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Show CHALLENGES RIGHT TO MAKE INQUIRY President of Louisville & Nashville Railroad Objects to Interference in Political Activity. WASHINGTON, July 7. The right ' of the interstate commerce cumrnissiun to investigate political activities of railroads was challenged today by Milton Mil-ton II. Smith, previa en t of the Louisville Louis-ville & Nashville railroad, in his answer an-swer to the commission 's petition requesting re-questing tho DisT rict of Columbia supreme su-preme court to compel him to give testimony tes-timony rigarding its alleged campaign , contributions, 'the answer declared tin; coniinis.-iiou s investigation was entirely the result of personal animus of Senator Sena-tor Luke Lea of Tennessee and of an old controversy between tho senator .'-nd the railroad. The commission 'a petition was filed . several months ago when Mr. Smith, testifying in an inquiry instituted flt a result or a resolution introduced by Senator Lea in .1913, refused to answer questions as to. tho road's political relations. rela-tions. "The powers of the commission, which is a purely ministerial tribuual, are con-lined con-lined with few exceptions to the enforcement en-forcement of the action to regulate commerce, com-merce, and that act does not attempt to regulate the politics of carriers nor the subject of their attempting to exclude ex-clude competitors from their territories, terri-tories, ' ' says the answer filed today. The answer says that at the time the senate resolution under which Mr, Smith was questioned was introduced three years ago, Senator Lea, through his Nashville paper, was engaged iu an attack on the railroad "due to the fact that the railroad and its officials had declined to do for him what he had requested." re-quested." The resolution was adopted, Mr. Smith told the court, when only fourteen members mem-bers of the senate were present. , |