The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1904-03-26

total capital stock of the Chicago.
Burlington & Quincy Railway Co.,
whose lines aggregated about 5000
miles and extended from St. Paul
to Chicago, and from st. Paul and
Chicago to Quincy, Burlington, Des
Moines, St. Louis, Kansas City,
} St. Joseph, Omaha, Lincoln, Den
yer, Cheyenne and Billings, where
it connected with the Northern Pa
ci6c Railroad. By this purchase
Of stock, the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific acquired full con-
troll Of the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy main line and branches.
Prior to Nov. ID, 1901, defendant
Hill and associate stockholders of
the Great Northern Railway Com
pany and defendant Morgan and
associate stockholders Of the North
ern Pacific Railway Company en-
tered into a combination to form,
under the laws Of New Jersey, a
holding corporation to be called
the Northern Securities Company
with a capital of $4OO, 100000 and
to which company in exchange for
it's capital stock upon a certain ba-
sis and at a certain rate, was to be
turned over the capital stock, or a
controlling interest in the capital
stock of each Of the constituent
railway companies, with power in
the holding corporation to vote
such stock and in all respects to
act as the owner thereof, and to do
whatever it might deem necessary
to aid in such railway companies
or to enhance the value of their
stocks.
In this manner, the interest of
the individual stockholders in the
property and franchises of the two
independent and competing rail-
way companies were to be con-
verified into an interest in theprop-
erty and franchises of the holding
corporation. Thus, "by making the
stockholders Of each system jointly
interested in both systems, and by
practically pooling the earning of
both for the benefit of the former
stockholders Of each and by vesting
the selection of the directors and
officers of each system in a common
body, to-wit, the holding corpora.
ton, with not only the power but
the duty to pursue a policy which
would. promote the interests, not of
one system at the expense Of the
other, but Of both at the expense
Of the public; all inducements or
competition between the two sys-
TENS was to be removed, a virtual
consolidation effected, and a mo-
nopoly of the interstate and foreign
commerce formerly carried on by
the two systems as Independent
competitors established"
HILL AND MORGAN CONSOLIDATE.
THEIR HOLDINGS TO CONTROL
THE MERGER.
The total authorized stock of the
corporation was fixed at $40O. OOO,-
600, divided into 1000, 600 shares
of the par value of 500 each. The
amount of capital stock with which
the corporation should commence
business was fixed at $4,000. The
duration of the corporation was to
be perpetuated. This charter hav-
ing been obtained, Hill and his
associate stockholders of the Great
Northern Railway Company as
signed to the Securities Company
a controlling amount of the capital
stock of" the respective constituent
companies upon an agreed basis of
exchange of the capital stock of the
Securities Company for each share
of the capital stock of the capital
stock of the other companies.
PUBLIC PLACED AT MERCY OF GREAT
HOLDING CORPORATION.
"The government charges that
il the combination was held not to
be in violation of the act of Con-
gress, then all efforts of the Ma
tional Government to preserve to
the people the benefits of free COM
petition among carriers engaged in
interstate commerce will be wholly
unavailing, and all transcontinen-
tai lines, indeed the entirerailway
systems of the country, may be ab-
sorho1 morood and consolidated