The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-10-30
THE MERGER TRIAL
PRESIDENT Hill on the Witness Stand Tells of the
Organization of the Great Northern and Its
Agency in the Development of the Northwest
Reasons for the Purchase of the Burlington


neIseearn Pacific and Burlington systems
~ Lad 20 the taking OF large amount
% pa ,sstin ony. The taking OF testimony
ssean In New YORK some iit.ls tule asJ,
tsnle ~ Frederick tngerson, the sPecia.
sssminer. J. J. Hill was the chleI VIM tIs
81 Paul, and his testimony tells the
mhoIs story of the so-called merger IN ma
VIZ connected way than has heretofore
~ given to the public. AS IL requlrSd
20 days 10 complete II, II was very Yol
sminous. We append sufficient portion OF OF
W. svIdence to give a connected story VI
us transac elton end the reason for making
ANr Hill told in general way Of the
nlding Of great railway system 6 ~ mt
~ IN the coal situation OF the country,
NJ nm largely told his story IN ms own
ray none of the learned counsel haNllns
Eayosition to throw out a mint that MI
Uni might better tell IL some other way
ne began by relating briefly the organ-
stton Of the St. Paul, Minneapolis
Manitoba road, and later its reorgsnlza,
,,on into the Great Northern road, anu
emitted without very much pressing t hat
~ had very largely determines the policy
AZ the roads, especially the poncy OF ca
tending the lines, ms Was tb my Fac, ina
many Of the other directors hao Oeeh
non-residcntS.
EyplaIning how the Great Northern nau
Mr. Hill said that SsOO,0O had been ex-
ptnded for surveying alone, as ne ne-
sired to be certain that he was puitdlhs
his road on thu best possible locations.
ne dropped In a little side remark at this
pnInt by saying that while riding along
Inc Pennsylvania system once ne op
served a portion of that system pelhs
lujlt on the fourth right OF way, ahd, ne
aid, Il wanted to avoid all that sort OF
thing" ,,,.-., ,o,,r,r,, CON
sisted mostly Of lumber, ana n was Sso
sential for the Great Northern 10 handle
This lumber If il was TO do business az
ali The rate at that time was W cents
4 hundred pounds which was prohlbltlye:
~ conferred with lumber MANUFACTURERS
AND they thought that IL they rad rate
OF & cents they could send lumber E2st.
I knew they couldL do II with rate
higher than ~ cents. SO we mace II ~
cents and the lumber trade began u VIC
I'm order to make low rate on East
ern lumber shipments IL was essentlal 70
preyent The necessity OF bringing empty
ears West to ship the lumber IN, Wlth5u
four years we had so developed TINS lraue
and trade with Alaska and the hasteLn
Islands that we were enabled TO secure
Eastern goods for the markets OF the orl-
emit and thus to keep a movement OF
cars which meant a shipment OF lulhDeT
East again at a rate making the shlptheht
possible and profitable.
what steps did you take 10 secure
transportation across the racine, anu
what relation did that have TO your pur,
chase of the Burlington ROAD stock'
I'VE found that the lumber supply OF
the United States east of the Rockies ana
north of the Ohio river was more ana
more dependent upon the Washington and
Oregon forests and that the time was
rapidly approaching when the states
which were furnishing lumber TO the
East would not have enough lumber for
their own needs michigan, for instance,
now consumes more than she can manu-
facture). / was especially interested in
the lumber traffic, because III there was
no lumber for us to carry from the West
there was nothing at all for us to carry
on our road. | saw that IL was only
question Of time when Washington and
oregon would supply all the lumber of
the country. 1t is soon, 20 be so In order
to have low rate we must have large
tonnage, and have markets to which we
could send anything made In the East,
and thus have q continual Eastern trafflc
westward. / influenced the Japanese to
purchase a trial lot of American rails in
and later induced them TO buy American
cotton, on a guarantee that II II was not
satisfactory ] would pay for Il.
''The cotton trade has been growing
ships 10 take this cotton and these rails
70 Japan. We can make a rate TO Hong
kong which will enable the Minneapolis
millers to ship their -four TO China II they
Coal supply.
Q. What advantage II any. did you ex-
pect to derive and have you derived from
the Burlington purchase In regard to the
supply of coal for the country traversed
by your line?
Replying to the above question Mr.. Hill
thought that on the west end they had
local supply OF coal and on the east end
coal in the past has come from Pennsyl-
vania and West Virginia and some from
Ohio. but now IL was apparent that they
could no longer rely on the previous re-
sources in the east and IL Is consequent
ly Of vital interest to use the supply they
can obtain not only for themselves but for
the public as well from the Illinois coal
Fields. The grades of the Burlington road
enabled them to carr an enormous ton
mage and the public would soon be COM
PEELED to rely upon the bituminous coal
supply instead Of on the anthracite ffom
the east. This coal is necessity to the
people of the northwest, which would
have 10 abandon the country for FIVE
months In the year If they could not get
coal at reasonable prices, and they can
not get 1t from the east at a reasonable
price. He did not claim that this was
due to the strike and the local situation
this year, but this was the permanent
situation the northwest had got to face,
and in the future they could not bring
coal from the western end of their line
because the haul was too far to furnish
u at moderate prices.
Orc Trade with st. Louis.
Within the last week we had advices OF
1000 or 100000 tons of iron ore TO go
through the winter from the iron mines
OF Northern Minnesota to st. Louis TO load
the coal cars back. The fact that the
coal has TO come north or that there Is
coal to come north makes 1t possible to
make lower rate on the iron ore, ana
together the iron ore rates and the coal
rate are both affected and are both re-
euced to the extent that We can load the
cars both ways. This is a matter we
have under consideration; this iron mat
Ter We have had under consideration may
De for a couple OF months. but II has cul-
minated within the last week. We hope
that it Will reach $4,000 tons before
spring.
Q. In reference 10 shipments of cot
ton especially, and other articles, what
disadvantage was there In it's being car
rled over separate lines under Joint tar
III which you did not have, where II is
carried where both roads are under the
same control, for instance, in the matter
Of breaking bulk or anything of that kind,
shifting from cars?
A, Well, it Is almost necessity, II
business is TO be at all permanent, TO be
able TO control rate: The rates on the
high seas vary according to the supply
and demand for ships, and We, in order
10 take this business west must be in a
position to compete 10 take the traffic,
another roadlit may be the line line between n
mere and st. Louis. II the Burlington was
nor IN position TO work with US and
20 continue 10 work with US, they might
nhd some other connection that would
give them larger division than we could
or the rate; they might find or feel that
~ was their interest to work with some
ooey else. Maybe they would give them
some other business in lieu Of this. and
we would have to hire some other road
70 maui that business from St. Louis here,
az the best rate We could get. We could
not control 1t except through the option
u some other road. Might at any time
Withdraw the rate; might at any time
refuse TO make joint rate with us, ex-