Wichita eagle., 1888-12-26
TRUSTS AND CONSOLIDATION.

Whispering, boys, trusts are The grea
panacea for all list which railroad
are heir"
The Standard oil company, by its alb
sorptIon of every smaller light, has pass
ed the realm of trusts and has entered
the wide domain and elysian fields Of
consolidation. 1t is in clover. Il
differ from Charles Francis Adams, ;
gentleman who was once mistaken fol
God Almighty, may be treason, or the
fool-hardiness of the bull that attempted
to knock an engine off Of the track, ye
nevertheless we differ, we kick, we rebel
Mr.. Adams says: 1.-The railroads are
moving toward great system of consol
idation. Capitalization has gone on fol
the last twenty years. The interstate
act is driving railroads toward con
solidation. l am sure that 6
great consolidated corporation car
be held to stricter accountability
than numerous smaller corporations
Under existing laws no one can be held
to On account. Delay at present thf
tendency to consolidate by repeating
those portions of the interstate act which
are pushing railroads on to consolida
ton"
The logic of the above quotation IS
first, That consolidation is desired; sec.
ond, That the law may restrain and pun
ish aggregated harmonious capital, reach
ing out thousands of miles where it can.
not now small capital and little milage.
The interstate act is pushing railroads
to the Utopian field of consolidation,
therefore those provisions Of the act that
will bring about the result should be re-
pealed.
Is Charles Francis Adams philoso-
pher, ''a money getter," statesman OF
railway manager? Does he speak for
the shipper or the carrier? Is he moved
thereunto by desire to increase divl-
bends, or is he moved by a desire to give
each and every part OF the country equit-
able rates under the interstate act?
The name of the Union Pacific railroad
and Charles Francis Adams are almost
synonymous in the west, Has this rail
road-this creature of law-obeyed those
provisions Of the interstate act, in those
plain provisions OF the law relating to
through freights? Has not Lincoln,
Neb., been in row with the Union Pa
cific and other Pacific railroads on &C
count of being charged same freight rate
as Omaha and local rate back: Is not
Wichita paying same rate, or almost
same, from the Pacific coast as Kansas
CITY, No, and local freight back to
Wichita? VIII consolidation or the re-
peal of the interstate act, or any clause
in it. bring to the west any practical re-
lief?
What has prevented consolidation? Is
i, Jack of loose laws, bereft Of provisions
protecting the states citizens after the
consolidation took effect? Every one
knows that the statutes OF nearly every
state have been framed to encourage
consolidation and leases and that no
wholesome provisions have been in
serted in the laws reserying
to the states Furnishing power
for overriding the people, in the en-
abling consolidation act.
Have not the liberal acts of legisla-
lures proved to be the curse of the various
states in relation to consolidation, and
leases?
Have not the parent roads" leased
Their IfIIeS u wcdh corporations and ire
sponsibie construction companies, and
have not they defeated the payment Of
claims by reason Of shifting Of the legal
Have not corporations, federal and
state. consolidated without any legal
and evaded the law?
Have not the provisions of the federal
prevented the states from
in any manner controlling commerce be-
tween the states, i. e., through traffic?
And is there any remedy except through
an interstate act, administered by COM
and regulated by law and
from time as wisdom dictates,
and its violation punished by fine and
The consolidation Of railroads
has been delayed, not be-
cause there was no enabling acts.
Not because it was not desirable
but because every railroad desired in its
haste and greed TO cover as much terri
tory as it could by main and branch
lines (branch lines built under local char
tiers: mortgaged; foreclosed; bought in
by parent road. All this that when the
time for general consolidation came, that
each great trunk and its limbs would
have large aggregated capital to put
into the new consolidated system and
draw out large blocks of
the consolidated stock.
The delay in consolidation has been
the railroads desire to postpone it until
each had giant system. If. however,
the various railroads could form a svs-
tenn complete, consultations would be-
come unnecessary.
Again, the gigantic mortgages over
these various systems have prevented
the meeting of the railway minds as to
the valuation to be placed on the various
4 railway, like a farmer, has
the best paying piece of property
and each desire to put III its system at
highest figure. One may be bonded light
and have good local freight and poor
through traffic. One may be bonded
heavily and have non-paying branches.
One may be bonded and have non paving
lines throughout--one may have watered
itself to bankruptcy.
Any one can see at a glance that to
merge all these varied systems into one
Or twenty demands wisdom. great con-
eessions and time, if not foreclosures by
wholesale. These are the causes that
have prevented consolidation. not the
Interstate act" The act may be urg-
ng them on, but if it is it is on the prin-
,iple of the boy who is urged to leave an
apple orchard by a dog after he has got
he fruit. and complained to the owner
hat he was going to leave after little.
For railroads, who have year by year
state legislatures to grant them
more ample powers 10 consolidate and
ease and who have found the laws en-