Owe Word to Saint.
To 8t. Etheldreda we owe tho word
'tawdry." The saint knew no such
vord, but the origin of it Is clear
tnough. For St. Etheldreda was poj>
llarly known as St. Audry, and at St.
udry's fair were sold St. Audrey
laces, which In process of time became
clipped into "tawdry laces." Finally
:he new adjective was applied to any
finery of similar grade. The part
played by the "t" in "saint" Is exactly
that which has given us Tooley street
from St. Olaf. ? London Chronicle.
Wood's Celebrated
Grass and
Clover Seed
Mixtures
Are specially prepared for differ
ent soils and purposes. They
give the largest yields of
Hay and Pasturage.
Wood's 1914 Descriptive Catalog
gives the profitable and satisfactory ex
Eerience of farmers who for year* have
een lowing Wood'i Social Grasi
Mixture*, with the best permanent re
suits. Wood s Catalog also givea the
fullest information about all other.
Farm and
Garden Seeds.
Catalog mailed free. Write for it.
T. W. WOOD O SONS.
Seedsmen, - Richmond, V?.
TO THE PUBLIC
We ?wish to notify the public that the old estab?
lished Sam Wing Laundry will be managed hereafter
by W. S. Lee, and we still wish your patronage.
Laundry collected and delivered to all parts
of the city.
SAM WING LAUNDRY
, 915 /i Broad S?. Phone 91 Camden, S. C
Funerals Directed
We supply the best of burial goods, con
duct funerals and relieve families and
friends of many unpleasant duties ince
dent to death. We are always prepared
to serve those who need our service.
B. R. McCREIGHT, CAMDEN. S. C.
OXYGEN
CARBON CLEANER
We have installed an Oxygen
Carbon Cleaner and can make
your motor new like it was
when first bought.
ASK US ABOUT IT
? t
Camden Motor Co.
New Fancy Hand Laundry
My work is guaranteed tp give perfect satisfaction ?
am prepared to do your work promptly and at reasonable
prices. All domestic finish. 1 wish kind friends to help
me out and give me a trial order and be convinced.
WORK CALLED FOR AND DELIVERED
JIMMIE LEE, ? ?
CAMDEN, SO. CAR.
Chic, Becoming, Exclusive, Ultra Smart, Fashionable
These adjectives convey
but inadequately the ex
quisite beauty of the
Fall
Millinery
on display here.
YOU WILL FIND
that this establishment s reputation for the finest millin
ery is splendidly upheld by this Fall showing.
Very reasonable prices.
MISS MATTIE GERALD