The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-16

Special to The Journal.
New York, April 16.-The Wall Street
Journal discusses the merger decision and
its effects and presents the following
view of the matter:
The opinions of the leading rail-
road men who have their headquar-
ters here are unanimous upon the
point that the decision against the North
ern Securities company, even II mace
permanent. will not adversely affect the
value Of the stocks Of the companies now
combined in the Northern Securities COM
pany. They say that the only way IN
which these companies could be so aHect-
ed would be by a return to the methou
formerly practiced Of competition between
Great Northern and Northern Pac1nc
when the two roads were engaged IN the
task of delineitating their respective ter
ritory They claim that even under the
terms of the decision the roads cannot
be forced to make different rates or to
compete in any other way so long as they
do not desire to do So From this they
argue that the community OF interest
idea as long as it is carried out without
actual corporate combination is absolutely
impregnable.
Destructive Competition Is Past.
Railroad men believe that the period of
destructive competition between Great
Northern and Northern Pacific Is thing
of the past They base this belief on the
following facts:
First-In all cases where the courts have
decided to dissolve corporations III the
past there has never been a return to the
same competition that existed before such
corporations were formed. When the
Standard Oil trust was dissolved dis
tribution of it's constituent stocks was
made. Yet the Standard Oil company
now controls these same constituent COM
panies and is doing the same. business
n; >e Snfo 1If
to do When the law courts dissolved the
hddystone Pipe and Steel company, that
company went out Of existence but for
four years it's constituent companies,
tho not combined, have operated in COM
plete harmony, and without any OF the
bitter warfare that first led. to the @forma,-
ton Of the trust. ~. ': ''-<.5 = ~:
second-Thru the harmonius operation
Of Great Northern, Northern Pacific and
burlington these companies gained in
gross earnings in 1902 1903, 556. OF this
increase about $S,OO0,0O0 is ascribed di-
rectly to the increase of business growing
out Of the cooperation Of the companies
In the development Of the territory served
by them conformity. This means that that
amount in gross earnings has been added
by the companies directly thru the oper-
ations Of the community of interest idea
that underies the Northern Securities
, company. There is hardly railroad man
= in New York who does not subscribe to
this idea as exemplified in the co-opera-
Etion Of these roads no matter how strongly
he may object to the principle of actual
corporate combinations
: The advantage that has been gained by
these roads will never be given up. 1t is
considered dimly possible that tho North
ern Securities company will go utterly out
of existence but 1t is not for a moment
considered possible, even by John Shelton
Williams Mr.. MOrgans most bitter critic,
that these roads will ever depart from the
principle of harmonious operation thru
which they have made during the year last
reported such tremendous advance. The
gain in gross. by the way. was per cent
larger than the next largest gain in gross
reported by Pennsylvania.
Thrd-To throw these roads back into
such conditions as existed in that territory
prior to 1899 would be to undo at one
step what every railroad in the country
and every railroad legislator in congress
has been trying to accomplish for the
past ten years. 1t would be a retrograde
step toward the conditions that existed in
the days when seven transfers were need
ed on trip from New York to Buffalo
for the reason that the cars Of the seven
companies making up that route were
unable to pass from their own lines to
those of the next company. Harmony OF
operation is the keynote Of the policy OF
all present-day railroad systems.
-, Fourth-Harmony Of operation was
brought into existence for the purpose OF
reducing" the ton-mile cost of operating
railroads. This problem of reducing cost
of operating really underlies the whole
community Of interest plan, the entire
merger system, all efforts toward har.
mony of operating, all shortening ano
Strengthening of lines, elimination O.
grades and curves, traffic agreements
railroad appointments such as those O.
Kruttschnitt; in fact almost everything
that enters into the modernizing of
railroad system. The progress of the rail
roads in reducing ton-mile cost canno
possibly be checked without checking a
the same time the steady progress tha
has been made in the reduction of rail
road rates and the corresponding progress
in the building up of gigantic commerce
for this country both at home and abroad
If it should. be checked at this iuncturc
the plans of J. j. Hill to make the -twi
cities the center of the rice industry o
the world will fall with it. Mr.. Hills plal
aims at making the rate for transporting
a. bushel Of rice from Yokohama. japan
to Minneapolis or ST. Paul as low as TIL
present rate for transporting bushel .
wheat from North Dakota to Minneapolis
Incidentally. Of course, he aims likewis
at the reduction of rates between point
in that territory. ....,. .-
Fifth-Nether the government the rail
roads. nor the great mass OF the peopl
actually desire return to the period G
rebates, secret cutting OF rates and ac
cording of special privileges to large ship
peds. This is shown by the satisfactio
expressed in all quarters over the puttin
into operation of the Elkins law. Eve
the large shippers who formerly bene
fitted most thru such special favors seer
to be united in their desire for stabl
rates, recognizing that such stability
likely to be the most genuine basis {
prosperity. upon which prosperity the
own, final well-being must depend. :.
Here Is the Case In a Nutshell.
-. The conclusion to which. the rail-
- road men come from consideration