The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1902-03-28

L
4 Y district of Minnesota asking
for the dissolution of the
| Northern Securities company people
/ want to know what it is all about. The
real point at issue is whether, under the
| provisions of the sherman antitrust
law, Il company can without violating
the law buy controlling interest in
the securities of two or more railroads
which are parallel and competing.
In this suit commonly known rs the
/ merger suit. Attorney General Knox
seeks to prevent the Northern Sccurl-
! ties company. a New Jersey corpora
| ton, from securing control of the Great
Northern Railway company and the
! Northern Pacific Railway company,
| parallel and competing lines.
Mr.. Knox charges conspiracy to vio-
| late the laws of the United States in
combining two competing railroads
through the formation of the Northern
Securities company after other efforts
| to combine had been defeated; that
for the purposes Of defeating the state
and federal authorities and furnishing
defense that the Northern Securities
| company does not hold a ma j0rty of
stock of the Great Northern railway
such stock is held by persons friendly
! to the corporation and will not be vot-
ed until the legal questions have been
settled; that the Northern Securities
| company is in effect Il merger OF CON
solidation of the competing lines. and
| that if this merger stands then the
I public will be placed absolutely at the
mercy of any holding corporation
which may seek to consolidate all the
railroads of the country in one system
In his petition Mr.. Knox says: The
attempt to turn over controlling i'll
tereSt of the Northern Pacific railway
having in 1896 been defeated by de-
cisiOn of the supreme court. the de-
PENDANTS, James j. Hill and his asso-
ciate stockholders of the Great North
ern, owning or controlling a majority
of its stock, and the defendants, J.
| Pierpont Morgan and his associates.
owning or controlling a ma jority of the
/ stock of the Northern Pacific company.
.
or conspiracy to effect a virtual con
solidation of the Northern Pacific and
! Great Northern systems and to place
| restraint upon all competitive inter
state and foreign trade or commerce
carried on by them and TO monopoiZe
or attempt to monopolize the same and
/ to suppress the competition thereto
/
systems in said interstate and foreign
! trade or commerce, through the instru-
mentality and by the means follow
| ing:
"a holding corporation. to be called
! the Northern Securities company, was
to be formed under the laws of New
! Jersey. with IA capital stock of $400-
! 100000. to which, in exchange for its
own capital stock upon certain basis
and at certain rate, was to be turn
| ed over and transferred the capital
| stock, or a controlling interest in the
capital stock. of each of the defendant
railway companies.
"In this manner" Mr.. Knox says,
"the individual stockholders of these
/ two Independent and competing rail
way companies were to be eliminated
! and a single common stockholder the
Northern Securities company, was to
be substituted.
"In this manner, by making the
stockholders of each system Jointly in
terested in both systems and by prac
| tica llV DOOlino thp earnings of both
systems for the benefit of the former