The age-herald., 1901-12-22
James ]. Hill of Great Northern
 R. R. Makes Statement
HE EXPLAINS CONSOLIDATION
Asks Pointed Questions of Governor Van sant, Who Has Strongly op-
 posed the Consolidation of
 the Two Great systems.

St. Paul, December M.-President J. J.
 Hill of the Great Northern Railroad and of the recently-organized Northern Se-
 curities Company. this afternoon gave
 the following statement to the Associated Press:
 "When the Northern Pacific failed and the banking house of J. P. Morgan and Company, representing 1t, myself ana friends were holders of a large amount
 of that companys securities. After the
 reorganization was completed we bought
 about s26, oOO.ooo of Northern Pacific stock
 both common and preferred Some of the
 stock was afterward sold. but large amount has been held from that time un- til the present.
 About a year ago the Union Pacific l bought the Huntington and other inter
 ests in the Northern Pacific. and at the
 same time made an effort to get control
 of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy.
 With three lines in the hands of the
 Union Pacific interests, both the North ern Pacific and Great Northern would
 be largely shut out of the states of Me-
 braska, Kansas. Missouri South Dakota. Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin except by
 using other lines of railway. We then.
 with the Northern Pacific, proposals
 to the directors of the Burlington to buy
 their entire property.
 Asked for a Share.
 ''When this transaction was about be- ing closed the people who represented the uhn had previously tried to buy the Burlington,
 asked to be allowed to share with us in the purchase of that company. This pro- posal we rejected, as 1t was against the
 laws of several of the states in which the
 longest mileage of the Burlington was
 located At that time both the Northern
 Pacific and Great Northern had put into
 effect a low colonization rate and were carrying daily thousands of people into | the northwest, many of whom were com l ing from Kansas and Nebraska along the l lines of the Union Pacific. After we had closed the purchase of the Burlington | the Union Pacific people undertook the
 boldest efforttthat was ever made In this country and bought over $600O0.O0O or the lstock of the Northern Pacific in the mar | kets of Europe and the United States. l I was in New York at the time and l | aware of the action of the Union Pacific I people, it was found together we held | about $26 0O0, 900 of Northern Pacific com | mon stock, and ipasmuch as the common l stock by right of contract made with the 1 preferred stockholders when the company | was re-organized and the stock issued l had the privilege of paying oil the pre- l ferred stock at par on the first day of January of any year until 1917.
 Bought $16,ooo, 900 of Common Stock | Messrs. Morgan and Cothen bought in | London and New York about $1600O,00C l of the common stock of the Northern Pa | cific, at the same time Union Pacific in-
 terests having already so large an in-
 vestment bid the stock up until this was | the largest stock corner ever known; the l common stock in three or four days went
 up to 5000 per share. explained to my l friends how that with control of the
 Northern Pacific. the Union Pacific would 1 control the entire northeast and west l from Mexico to the Canadian line, except | for the Great Northern. One of my l friends in London. who owned 5000, 900 of l Northern Pacific common was offered and | refused $14.000,0O0 for his stock. The re-
 suit was that Messrs. Morgan and Com l pany and ourselves owned $42,000,000 of | the Northern Pacific common out of ESQ., | OVV,WW, with the privilege oI paying oii | the $75, ,000 of Northern Pacific pre- l ferred.
 The Union Pacific people owned $s7,o00, | 900 of the common and about $42 900 of l the preferred, which was a clear majority | of all the stock of the Northern Pacific
 and secured the exclusive control of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and through the ownership a control of half of thu l Burlington. When 1t was known that
 these preferred shares could and would
 be paid off before the annual election
 mutual elections resulted in MT. Morgan
 giving them 6 representative in thu
 Northern Pacific board. At the same tim,
 was elected a member of the North