The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-11-15
The Big Railway Dea..

The great deal for the uniting of the
continental railways west Of the
Missouri. appears to have been consum-
mated by the formation of the North
err Securities Association with a capt.
tai Of four hundred million dollars
Here We have another illustration OF
how easy il is for capital to extend its
power and control far beyond its nomi-
nal amount The present capitalization
Of the roads concerned Of all that have
been mentioned are taken i'm is consid-
erahly in excess of a billion dollars. and
yet a company with a capital Of less
than two-hfths Of that amount will
have control Of them all Even if only
the Great Northern. the Northern Pa
cific, the Union PACIFIC. and the Burling-
ton are acquired, there is a joint capt.
talizati0n Of about three hundred mill
lions greater than that Of the new con-
trolling company. And Of the four hun
dred millions. II is by no means certain
how much of it viii actually be paid in
by those engaged in the deal Much OF
ii may. and probably viii, be represent
ed by bond issues.
different roads into harmony" 10 en-
ploy the euphemism that is generally
in vogue The meaning is simply that
the interests viii be pooled. NJ -ssrs
Hill and Hartman are reported as say
ing that 50 far as they can see. all cause
for dissensiOn and jealousies between
the Great Northern. Northern Pacific,
and Union Pacific has been eliminated.
The only cause that has ever existed
for dissension and jealousy has been
competition We must therefore infer
that henceforth there will be no compe-
tition. and that the three roads viii be
run with common end In view.
Another suggestion in the news report
is worthy of brief notice. II is stated
that the Union Pacific Company will
hold one-half Of the voting power Of the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
through the medium % q voting trust
This is owing TO the stringent laws Of
the Western States. which make il inn
possible for the Union Pacific 10 appear
as part owner Of the Burlington The
same end is 10 be reached by the crea-
ton OF a trustee TO hold ana vote the
interests Of the Union Pacific. This
gives renewed emphasis TO what The
Times has recently said about the diff
culties iu the way Of preventing the
combining OF different concerns under
the same management Even though
corporations may be prohibited from
actual consolidation. the same indiyid-
uals may be stockholders in two or
more. thus leading 10 n perfect concert
Of action. II cannot he said that il is
altogether impossible 10 prevent such
combinations. even though they De
made indirectly, bat IL is obvious that
there are many ways in which laws de-
signed FOR that purpose may be cvaded.
II is exceedingly hard 10 say how
much wealth "A single person should DE
permitted 10 acquire, or in how many
different enterprises he should be all
lowed 10 invest. After all. the Larm is
not SO much ~ the actual combination
Of capital as in the abuse Of its power
after il Is combined. If these various
roads are conducted properly. and with
due regard for the interests Of the re-
giOns through which they run. their
union under "A common management
may not be an entirely unmixed evil
II is 10 be hoped 50. at all events. But
the fact remains that such combinations
have vast power, either for good or
evil, and in view II the course pursued
by some OF the m0nopOlies that have
been built up during recent years. il is
but natural that The people should feel
nervous over their multiplication and
r,grH-frr