St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-07-25
The Vanderbilt Monopoly.

The election of Commodore Wander
bilt to the presidency of the Lake Shore
and Michigan Southern Railway marks
another step in the gradual consolida-
ton of our great railroad and financial
enterprises. Starting from Chicago,
the metropolis of the Northwest, and
the greatest grain depot i'll the world,
the Lake Shore Railway, running
through country which has been set
tied for two generations of men, drains
the rich peninsula between the lakes.
and connects the pOpulOus towns of the
south shore of Lake Erie with the rail
way system of the East. At Buffalo it
connects with the extensive system of
railroads which Mr.. Vanderbilt has con-
solidated within the past few years un-
der the title of the New York Central
and Hudson River Railway, and which
drain the best counties of New York
from Lake Erie to Westchester. Add
ing to the Central and Hudson the Har-
lem, which is now operated under a
perpetual lease, Mr.. Vanderbilt thus
controls 2l5O miles of railway, consti-
tuting the main line between the West
and the sea-board, and the chief outlet
of such cities as Chicago, Toledo,
Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Syra-
cuse. Utica, Lockport, Schenectady,
Troy, Albany, Hudson, Poughkeepsie,
and the other riverside towns. The
property which he thus administers is
represented on the Stock Exchange by
securities equal to S2l5.OOO, 900. and its
gross income last year was not less than
forty five millions of ofdollars-more than
the whole income of the United States
government few years ago.
1t is impossible to contemplate this
vast aggregation of money power and
commercial control in the hands of one
man without feeling concern for the re-
suit. Neither military, nor political,
nor commercial supremacy can he push
ed beyond certain limits without dan
ger. 1t would seem as though the lin
it in this case had been reached. Yet,
not content with the mastery of 2l5O
miles of railway, involving in large
degree tho control of the internal trade
of the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
and New York, it is well understood
that in October next. at the annual
election of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company. the Commodore will
enter into possession of that great prop
erty likewise, with its sixty or seventy
thousand miles of wires. its forty mill
ions of capital. and its eight or nine
millions of revenue When this occurs.
not only will the commerce of the four
chief States of the North he subject To
Mr.. Nanderbilt-under such feeble re-
striction as our Legislatures may i'm
pose but the whole telegraphic CORE
nft tha will nl,AN- hi
law. lie may prescribe not only what
shall he the price of IL barrel of flour in
New York. but also when, how, and at
what cost citizens NAV communicate
with each other by telegraph.
OF course he will he subject to legis-
lative control. What that will amount
To we all know. In the past no Legis-
lature in this State has ever dared to
heard him. He will he bold man.
indeed, who attempts to do so now,
when his resources are so unbounded
and his power SO far-reaching. 1t was
said that the late James Fisk. Jun.
who controlled paltry $50 miles of
Erie. rnnning through a half-scttled
country, could on an emergency bring
5000 votes into the field. AT how
many votes. then. must we reckon the
master of 2I5O miles of railway through
Il thickly settled country. and 10000
miles of telegraph! 1t is, moreover.
one thing to pass laws, and quite an
other to execute them against a man
fertile in resource, energetic in action.
obstinate in combat, and incXhaustiblc
in purse. We have some fine laws pre-
Scrihing the rate of fare of the Central
and Hudson, but every traveller knows
that if he would he comfortable he
must pay thirty to forty per cent. eX-
ira for seat i'll a drawiug-room car.
! If, again, the concentration of these
great enterprises in one grasp were
! likely to he attended with a reduction
of the cost of travel and the burden OF
trade, or if it insured improved facili-
ties to keep pace with the develop
ment of the country, these would be
redeeming features i'll the Vanderbilt
regime. But great as Mr.. Vanderbilt
undoubtedly is rs a railway manager.
his greatness shows itself not in in
creased facilities for travel and trade,
but wholly and altogether in economy
of administration. He makes money
by saving it. Economy is his watch
word, his motto. 1t was by new econ
omies, he said in his letter accepting
the presidency of the Lake Shore, that
he hoped to set that company on its
legs. 1t is by economy that he makes
Erastus Corning or Henry Keep could
railway administration is admirable
from the stockholders point of view.
1t is not so good for the traveller. If it
means, as some evil-disposed critics OF
the Vanderbilt regime pretend, filthy
cars, wretched stations. general discOm-
fort, and decreased instead of increased
accommodation, the prospect of its in
definite extension is not likely to over
whelm the public with delight. 1t
would, of course, be childish to expect
Commodore Vanderbilt or any one else
to run railroads from philanthrOpic mo-
tives or as charitable Institutions. He
runs them to make money, and for no
other purpose. This being the case,
and such being his policy, it is not sur
prising, considering how extensively
railways control commerce, govern
prices, and influence our closest inter
ests, that people should feel nervous at
the news of this Great Economist cap
turing another thousand miles of rail
way, and stretching out his long hand
to grasp all the telegraph wires in the
country. 1t is probably unfair to
grudge the Central stockholders Their
dividends. But people who are not SC
fortunate as to belong to that happy
class can not he blamed for remember
ing that the Central and Hudson prop
erty, which is now made to pay divi-
dends on SlI5,OOO, 900, was represented