The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1870-04-26
THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN

The 1Stockholder, of New York. believes
that the recent contest tor the control Of
this company mas terminated, and that the
person who now holds the balance OF power
and will dictate the management ofthe road
after the June elections Is Mr.John F. Tracy,
President of the Chicago, Rock Island Il
Pacific Company.
1t has besn reported several times that
Mr. Tracy and his friends were buying
largely OF Northwestern stock, butt has not
been easy TO understand in what way the
Rock Island Company would be especially
benefited BY owning the Northwestern,
which mas nearly twice the amount OF mil
cage, and for the most part runs through %
different territory, and completes with the
Rock Island only at two points-Rock Is
land and Council Bluffs.
Such al absorption of the greater by the
less-s swallowing OF the whale oy Jonah
people have not easily believed yet of course
II was By no means impossible. Ii only
needed a long purse aud pluck. Mr.. Tracy s
friends certainly have plenty of the latter,
and we do not know that they have not the
former.
If such is the case we may cousid-
1t certain that the Milwaukee L
St. Paul road will be again a competing
line with the Northwestern, and that both 1t
and the Northwestern will suffer for want OF
come lions which are now sufficiently pro
vided By their co operation.
The Northwestern would suffer chiefly for
want OF Minnesota connection BY rail.
which IL needs in order to reach the WiBOna
4 St. Peter Railroad, and for Minnesota
business generally. 1t would be compelled
10 depend upon river steamers running from
Fulton in connection with it's Air Line, aud
submit. to the dIctstions of the Milwaukee
Com pany with respect to ST. Paul passenger
business. The Eastern Connection" from
Winoua would be comparatively vslueless,
and necessity would probably compel it to
build the proposed air line from Madison
northwestward
The Milwaukee, & St. Paul has now @
very compact system of lines, all of which
reach Milwaukee without interruption. But.
unfortunately for it, Milwaukee is not the
final destination of the freight and passen
gers which it carries TO the lake. These, for
the most part, go further East, most OF the
grain BIZ lake, as well as it would from any
other lake port but most of the passengers
and much Of the lighter freight must go
BY rail. A fraction of these not
q large one-crosses the lake to Grand
Haven and thence goes by the Detroit
Milwaukee. But the larger part prefer al
all rail route. This can only be found by
going to Chicago, and the only way from
Milwaukee to Chicago by rail ia over the
Chicago & Northwestern. Once here, three
or four lines are anxious to forward it's
shipments. The question is how to get here.
AS it controls the Northwestern connee-
tons with St. Paul and Minnesota, so the
Northwestern controls its connections with
Chicago and the East. That an agreement
to serve each other would be mutually
profitable is doubtless true; that such an
agreement will be made IS hardly probable;
and If made, each line would distrust the
other and feel insecure in its power
so we might see the Milwaukee d St
Paul constructing q new line from the north
into Chicago, while the North western was
pushing an extension toward Minnesota
The latter line Is, or soon will be, needed
the former, if direct would be superfluous
One line between Chicago and Milwaukee
can do four times the business that now
exists. OF course the construction Of new
extensions would be limited by the sbiii,y
of the com panies, and 1t would seem bold
policy to commence such works on large
scale so long as the earnings make no better
showing than at present.