The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-15
Al Sensible View of the Situation.

Atlanta Constitution.
 Mr. John Skelton1 Williams, President of the Seaboard Air Line Railway sys- tenn, has given the press a very inter- esting and highly important interview concerning the decision recently handed
 down in the Northern Securities Company case.
 President Williams prominent connec- tion with the railroad interests of the Southeastern States and his great work for the development of this section. give
 his views on this subject peculiar force. What he has to say will be accepted as coming from man who knows whereof he speaks. This interview. as printed in yesterdays Constitution. Is distinctly op- | timistic in tone. Indeed, President Will | Hams takes the position that not only | the country, but the railway interests | thereof. will be greatly benefited by this decision.
 l In the first place, he says the decision | Is founded on the common-sense and bus | mess view of the situation and that 1t voices the sentiments of nine-tenths of the best business men in the country.
 It will be approved. he says, by disin- terested thinking men of all classes. Consolidation of railroads. it seems to us, is all right as long as 1t has for its
 object the development of great trunk | tend to improve service. Economy of op-
 eration is also a legitimate part of such consolidation.
 | But when the object aimed at is the | requirement of competing lines. then it
 becomes dangerous and hurtful-and it | should be declared unlawful. The South has several great railway systems that have been built up by this process of legitimate consolidation, and
 the South has every reason to be proud ] of them.
 Each of these great systems has been built up, for the most part, of small, dis
 connected lines that heretofore main tained mainly a local service. By bring
 ing these roads together they have formed trunk lines, touching the remotest points
 largest centers of the North, East and West. Through trains and quicker ser vice have been put on, and within a
 tween the South and the North, East and West has been materially cut down. as measured in time.
 At the same time, these systems have
 development of the territory traversed by them; not only in ;he matter of re- building wornout lines and in construct ing new ones where necessary, but in
 advertising and building up the country
 along their lines. This the smaller lines could not do to any extent, if at all. So that, we repeat, the South has been greatly benefited by the development of
 has. But suppose the effort were made to bring all of these systems under one
 management, what would have been the
 resultr Competition would have been ut- lS enough. The people would have been ab-
 solutely at the mercy of one corporation controlling everything. This would be as dangerous and hurtful in the railroad field as 1t would be in any other.
 But it would also mean that railroad building and development would come to
 a standstill; for. as President Williams points out. such independent roads as
 might desire to enter the field would be always at the mercy of the larger fish,
 having no assurance that either they or their connections would not be at any moment gobbled up. Investors would hot feel safe under
 such conditions, for they could never
 know when the majority interest might
 take notion to sell out the minority to
 the giant corporation. whose purpose
 might be to divert business from the new
 ly acquired line and render 1t of second ary importance.
 Naturally. therefore, President Williams takes the position that the Northern Se- curities decision, by guaranteeing com | petition and protesting the rights of the | minority, makes 1t possible for the rall- road development of the country to con tinue along safe and legitimate lines. Necessarily. this is best for all concerned; best for the people who invest their
 money in railroad securities. and best for the country at large.
 As President Williams says. instead