St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-18
ST. PAUL THE TERMINAL.

An exceedingly interesting feature of
the proposed reorganization of the
Northern Pacific railroad is the first
proposition laid down in the following
terms: "The abandonment Of Chicago
as the Eastern terminal, and the limi-
tation of the railway on the east by
the Mississippi river and the great
lakes For great many years there
has been dangled before the eyes Of the
| people of st. Paul from time to time,
as occasion demanded a scarecrow,
the threat that this, that or the other
railway scheme would be carried
! through which should result in the
formation of a through line from Chi
| cago to the Pacific coast, leaving st.
Paul in the position of mere way sta
| ton. Perhaps no other possibility has
| excited as much alarm at different
! times in the breasts of those who are
anxious for the future growth of this
| city as this chance. Many Of them
have actually overlooked the fact that
! the commanding commercial position Of
this city was fixed by nature and not
! by man, and have had nightmare vis-
ions of business passing hastily in
transit through this center to and from
other distributing points, leaving us
with only local interests to care for
and activities to rely upon.
This possibility has now been elm
! mated for all time to come. The declar-
alton of the reorganization scheme,
| which we have quoted above, is not
| merely a part of an abstract policy
agreed upon as wise, but it is a con-
clusion which has been reached as the
| result Of practical experience 1t has
all the force of the affirmation of a
! law of nature; for those who are in
! terested in the Northern Pacific have
already seen the contrary experiment
tried. One of the most elaborate and
| expensive operations of former
| Northern Pacific management was the
acquisition of a line to Chicago by
! the control of the Wisconsin Central
| road, and the provision there of ample
terminal facilities. The whole plan was
carried out almost regardless of ex-
pense, and nothing was left undone
that could have insured success had
| success been possible. The scheme
was an utter failure from the first, as
| cerned. The railway management
! found no advantage in the extension of
their transcontinental line to Chicago.
! On the contrary, they found as they
had been told beforehand that they
would, that it actually operated against
| them. By competing for business be-
tween Chicago and ST. Paul, they were
less able to secure their share of the
transcontinental traffic brought to st.
Paul by independent lines. The policy
united the field against them.
| No small share of the disasters which
the Northern Pacific company has un-
dergone was due to this very expert
ment which has demonstrated. for all
time to come, that the natural and
necessary terminal points of any
northern transcontinental system are,
| as now stated, the Mississippi river and
! the great lakes. st. Paul holds the
same position with relation to the
transcontinental business on the
north that st. Louis does on the south.
and has the same natural command
of the territory lying to the west that
| Chicago has over the business of the
great central district of this country.
The statement and acceptance of this
by the far-sighted and experienced men
who have in charge the reorganiza-
ton of the Northern Pacific, who have
studied all the problems of the situa-
| ton, and who have no bias in favor
of or against any particular locality,
settle the question finally. The rail
road business of the enormous empire
that stretches from the Mississippi
river to the Pacific ocean and from the
British possessions to the line of the
Union Pacific system will have for
ever its eastern terminal at st. Paul.