New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-08-28
THE RAILROAD PEACE.
MR.. pEpEw ON IT'S BENEFITS.
rroRyEY-GENERAL cAssIDYs iILooionn
WHY TIE WEST SHORE BECAME nN+
trv TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIpuSE' :,

srr;,,ol of Marvin Hughitt, general mahaeo' y.
Ch,oo,,o and Northwestern, and w. L. ooo'e'
pon,svlvania. and Others Ihere mas o0o -.
sareral conference to-day, but the oinooi' -
sa,,ors railroads here have met anu .v
~arsAa with each other on tne 9"ee,so.. 9".s-
lst,,ement of difficulties to rates sne o'ne'
s,,s..;.ns The officers of the Chi cago anu No,'p
srastcrn will have special meeting on oa'uiua
Tba general impression here is that 'no p. n,'oa.
,o,. fsrence will be followed soon py 'ho &c
wsot that q satisfactory a1raheo"ons of
h'ch' Gov fbe settlement OF
~ difficulties between the uunn
As The Northwestern Railroad now cohuo,' % nn.
iorts Of the stock OF the oiii"h"
olida;ion is anticipated. 49, yorl,
'l,,,s,, ,oov NJ. Depeg. president Of the New-ioIA
,,,n,~s Railroad. was asked by The TRIBUNE cor
,sn,, ent tonight what he thought oil the ac'ioii
ss s,tapey General Cassidy of Pennsyivanla' ~
h,;noip = a sujt TO prevent the sale OF tne ,""'A
paon.yIvania and Beech Creek roads TO the feha-
srlyaoia Railway Company. In reply. speaking win
s,,as aliberatjon NJ, Depew said {" Twenty-seVen
nm ,te 10 build a railroad and they 90 IL
Pm the solo object of making money. Ihey nave
-, N, rtally completed road when sevep -'ehth'
,s t,,an, decide that they would like to part WIN
- interest in the enterprise and all 1hey n"'0
70 sell is o charter, lou Vi ho''o :"
agound, some culverts, some grau'"s
@ partially purthased right OF way lhoy nav
no bridges equipmentsor any OF the paiapiioi ""i"
81 q railroad. The Attorney General steps IN the
dav before the Democratic State Convention meo's
and asks for an Injunction to restrain these gentle
men from selling their interest to the Pennsylvania
Railroad. the oaly person capable OF ouying
ON tho ground that these sundry
bolcs IN the ground are rival and competing lihe'
Tie nroposes to make the State OF Pennsylvania say
IN snch of these gentlemen as do not want TO keep
or complete their interest In the enterprise .na'
they shall not sell out To be ioglcal the o'a'e
oupht TO saw that they shall go on build and
eoulo the road. and that 1t will guarantee them
against any loss on the transaction.
.'rhe Reach Creek is completed coal roadab on
100 miles long which brings out bitumlnous coaI
from Clearfcld County. The practical result Oh
The Auorney-GeneraPs snit would be 10 prevent
the people who built the road from selling IL IL
tbov found that it would be better for them TO
rart with this property than TO attempt 10 run IL.
So that tue sale of road not one-thrd
bu;lt and coal line 100 miles long is the whole
foundation for the present political mysteries III
Pennsylvania 1t is fair to presume that 1t any
laws have been violated or outrages committed
against tho ConmnDwea or its Constitu-
ton. that the public officers whose duty
H. Ia to protect the interest OF
the State would have moved IN the matter without
tho importunate urging they have received from
tncir narty convention. Any other construction
docs great Injustice to gentlemen for whose integ-
rity and ability have the greatest respect"
"Can anything be accomplished by the SUIT u
.sNothing could be accomplished by 1t. My
opinion as a lawyer is there is no ground Tor such
an action and that 1t will be 80 held by the courts
"What prospect is there for an early settle
l.nd
everything" he said "as tending to asettlemeht
of the railway wars. It IS fair to look from the
costly experience of tho last few years to
70 nm adjustment of differences. upon
principlcs sufficiently sensible aud business
like 10 survive tho disturbances aud depressions
which have hitherto broken up tho make-shitt ar
rangements which under one name or another nave
characterized the temporary conditions OF peace or
truce in the railroad world. There seems to he
considerable misapprehension as 10 tho sette-
ment of these wars and disturbances. Inc condi-
tion of the West Shore and the conflict between the
trunk lines have been the great cause OF the industrial
depression for the past two years. Railroad secur-
ities represent such enormous volume or invest
ment funds that when .thcy arc seriously
affected credit is generally impaired, confidence
destroyed and business damaged. III tho present
efforts to secure harmonious action among
turn from the investments arc successful
we shall Immediately enter upon new era OF pros
perlty The hundreds OF millions of idle money now
in banks OF trust companies will flow out
into investment and development all over the
country New enterprises will be projected. manu-
facturers will become prosperous and !aborcrs ma
abundant employment at good wages. Inc rali-
way commissioners in the several Slater with
the strongest laws regulating transportation com
panics and the certainty of some action by Congress
with reference to interstate commerce and the
natural competitions of lakes, rivers, canals Cana
dian roads and competitive outlets to rival markets
make monopoly in transportation Impossible The
day has passed when monopoly in transportation Is
possible or when railroad companies can
earn moro than moderate return on
their capital. Take the West Shore Railroad.
which was IN every respect well built railroad.
1t demonstrates that not even the
shrewdest of investors understand tho
railroad problem. 1t was argued by the
peopo who put their money In 1T that 1t could
divide the business of the New-York Central and
mako a handsome profit. In their enthusiasm they
failed to Ascertain that the New-iork Central
carried passengers cheaper tLan any other road IN
tie world that its local freight rates lower than
on any other road in the United States and that
whatever complaints there may have been in the
past, and there undoubtedly were great many
complaints at the time tie West Shore road was
projected the patrous of tho Central were entirely
satisfied
They did not discover another very important fac
tor in building road which creates no new busi-
ness but simply divides the business of road al
ready built and that is that it costs on the average
20 cents ont Of every dollar TO operate railroad.
If you build another road simply to divide that bus
iness il costs 14J cents every dollar received 20
do the business The old road. which has the
branches and the customers, will retain the bust.
ness or most of il, while the one will be losing
two dollars for every dollar it gets hence the West
Shore Inad Mas mining hehnd the Inere cost of