River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-10-30


prevent any such raids as were made in
1901 and would make it very difficult even
II not substantially impossible for any one
person or syndicate to get control of the
stock of the roads in the hands of the
holding company. BY having the owner
ship OF the roads stable and not likely
to be frequently changed. rates could be
reduced. He thought that no more than
III per cent Of the business was COMPETE
tive between the Northern Pacific and the
Great Northern roads; that is interstate
business.
Mr.. Hill was examined at length re-
gardlng the Great Northern mileage. He
explained that the Great Northern scarce
ly absolutely owned any railroad mileage,
but that 1T operated somewhere from five
to six thousand miles of road under
leases and that it also owned the large
portion of the stock of the old Manitoba
road and some other corporations.
He also testified relative to the reduc-
ton of rates made on the Great North
ern since the purchase of the Burling-
ton system. In response to the question
who directed the reduction on the Great
Northern, he said it was a matter of
conference between the officers and him
self. He said the reduction of rates on
the Great Northern was not a new thing,
Dut was quite frequent and had been for
a number of years. He said the reduc-
ton amounted to 10 or Is per cent. On
grain it was 10 per cent. 1t was nearly
that from all places on the Great North
ern which were grain shipping points and
some places more. He thought the re-
Cuction was substantially the same on
the Northern Pacific, but was not abso-
lutely informed on that point. He dis
claimed having personally made the
changes in the traffic rates of freight but
when they were a matter of great NOM
ent he had been consulted and advised in
the matter. He did not think that the
rates had been reduced on lumber, pig
IRON or coal since the purchase Of the
Burlington, because those rates were
abnormally lower before and much lower
than were charged by the Eastern roads.
The gross earnings of the Great North
ern per ton per mile were stated to be
500 and the average of the railroads OF
the United States was 1923. He thought
that the Northern Pacific was higher,
probably in the neighborhood of 800. On
the Atchison it was .98S. Mr.. Hill said
that the rates on the Atchison were
higher than on the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific, and thought that if
they charged the average rate of the
Atchison it would increase their earnings
ST, 200, 900.
Referring to the purchase of a large
amount of coal land in Illinois, Mr.. Hill
said the Northern Securities company did
not own this land at the time the pres
ent suit was begun. He made this ex-
PLANTATION on the coal question.
Coal Supply.
Witness: I do not want to be misunder-
stood, and from the questions L think
have been. The Great Northern Railway
company and the Northern Pacific Rail-
way company have an interest in this
country and the people living here, and,
1nasmuch as our winters are cold, it
would be difficult for them to live here
without fuel, and it is very serious mat
ter-lt is very serious matter for the
railways. We don't know now that we
would be able to run our trains to the
first day of February with the lack Of
supply of coal, without bringing coal
from Illinois, and we don't know but we
would have to give up portion Of our
supply of steam coal to keep people from
freezing before spring-and it is not due
by any means to the anthracite strike,
and I tried to make it plain yesterday
that it was not; but it is due to the in
ability of the railroads between Lake
Erie and the mines in West Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Ohio to move the coal.
They are unable to move the coal up to
Lake Erie ports and we are unable to
get a supply. AT this time we have not
been able to get one-half of our purchase
for the year, and navigation will close
some time next month That is the i'm
portance of the control for us of access
to the coal mines of Illinois, which are
the nearest coal mines to this country,
and the Importance of that will be appar-
rent more and more as time goes or.
Mr.. Hill further testified that when the
Union Pacific desired to get control of
the Burlington road Mr.. Hartman came
to him while they were negotiating and
wanted to take a half interest but the
proposition was declined. The purchase
of the Northern Pacific by the Union Pa
cific, he said would have left the Great
in holn
the Great Northern was jointly and sew
orally responsible for two hundred mill
lions, that being the purchase price of the
Burlington stock, and if the Northern
Pacific owned a joint interest in the deal,
they would be responsible for one-half
of that amount, but if the Northern Paci-
fic was in the hands of a rival trans
continental line with it's interest in San
Francisco and from Omaha through the
Platte Valley to San Francisco they could
influence the Burlington to help their
Southern interests and would be in a
position to prevent the building up or aid
ing the development of the Northwest
that the Great Northern had worked so
long and hard to establish.
The gist of Mr.. Hills testimony during
the two days he was on the stand was
that the organization Of the Northern Se
curities company was In no sense q re-
striction to trade. That the Great North
were operated separately and independ-
emily. That there was no actual merger,
but that their working together was Of
vital interest to the Northwest That
rates had been reduced as the result of
this cooperation, and could and would
be still further reduced as tariff increases.
That the whole proposition was within
the law in every respect. That the pur-
chase of the stock of the Northern Securi-
ties company was open to any one who
had the money to pay for it and could
agree with the owners as to the price.
That there was no combination or agree
ment expressed or implied, but that the
corporation was simply a holding COM
pany, really for the purpose of making the
property it holds have greater stability
and not likely to be purchased by parties
to use to destroy other property; in fact,
that the whole movement would prove
most advantageous to the Northwest.
Cost of the railroad and equipment hav-
ing been incurred, the great increase of
tonnage and business growing out of the
Burlington purchase and protecting it
against adverse interests would increase
earnings, make lower rates possible and
thus induce settlement of the country,
and the building up of commercial manu-
featuring and agricultural interests.
HERE, THERE AND ELSEWHERE