St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-10-05
GREAT NORTHERN ANSWER TO
THE ATTORNEY GENERALS
ACTION.
IT WAS SERVED YESTERDAY.
LENGTHY REASONS GIVEN WHY
THE DEFENDANT DEMANDS
JUDGMENT
SOME MORE HISTORY GIVEN,
What the Proposed COnsOIidatiop
of the Roads Sought to Ac-
cOmplish.
Attorney General Childs was serves

Attorney General Childs was serveA
yesterday afternoon with a copy Of
the answer of the Great Northern
Railway company to the complaint
of the attorney general on behalf of
the state in the injunction suit to
restrain the railroad company from
carrying out the scheme for control
of the Northern Pacific The attor-
neys whose names are attached to
the document are M. D. Grover,
Davis, Kellogg & Severance and E.
P. Sanborn. The answer refers to
the various acts of the legislature
under which the company was organ
lied, the original company having
been the st. Cloud Railroad COM
pany, which changed its name in
1889 to the Great Northern. 1t then
refers to the law under which the
old st. Paul, Minneapolis & Mani
toba Railroad company was organ
lied, and its property having been
leased to the defendant in February,
1890, all the lines so leased being
enumerated; that prior to Jan. 1,
1894, the defendant company issued
preferred capital stock to the amount
of s25, ,O0O,OOO.
The several acts of congress under
which the Northern Pacific COM
pany was organized and built its
road are next referred to, and the
different lines are enumerated; that
the company issued capital stock
to the extent of upwards of $50, ,000,-
600 and different classes of bonds to
the extent of upwards of s121, ,OOO, 900,
and that on action on behalf of the
bond holders receivers were ap-
pointed for the property. Continu-
ing, the answer sets up that:
1.-The line of railway of said Manito-
ba Railway company, now controlled
and operated by defendant, as lessee,
and herein for convenience called de-
fendant's line, extends from St. Paul
to Seattle. or to a connection with
Seattle, large and prosperous city
on Puget sound. 1t does not extend
to Winnipeg, in Canada, or to Tacoma,
and many other points in the state
of Oregon, all of which are reached
by the line of railway of the Northern
Pacific company. Defendants line ex-
tends to the boundary line between
the United States and Canada at
Neche and st. Vincent, and said lines
were constructed to said points with a
view of connecting with a railway
conducted by the Canadian Pacific
Railroad company, and by means of
such connection of reaching business
in the city of Winnipeg, in Canada,
and obtaining traffic, both passenger
and freight, from and to said city and
other Canadian points.
CANNOT BUILD CERTAIN
BRANCHES.
"At the present time it cannot ac-
Quire the right to construct an extern
sion of its line of railway from St.
Vincent and Neche to Winnipeg or
other Canadian points, and it has no
means of reaching or sharing in the
traffic of the city of Winnipeg and 9TH
er tributary points, except by connec-
ton with the line of railway owned
and controlled by the Canadian Pa
cific company, and under an arbitrary
division of earnings and upon onerous
terms and conditions, temporary in
their character. 1t would operate to
the advantage of the defendant and Of
the public by increasing its traffic and
earnings with a slight increase of
present expenses if it could obtain the
right to move its passenger and
freight and bill and route its freight
and passengers over the line of the
Northern Pacific Railroad company to
Winnipeg and other points in Canada.
which are reached by the line of said
Northern Pacific company, by way of
existing functions and convenient con-
nectionS
1T cannot acquire such right by way
of its present connection with the Cam
adian Pacific Railroad company, or un-
der existing circumstances, upon rea-
sonable and fair terms.
Tacoma and Portland are prosper
GUS cities and important shipping
points for maritime commerce upon
the Pacific ocean, and afford a large
traffic to the different transportation
lines, by rail and water, with which
they are connected. The city of Port
land is. next to San Francisco. the
largest city upon the Pacific coast.
and an enormous business is transact
ed in connection with the transporta-
ton of wheat, flour and food prod
ucts, and in the importation of tea
and other Asiatic products in said
cities, an such traffic will greatly in
crease as the city grows in popula-
ton and wealth. There are MANY
points of junction between the line
of the defendant and the line of the
Northern Pacific Railroad company in
Minnesota, Montana and elsewhere.
A right secured to defendant of NOV
ing its freight and passengers. or
through billing and routing of freight
and passengers, by way of such iunc-
uons and connecting points, to Win
nipeg, Tacoma, Portland and other
points on the line of the Northern
Pacific railroad not reached by de-
fendant's line would greatly facilitate
the movement and cheaper the cost
of handling traffic and in many ways
operate to the profit and advantage
OF the defendant and the public. es-
pecially in connection with shipments
of lumber coal, minerals and like
classes of commodities.
Defendant expects and proposes to
make an arrangement by which it can
reach the cities of Tacoma and Port
land, and other points in WASHINGTON
and Oregon, and share in the traffic
afforded by them, which, at the pres
ent time, 1T cannot do, and which it
cannot do. in the future unless its line
of railway is extended, or it can make
a reasonable arrangement to that end,
in connection with the Northern Pa
ciffc Railroad company. An extension
of defendants line to Portland would
require the construction of nearly 200
miles of railway, and to reach Tacoma
and other points, in Washington, and
Portland, and other points in Oregon,