The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-06-02
The VALUE OF COMPETITION PRovE1

The defenders of the Northern railway
merger are Of the opinion that COMPETE
ton between railways having a mileage
Of about 5000 miles each is ruinous, old
fashioned and deserving of elimination.
But when systems have grown beyond
some point, certainly when they attain a.
mileage approximating 10000, competi-
ton is good for them, good for the peo-
pie, good for everybody and to be en-
couraged .....
Thus the mergerites rejoice over the
suppression of competition between the
Great Northern and Northern Pacific and
at the same time applaud the growth of
keen competition between the Hill and
Hartman systems. Because the Union
Pacific now has at the head Of it pro-
gressive railroad man, who is in many
respects formidable rival for Mr. Hill,
the defenders Of the merger argue that
the Union Pacific has been galvanized by
the merger. They hold that if there had
been no merger there would have been. no
revival of activity in the Union Pacific
management. Then they inquire whether
If the Union Pacific had acquired control
Of the Northern Pacific it would not have
extended to the latter system it's own for
mer sluegishness. This inquiry shows
the weakness of the argument. Why was
the Union Pacific seeking to control the
Northern Pacific after years of failure to
do so? Simply because an active, pro-
gressive, far-seeing, ambitious manager,
Mr.. Hartman, obtained control Of the
Union Pacific. The revival of the Union
Pacific preceded the formation of the
merger.
Had the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern remained separate systems the
competition between the three systems
would have been far keener than the
present competition which the merger
press halls with so much joy Where
two systems are now competing for terri
tory, as in the Big Bend country in Wash
ington, three would have been after it.
Where TWO systems are now trying to best
each other in developing new country all
the way from the Missouri to the Pacific
three would have been in the same bust
ness. At the same time that the North
ern Pacific and Great Northern were
struggling to gain or hold territory from
the Union Pacific they would be carrying
on lesser competition between them
selves for the,sregtons adjacent to both
systems. The3z&resultant development
would have been ,nauch greater than that
we have. 4ssE> =. -
If competition, between the Union Pa
cific and the Great ~ Northern Northern
Pacific is good then competition between
the Great Northern, the Northern Pa
cific and the Union Pacific would be bet
ter still for the development of country
and the improvement of transportation.
If slow going man had been at the
head of the Union Pacific the merger
might have frightened him into submits
sion. But the same man that had previ-
ously fought with and to gain control of
the Northern Pacific had in him the stuff
which made him ready to fight the North
ern Pacific and Great Northern together.
Competition between railroads, as
general proposition, is either good or
bad. It is not bad as between Hill lines
and at the same time good between Hill
lines and the others. Monopoly Is not
good when Mr. Hill directs it and bad
when he doesn't.