The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1902-05-23

ants In the suit brought by the attorney
general OF the United States against the
Northern Securities company the Great
1sorInern railway company. the North
Each OF the three defendant companies
uAeo lts separate answer. The answers
eFe substantially the same in each case,
except In so far as they are varied to
meet the technical differences in the
%Ames ana organizations of the various
companies.
The answer of the Northern Securities
- UNIQUE and of special interest be-
'Sause the attorneys for that company,
Aessrs, John w. Griggs and George B.
1oung. have included, in addition to the
technical and legal reply to the plaintiffs
Geeition, concise statement of the de-
PENDANTS case. They explain the origin
% ene so-called merger and the business
policy and purposes which prompted the
ofsanfzation of a holding company The
explanation Is the more interesting part
Of the answer and is herewith presented
urst and out of its regular order with the
technical portions following:
Company's Explanation.
Answering the petition. this defendant
up on information and belief. says that
= the facts as to the purchase of the shares
Of the Chicago. Burlington and Quincy
railroad company Hereinafter called the
" burlington company and the planning
ana formation Of this defendant, and the
oao.'Ves' intentions and purposes of the
persons ana corporations concerned in
tnese enterprises or either of them, were
eot as erroneous " stated in said petition,
but were. and fire, as follows:
When protecting the line of the Great
Norenern TO TIE Pacific coast, that COM
y any and its directors contemplated the
Haecsssity ofEreating for the line not
merely sss.te~ and interstate. but an inter
oational commerce. Nearly all the coun-
try traversed or reached by this line
was then but sparsely settled or not set
s!ed at all. 1t was principally agricutur-
a. grazing or timber land, with mineral
deposits in the mountain ranges believed
10 be large and valuable, but not devel-
sped or explored. Whatever commodities
the region might furnish for carriage
would be raw material, Of great weight
and bulk in proportion to it's value, which
would not bear transportation to market
except at low mileage rate such as
could be made possible only by every
practicable reduction in the cost of trans
Fortation. The available market for all
sucn products was far from the places of
production.
In Washington and Oregon are the larg-
est and finest bodies of standing timber
IN the United States, the best market for
which is in the prairie states of the Mis-
t1sstppi valley east of the Rocky noun
9at0s; but the lumber and shingles from
the Pacific coast would not bear the cost
OF transportation to those states if the
ears carrying them had to be hauled back
empty, or nearly so, for a distance of
from one thousand five hundred to two
thousands miles. And the same is true of
the other products. On the other hand,
the unoccupied or sparsely settled coun-
Try along the line, or reached by it, could
mot furnish a market for commodities
fo o;pip
suit being that unless the company could
secure traffic for carriage beyond the Pa
etftc coast no great traffic either way
could exist or be created.
Asiatic Trade.
To meet these conditions the Great
Northern company not only went to great
additional expense in the construction Of
It's line to obtain gradients lower than
those Of any other line to the Pacific
coast, but also made great efforts to Gre
ate and increase in the countries of East
srn Asia demand for the products Of this
country; and soon after the completion Of
sts railway in 1893 it induced a Japanese
company to run line of steamships, con-
0ecting with its railway, on the route be-
tween Seattle and the ports Of Japan,
China and Russian Siberia, and succeeded
In creating and has since been actively
engaged in building up a commerce in
which the flour manufactured along it's
Zine. cotton Cloth raw and manufactured,
iron and steel Especially steel rails and
o&ates), machinery, and such other manu-
features Of this country as a market
could be found or made for in Eastern
Asia, have been carried to Oriental ports,
and return cargoes Of such Oriental prod
acts as are consumed in this country have
been brought back. A large west bound
as well as an increased east-bound, tart
dc has thus been secured by the company
enabling it to make such rates on lunl-
Der and other products of the country
served by it as permit them to be shipped
10 Eastern markets with a profit to the
shippers.
One year before the Burlington pur-
chase, this Oriental traffic had reached
such proportions that the Great Northern
company caused to be begun the construc
Zion of steamships to be run from Seattle
60 ports In Japan, China and the Philip
pines. which. from their great carrying
capacity (being the largest in the world)
will be able to carry at very low rates
az full cargoes can be securely. and thu!
enable the company to move the larges
volume Of west-bound traffic land also o.
1ast-bound traffic. at the lowest rates.
In the interstate and international com
Aerce which the Great Northern com
pany has thus built up, 1t completes bot
An this country and on the ocean with tn
sther transcontinental lines Gncludin
the Canadian Paciic) and at the Orienta
corts it completes for commerce of tn
world. It's rates are and must be mad
tn competition with the rates of ocea
carriers and by way Of the Suez canal.
The policy thus followed by the Grea
Northern company In building up an In
ternational, and thereby interstate, com
snerce has been followed by the Norther
Pacific company since its reorganizatio
In 1885,
Placed mt disadvantage.
In creating and maintaining this CON
Oetftfve interstate and international con
aaerce both the Great Northern compan
and the Northern Pacific company we1
hampered and placed at disadvantage
with the other transcontinental railway
a we'll as with European competitors, b
the want Of sufficient direct connectio
a with the territory offering, the best ma
hi kets for the products Of the countr
& along their lines, and with the places .
production and great centers Of distrib,
I; eion from which their traffic must
" supplied For many months before Il
purchase OF the Burlington shares, the
s had considered the best means Of gettif
b closer to such markets and sources
1 1s supply. The lines OF the Burlington, pc
h Ger than those of any other company,gfu
alled the requirements Of both the Gre
sS5 northern company and the Northern