The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-08-02
Still Working on Northern Pa
cific Consolidation But
THE INTERSTATE coMMERcEAcT
May Interfere With Its COnsumma-
tion as Well as the COnstitu-
tiOn of Montana.


the United States are stiH wrestling with
th, nrohiar, ~ tho consolidation 80 .ho
Hreat Nortnerh auu Northern tac4hc rail-
roads, and that Mr. Hill still feels con-
fident of success is evidenced by the fol-
lowing special dispatch sent from New
York July 26th:
Further conferences were held today
between different Northern Pacific reor-
ganization interests, including the Adams
committee, ]. j. H!ll and ]. p. Morgan e.
Co. Three plans are under consideration,
in all of which the terms of exchange Of
securities are practically the same. The
point on which they differ is the nominal
form In which the agreement between
the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
shall be effected. Under one plan the
two roads could be made nominally de-
pendent upon short road Of about a
dozen miles, owned by Mr. Hill, which
connects them The two other plans are
practically the London plan unchanged.
No official announcement could be Sc,
cured, though the interests agreed in
saying that the plan would be soon virtu-
ally settled upon in all details"
That ]. Pierpont Morgan, the leading
bond dealer and banker of New York
has lent himself to the scheme Is in Itself
proof that every means will be utilized
10 consummate the deal. That gentleman,
noted for his conservative and successful
business management, never enters upon
an undertaking without first having care
fully considered all the pros and cons of
the proposition and is undoubtedly pre-
pared to throw the weight of his great
influence into the breach for the success
of the combination Notwithstanding the
great minds engaged on the proposition.
and the fact that they believe It TO he
for the best interests of the two proper
ties involved, there Is still a question of
right and equity involved which Il rev
be well to consider.
"A prominent railroad man of Portland,
recently here, says that he believes that
not only are the laws of Montana, Wash
lngton and Minnesota opposed to the
consolidation, but that 1t win be found
that the United States laws are also
against 1t, Looking at the matter from
cne standpoint, MO doubt the consolida-
ton would be of immense advantage to
the two corporations. An army Of ex-
pensive employees would be dismissed,
millions of dollars in operating expenses
saved and millions of dollars earned be-
cause of the lack of cutthroat competi-
tion. There are certain conditions under
which such a combination of railroads
might be operlted with profit 10 their
owners and with justice to the public,
but would they be so operated after the
gigantic combine was formed? Would
the temptation of piling up great profits
be kept In check SO that the interests of
the public would be served I'M equity and
justice? The history of the old Iowa
Trunk Line and Tr.partite pools would
rather point to the reverse. Proper conf
petition Is the life of all business and
the lack of 1t in railroad service is the
injury OF the people. That corporations
have no souls Is truhsm that needs no
comment, and railroad officers seemingly
at times are as soulless as the companies
they serve. The franchise of eminent do
main granted railroad corporations makes
them in q measure amenable to the will
of the people, and while there is no one
but desires to see the railroads make
good earnings, as the general prosperity
Of the country depends largely upon their
prosperity, because they permeate every
community, and every branch of business
under modsrn methods is more or less
based on TRANSFORMATION, vet there are
limits which must he observed.
The Northern Pacific is one of the
land grant roads, with whose history ALI
are familiar. Without entering into de-
tails, suffice 1t TO say that It received
millions of acres of the most valuable
land In the West, and many have thought
that had that property been properly
handled a receivership, even in these
hard times, would not have been neces-
sary.
Be that as II may, the public has a
right TO expect that the provisions OF
its existence as an Independent public
carrier be carried out. A court of equity
would probably take this view, to say
nothing Of the conflict with the state con-
stitution of Montana alone, which pro-