The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-03-26
! SATURDAY II RI MARCH: g. 1901.
r,he Northern Securities Case.
n !.

Il The Northern Securities Vase l-'sls''
!rhc stanton Dispatch discusses at
some length the decision In the North ~
Il arm Securities case concluding by asE:ng g
what good has beet. ACCOMPLISHED s. q BY the the
famous victory which tbs government has has
won. Ne }sss ~
IN plain English asks our con ltltstrt
i ,,ors ry, whom will 1t benefit and how7
III surely, decision thatsw looked e: for
8Sa ward to with so much leaEernessI ought
4 ~ nave results that are instant and large.
!. we vera told that the two great systems
81 ~ roads that had been practically CONF
lined were sitting competit ton, and We're
Il not giving the people Of the various To-
ga calIties they traverse the advantages 4 III
rates and facilities to which they are are
is,3entitled The decision was to do away
with this state OF, affairs and to- rest
ia the people the chance to- compete, 70
get batter terms, we suppose oyer one
5S road or the other, no matter " h1 lcr.sa
NOV that the plans OF these great
mergers of. property have been5 defea TED.
S these who won the victory ought 70 ! be-
ss able to show the results Of their victory.
$s85Ie they point simply to the fact that
we reply: IF that IS all You have DONE
81 Vol have simply used the forms OF law
- to strike q blow for anarchy. How much
better is this than the course of the
I French commune IfFan attack on prop-l
erty ia all you contemplate. whom Will 1t
benefit to destroy property
eve ask for compensat ting benefits to
~ the people in whose name tho attack was
n made. We ask our friends to sit down
II calmly and figure out, If they can, one
single penny that has COME or Is coming
ITO THE people of the great n n Invest hy
reason Of this victory. II n ii s3is S
I There is much sense in this So far as
III IL IN case il, point is concerned, and SO
far as thesdecision; Of the court relates
this corporation alone lit cannot pc
claimed, We think. that q ny \ benefit to
& the railroads involved, or to the coun-
sI try through which they pass, or to the
IL public at large has accrued. The forlna-
35St:on Of the Northern Securities Company
" did no harm. In fact Its formation was
@ the only way out Of e tangled situation
Il in which a number Of large railroad "a cor l'
porations had become involved. y here
was a fight, as we have already explain
ed. between the owners Of the Northern
Pacific and Great Northern roads on,the
one hand and the, owners of the Union
Pacific on the other, the result OF which
was a Wall Street panic After the
manic the men Interested came together
and agreed to pool their interests"
They proposed to make peace instead OF
continuing disastrous war. They agreed
4 TO put all their holdings together and
the only practicable means !, Of doing this
was to organize, "a securities holding COM
Al pany. 81
The formation of this company was al
most a stroke of genius. 1t greatly re-
8liered the financial situation at that
u time. and removed q menace to pros
perity. The railroads involved have gone
81 on as usual, have greatly increased their
earnings, have given their patrons a
GOOD service at q fair rate, and, SO far
US Nc have heard. there has been no
complaint whatever against them. In
Other words, II the patrons Of these
Il reads had not known OF the formation.
e OF the Northern Securities Company they
would not have known from the opera
ton OF the roads that there had been
any change in their ownership.
Fl But there Is another side to the Dues
" ton. In q broader rense. tho decision
has done good. First and foremost It
has brought to the attention Of the pub.
M lie a law which has for years and which
Is to-day menace to the great corpor-
s ata interests OF tho United States. for 1t
fpSp al 10 In
should be strictly and rigidy enforced.
ii would dissolve many OF the large cor
porations of the country, and put them
Il out of business, Therefore. one or the
other of two things must happen; Either
tho law must be amended or the COR
porations must adjust themselves TO It.,
4 Ths law makers and the corporations
and the probability Is that the Supreme
5E Court will not be called upon to decide
an, more cases like the Northeen Securi-
Ties case. Nys believe that all such cases
! viii be settled out of court.
Another good result, which has been
accomplished. Is that ambitious men are
warned that they must not so too far
4 IN organizing and operating corporations.
81 Every man of sense comedies that cor
d porations are necessary In this age, and
Z that they should be encouraged and pro-
tec ted by law. But they must also be
restrained by law, They must lbe kept
within bounds; there are limits beyond
which they must not be permitted TO go
Tho court has warned them that they
Y may be restrained by law. and that they
cannot dodge behind the United States
Il government TO violate a State statute,
Altogether tn. decision OF the cour'
las accomplished good. and that y has
rot seriously Injured any CORPORA llon y