Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-11-20
The santa re,. rrt.nnIon.

There are three great lines in operation
between Kansas City and Chicago, with
another, the Chicago, Milwaukee & 81
Paul, IN process Of construction, and still
another, the Chicago 6 Northwestern likely
20 bebult, says the Railway Age. AT In.
tcrVals for two years or more, IL has
been known that the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe company was
seriously contemplating the extension Of
It's great system from tho Missouri river
TO Chicago by line which would be
shorter than any OF the others, a. which
would be the most Important In ts re-
suits OF al the existing or pros.
pectiye lin between these points,
Tor the reason that II would
carry the vast business received
and delivered by the great system of that
company already In operation between
the Missouri river and the Pacific coast
and Mexico, aud soon 10 have iermi.
nus on the gulf The Atchlson, Topeka
4 Santa Fe company has reached such a
position OIL Importance and independence
that II is not strange that
ita managers should seriously con
template this extension. Several plausi-
Bile arguments can he urged for the move
ment, II can he claimed that the Through
business Of the Atchlson system alone
would support an indeper dent line from
the Missouri river TO Lake Michigan.
while the local business, which would
certainly be developed i'm time.
would furnish considerable net profit
II may also be urged that while tho
AtohlsOn company could doubtless make
contract with one or more Of the exist
lug lines, traffic contracts are often very
unsatisfactory, and can generally be
broken without much difficulty when IL
becomes the interest OF either party TO
end them, and that ere lorg the Atchison
company might lind the arrangements
which II had made unsatisfactory
and Improbable, while la the
meantime It's competitors had lntrenched
themselves In It's territory and Il had lost
the opportunity of securing It's own line
TO Chicago, az least on as favorable terms
AZ those on which It could now build
Then, too, the natural ambition OF the
managers OF great system like the Atchi.
SON To complete IL ana secure a
through and Independent line from the
lakes 10 the ocean and the gulf, giving il
position from which II could dictate
terms, II necessary, to its competitors,
aud eyeq cut loose from the compiled.
lions between the roads east and west OF
the Missouri river which now exist, would
ma urnlly have a strong influence In de,
Gliding the question.
90 the other hand, however, the cues.
ton arises whether the Atchison company
could not in lieu Of building $50 miles Of
new road, through region already we'll
supplied with railways, secure results
which ON the whole would be as adyau.
tageous, by making arrangements with
existing lines, The Chicago, Rock Island
Pacific company Is now vigorously
pushing extensions into the limits
OF the Atchison company In Kansas. and
hence arrangements which might perhaps
have been made with the former not long
ago are now evidently out of the oues.
ton, The two existing Chicago and
Kansas city lines are the Chicago & Alton
aud the Chicago, burlington 4 Quincy
The former terminates at the Mis-.
souri, river and doubtless would
be glad TO make favorable traffic
arrangement with the Atchisou company,
but Il the latter should build to Chicago
the Alton would probably feel compelled
TO push into the Atchison territory. Pos.