New-York tribune., 1901-02-03
financial.
The Financial World.

cifc had been purchased in the interest," a, -
Union Pacific. it was generally received vvt,h a.
creduIity: simply because the operation So
too gigantic for what appeared to be s,,cb -
and easy accomplishment If the St PAM -
could be hung up as it has been. how much ~
likely was it that even greater operation, ronSs
be carried on concurrenty with that bus;ra-
and scarcely whisper Of it get out until -.
thing was accomplished? But these are the aavs
OF the giants Nothing is too big to find a nm.
chaser, provided the seller can deliver IN b,r.
This was the case with the Southern Pacific a.
was not with the ST. Paul If ST. PauI ,,oa.
were held in bulk as was Southern Pacific ~
chase would be easy. 1t is the diverse ovvn.r
ship which has obstructed the completion a, -.
deal whereas with the Southern Pacific nr.o
ticaliy only two owners had to be cons,I+as
the Huntington holders and the Speyers vb.u
agreement was reached with one. the other s,,
sented, and the transaction was closed
This Is the biggest thing Of the kind in ~.
railroad history OF the country. It was for.
shadowed in the statements made shortly &C.
Mr.. Huntington died, that his death vvouI5 -,
to rearrangements Of the Pacific Coast rai,-o~1
system Of the most far reaching kind. ThA 49,
move in this direction was the compara+n,.I,.
small one OF transfer Of control Of the Pasta.
Mail Steamship Company. At the time this ua,
done. Northern Pacific stock was already an a..
way up under the big buying Of the Norrar-
Hill interests, who were preparing the St Paul
deal
Through control Of the Southern Pacific tha
Union Pacific becomes one of the largest railroad
systems in the world or rather a combined rail-
road and steamship system There are Soma
$4,000 miles Of railroad; two Pacific Ocean Ina,
and an Atlantic Coast Iine running from Nav,
York to New Orleans and Galveston The orfgt
nal transcontnental read. from Omaha to oedar
and thence to San Francisco, becomes altar
thirty-two years from construction, one sinpIa
line, instead Of the original two-Uniou ard
Central Pacific. The Southern Pacific svstan,
was the later creation OF the men who rads
their money in building and operating the Can-
tral Pacific, which they then attached by leasa
TO the Southern.
There will be no formal consolidation Of ths
Union and Southern Pacific systems. They ara
too big. Ten or twenty years from now, it nav
be possible to work consolidated system OF
fifteen twenty thousand miles Of road with
it's adjuncts, as smoothly as a seven or eight
thousand mile system is worked now; or as
one Of three to five thousand was worked twenty
years ago. But for the present. a system OF ths
size Of the Southern Pacific seems the limit. The
community Of ownership" between the Union
Q
Of securing stability Of rates. avoiding dupIl-
cation Of service, and opening the way to such
economies in operation as experience may show
to be feasible. The earnings OF the Southern
Pacific are estimated for the current fiscal year
at nearly 20 millions. Its stock is 200 millions
which seems large; but this is because there Is
only one kind Other roads have as large, with
less earnings. but the shares are divided into
common and preferred.
When an operation as big as this one is accom-
plished. it carries into it's influence other and
smaller things. The Street is already beginning
10 question what will be the effect on other
roads-such as the Texas Pacific. NJ, K. and t.
and Missouri Pacific; how the Atchison system
viii be placed; what position will the Rock
Island stand in, since that system is now a COM
paratively small one. surrounded by powerful
| neighbors; and also whether the Southern Rail-
road. which has Just bought the Mobile and
| Ohio. will be affected. as it connects directly
/ with New-Orleans. Up to the North, the re-
lations Of the Burlington to the Union Pacific
will have TO be considered in a new light since
/ the Central Pacific has passed into the latter's
| control. Altogether. it will be seen there is
| plenty OF food for speculation in the problems
/ which the new purchase presents.
In respect TO the ST. Paul deal. there is no IN
/ formation other than that the meeting Of the d.
rectors last Monday did not result satisfactorily.
| Mr.. Morgan, though not a director was in at
/ tendance thing made special note OF BY the
! Street. because OF it's rarity. He came away. IL
/ was said in very bad humor. All the rumors
/ current point TO Mr.. Smith as the obstructor-
his price for selling being prohibitive. The Sc
/ curities directly affected namely. the Northern
Pacihcs. Eries, and ST. Paul. were lower in the
| early part Of the week; but they stifened up
later when the general market was stimulated
/ by the Southern Pacific business. st. Paul itself
/ has become one of the most rapidly fuctuatins
/ stocks on the list When IL files up, the deal Is
/ on, when IT runs back. the deal is off, again
At present prices. the stock is in this peculiar
/ position ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS important holders
have refused to sell at a figure known to be
higher than the now market quotation This Is
I scarcely a bear argument on the stock, whether
the deal, goes through or not.
Outside of the railroad securities. the steel
stocks have been minor centres of attention
/ They have been the subject of food Of rumors
| obviously created by the attitude of Mr.. Carne-
t gie. The outsider has no means Of knowing
what negotiations have been going with that
gentleman. II any; but the buying OF the stocks
/ in the market seems pretty sure indication thaI
something has been. or is being done, to I'M
prove the relations Of the various corporations
/ engaged in the steel trade. The 'defarring' Oh
| action by the Steel Wire directors on the dlvl-
dend. was discounted, as ths stock rose in price
| almost immediately after announcement OF TINS
/ procedure was made. 1t was also used TO ecVer
| shorts on as borrowed stock was returned next
day. There are reports that control OF the steer
/ Wire Company has changed hands; but there
| is nothing definite this. We may surmise
that something of the kind was afoot. otherwise