The Portland daily press., 1873-02-21
What Consolidation Leads To

10; 4 Last week the railroad committee of the
Massachusetts, Legislature gave hearing to
Charles Francis Adams, Jr., and certain
others who propose that the State shall buy
and operate the lines leading to the, now
81 almost completed Hoosac Tunnel Mr..
Adams and his associates claim that it will
u only be necessary for the State to own one
81 trunk line, in order to reduce and regulate
passenger and freight tariffs on all the rest.
:. They point to the admirable results of the
competition between the government and
private roads in Belgium as proof of the wis
dom of the course proposed. 1t is well
known to persons acquainted with railroad
" literature that Mr.. Adams is the leader OF
tdschool which believes that it is useless to OPP
pose the tendency toward consolidation ion. that
Is Observable in all parts of the country, ana
bath at the evils of such consultations are 70 oe
avoided by the States assuming control OF
the resulting overgrown monopolies. The
ablest advocates of ex-governor MorrilPs
i scheme for nj "amalg amation" last winter
8 had OF RECOURSE to what we may call
'sssthe Adams doctrine, to support
! 1t. y, Their line of argument was this:
SIT can't be helped. Railroads must and will
combine. In that way they gain great deal
= in point of both. economy and efficiency.
az There is unity of purpose and a definite
responsibility / arising from consolidation
which rebounds to the advantage of the pub
! licas well as the roads themselves. If mo-
Il nopoles of an oppressive character are the out
- growth of the system, why the State must
interfere take control of the trunk lines and
!, run them by means of its own officers"
al These views prevailed, or at any rate the
"a "amalganation' was authorized leaving it to
be inferred that the roads accepted with it
I the theoretical views by which alone their
~ union could be justified But not content
with the results OF last winters eff
forts the combination Of roads known
II as i the Maine Central now wishes to
. form "a more perfect union. The loose !
's confederacy proving in some respects unsatis-
!. factory, they want centralized organization. 4
y So they apply for consolidation pure and
q simple, and the good-natured railroad COM
a rnittee has readily given its assent. Ofcourse
the Legislature will not long delay giving its
sanction to an arrangement long since virtu-
ally consummated without its assent and in
i the face of its direct prohibition. The
/ Maine Central is now wor h perhaps fifteen
o million dollars, and with the roads to which
It Is 80 closely allied as to. constitute practi
cally the same line with them, great deal,
,n more than that large sum. Let those who
s are not,afraid of consolidation because they
= believe they have a remedy at hand by which
), all possible danger is to be avoided, beware
. lest the monopoly gain such giant proportions
q as to defycontrol.a Of course. any proposition
= p to take possession of the railroads involves
the, idea Of paying a good price for them.
Il Now in order to pay the fifteen or twenty or
= thirty millions that may finally be the value
of the Maine Central, it will be necessary to
II have an amendment to the constitution. The
State debt cannot be increased by even a
Il small fraction of that amount without such
an amendment. With the present experience
4 which we possess in regard to the power of
railroads over legislatures who can suppose
that the Maine Central would permit the
State to take such step without its consent
c. And if the managers of the road should final
, ly consent to the arrangement, we may be
certain that they would cause their property
to be paid for at an exorbitant rate. Which
8 would be the wiser policy-to place proper
restrictions On roads while they have not pas
= sed beyond the period Of control, or to wait
4 till they can dictate their own terms I'd