The Saint Paul globe., 1902-01-25
SIMPLE REASON GIVEN
FOR STEP TAKEN

There are some old men-some very old
men-interested in the management of the
Great Northern said he. 1.-TWO Of them
are over eighty and several over seventy
years. They wanted to form q close cor
poration into which they could confide
their interests with the assurance that
the road would be managed along the
lines which have made it a success 1t
was to have taken over one-third of the
stock of the road. The plan seemed to he
good one and then it was proposed to
let all the stockholders in--not alone the
lew owners of the one-thrd-but all of
them The plan met with approval and
then it brOadened into the idea of taking
in the Northern Pacific also. The roads
had worked in harmony for twenty years
ana the change in the holder of the Sc
curltles would make no difference It
can make no difference and will make no
difference
MI. Hill talked vigorously ard earnest
ly. AT the close Of the session, when
Chairman Knapp offered to allow Mr. Hin
to leave for New York if the latter feTt
that staying in Chicago would incon-
Venlence him seriously. Mr.. Hill declared
that his time belonged to the commits
sion and that he desired in every way to
aid them to the extent of his ability.
Chairman Knapp thereupon said that Mr.
Hill would be again called to the stand
tomorrow morning.
MIR. HILL GOES DEEPLY
INTO DETAILS.
J. J. Hill took the stand at 2:2O o'clock
Much time was consumed with routine
examinations to show his relations with
the Great Northern, Northern Pacific
ana burlington companies He said
that the Northern Securi+ias oo,,,,,,,,--
owned no stock in the Chicago, Burllng-
ton q Quincy Railway company (the
new company, but owned about half the
STOCK Of the Chicago, Burlington &
quincy Railroad company Ohe old cor
porat1on). He explained that the new
company really was a union Of the
three lines which formed the old com
pany and operated the latter by virtue
OF lease. The half of the stock of the
Old company not owned by the Northern
Securities company, witness said was
owned by the Northern Pacific company.
In the new company, he said. the Gre4t
Northern and Northern Pacific were the
chief stockholders, having issued a Joint
bond to cover the purchase price Of the
chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad
company. These two companies as
stockholders, elect the directors of the
Burlington.
There We're approximately 10000
stockholders in the old Burlington said
Mr.. Hill. 1T was impossible to buy the
stock, amounting to about $100 0O0, ,000 in
the open market, and another plan was
adopted, resulting in the sale of the
property like a piece of real estate. The
Northern Pacific and Great Northern
railroads issued 216,OO0OOO joint bonds to
pay for it.
REASONS FOR BUYING
THE BURLINGTON.
In explaining his reasons for the pur-
chase of the Burlington, Mr.. Hill went
back to the time when he found it neces-
sary to offer a low rate to the timber
men of Oregon and Washington in order
to get loads for cars which had orig
inally gone West laden with merchandise.
He said:
''In order to put ourselves in a safe
position we had to buy the Burlington
road; 1t gave us the market for our
Western stuff that we had to bring back,
and it afforded us a connection in the
East with all the producers, and it COM
plemented the conditions where neces-
sarv.
He also dealt upon the paramount i'm
portance of the coal problem in connec-
ton with the operation of railroads.
'sWe were" he said, 'far from coal ana
far from a market for our timber. We
were at the mercy of a possible coal
famine, such a famine as would be ex-
listing now were it not for the unusu-
ally mild weather. We needed more than
a connection-we needed a connection
which we could control. ] was familiar
with the railroad situation 1 knew that
the Burlington reached the pra1r1es
where timber is needed, and l knew that
by the Burlington we could have a con-
nection with the coal mines, which would
put US on a safe ground in respect to
fuel Furthermore, the Burlington
could be purchased 1000 a mile cheaper
than any other granger road, everything
considered. A friend of mine, a neigh
Dor, told me that for a lumber market
he would rather have the state of Iowa