, 1891-02-20
A GIGANTIC SCHEME.
lay Gould at Work on a Great
Combination.
He Hopes 10 Secure Control of the
Railroads
And Dictate the Business of the
Entire Country.

mental system Of railways extending from
the Atlantic TO the Pacific coast and from
the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with i'm
portant lateral branches tapping almost
every notable city in the Union, which is
now under process of formation by Jay
Gould, through his contemplated control
of the Baltimore & Ohio system, is beyond
a doubt the most important railway en-
terprise known in the history of the
world. Should Gould obtain control of
the great systems of railways which he
wants he will hold within his grasp the
control of almost, if not quite, $780,
OOO,O OF railroad property. Financial
men say that he will be the most power
full man in the country should this scheme
be consummated; In fact become the auto
cratic dictator of the destinies of the rail-
road world His will would be law and
his power TO crush out inimical rivals
absolute.
At present Gould owns and controls the
Missouri Pacific, with its thousands Of
miles of rail, and is credited with the con-
trolling voice in the Wabash railway, of
which his son George is a leading officer.
To complete his tr%anscontinentll system
he must control the Atchlsou, Topeka &
Santa Fe, the Richmond Terminal, with
its thousands of miles of feeders. and the
Baltimore & Ohio. The roads which
Gould now controls are the Union Pacific,
with S,057 miles of rail; the Missouri
Pacific, including the Iron Mountain. the
Little Rock & Fort Smith, the Missouri.
Kansas & Texas. the International &
Great Northern. the Texas 4 Pacific, the
st. Louis, Arkansas & Texas and the
Wabash, which is credited to him, max
ing a total of roads now controlled by him
the mileage Of which aggregates 20, 3I4
miles.
The roads which will fall into his hands
by the contemplated deal now considered
fully perfected are those in the system of
the Richmond & West Point Terminal,
including the Richmond K Danville sys-
TEN, the Central Railroad of Georgia. the
East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Gin
GLIDING the Cincinnati, Selma & Mobile
and the Rome & Decatur roads,, the
Memphis & Charleston, the Mobile &
Birmingham and the Cincinnati
Southern and the Alabama Great South
ern, making a total of 1859 miles;
the Baltimore & Ohio, 5Il miles in
length. will add its controlled lines, which
are the Cincinnati, Washington & Balti-
more. the Baltimore, Ohio & Southwest
ern, the Baltimore Belt railway, the Val
ley Railway of Ohio, the Akron & Chica-
go Junction railway, the Columbus & Gin
cinnati Midland, the Columbus 4 Oak
land, the PittsburR & Western Gust
p%urchased), the Monongahela River road
and the West Virginia & Pittsburg. with
a total of ! .456 miles. These two sys-
TENS. the Richmond Terminal and the
Baltimore & Ohio, control an aggregate
of s, 925 miles. Placed under the control
OF Gould he will hold in the palm of his
hand the operation of 90, 239 miles of
railroads, g%ridironiug the continent from
ocean to ocean, with outlets at all the
most important seaports, with connecting
links tapping all the important inland
cities, and lateral roads pouring their bur
dens of freight into the great lakes on the
north and the guilt on the south. In addi-
ton to this he obtains a direct connection
with the Mexican Central straight into
the capital OF the Mexican republic.
Some idea OF the gigantic proportions
OF this mammoth deal may be obtained
when it is known that there are only ISL.
900 miles OF operated roads in the United
States. and that by this consolidation one
man will control nearly one fifth of this
great network. His owe for the ma
nipulation OF stocks under this control
will be unlimited. it is claimed, and the
common world will be at his feet.