Columbia courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1902-1905, 1903-04-24
MODERN MERGERS ARE PAST
UNDER PRESENT LAWS 1T is IDLE
WORK TO ORGANIZE.
Financial Leaders Are Devoting Their
Time Finding a Way Out of Their
DiIemma-lt Is Believed That North
ern Securities Company Will Lose
in Higher Court.

New York. April ga gentleman
close to ]. Perpont Morgan has ad-
nitted that the combination era is
practically over, that with possible
suits confronting various mergers
and threatening to undo some of the
great industrial mergers, it was idle
TO organize any more. He said the
attention of the financial leaders dur.
ing the last week had been devoted
to finding their way out of a bad job
in hope of saving, as far as possible,
what had already been accomplished
and keeping together the equities in
volved. But as for the future, no more
are to be undertaken, at least not I'M
less some new legislation is passed
which will protect such transactions.
Nothing of this kind is thought pos
sible.
AS for the Northern Securities
merger, it is assumed that it will be
finally knocked out by the United
States supreme court. Some sort Of
trusteeship will be devised to save the
pieces of this combination. They will
have to do something, since it would
be manifestly impossible to return the
equities and dividends to the proper
persons. One shareholder might de-
nand Great Northern and another
Northern Pacific, and there would be
too little Of one or too much of the
ether required. A trusteeship will
solve the problem. That is, the Great
Northern stock controlled by Northern
Securities may be held SO that the
combination will in sense be kept
together. in which event present share
holders would get proportionate
amount of those of each subsidiary
company. the management being con.
trolled by the same group of men. This
would violate the law in spirit, but,
it is thought, the scheme could not be
upset
Community of Ownership.
Although no new mergers are to be
put through, the highest authorities
said that the benefits of community OF
ownership would remain. They regard
ed it as certain that there would be
no more rate wars, such as devastated
the resources of the railroads few
years ago. The benefits derived from
cooperation have been strikingly IL
Illustrated by the Northern Securities
group. The earnings of the Great
Northern, Northern Pacific and Bur
lington last year increased IA per cent,
compared with the previous year. Of
ficials of those companies said that
undoubtedly SO per cent of the in
crease was directly due to the fact
that the Burlington was controlled by
the Great Northern and Northern Pa
cific and a.. were run in close har-
mony, instead of trying to injure one
another as much as possible. The
benefits of cooperation have been too
striking, they declare, for them to
throw away the lessons which have
been learned There will undoubted-
ly be close cooperation between tinan-
cial heads of corporations in future,
whatever may be the fate of existing
mergers They will find some way
so that each may get the greatest net
results, as they are doing at present.
A parallel was drawn with the gloom
of railroad officials when the decision
of the supreme court in the transmits
souri, case pronounced all traffic asso-
Citations illegal and compelled them to
disband, Serious rate wars were pre-
dicted, but nothing of the kind &C.
Cured. The railroads went about
their business as heretofore-they
even did better.