Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-11-11

:;::i;;y.S James J. Hill and
ElIll.mIIIImIIl Edward II. Hartman
have been public fig
ures Of vital interest. Previous to 1890
neither of them was especially well
known outside of railroad circles
When the memorable struggle began
the public at once demanded to be
made wise concerning these warning
rivals and their schemes for securing
railway precedence.
When IL was built. the Northern Pa
cific had the aid of immense land grants
from the government. but for a long
time il was not profitable, having been
in the hands of the courts at least
twice and having become involved In
a network of litigation. 1t was in this
degenerate condition when Mr.. Hill
and his friends got possession of ma
1ority of it's stock and proceeded TO
readjust matters. The new owner could
not consolidate his purchase with his
Great Northern, for that was forbidden
by the law. He operated both roads
tremendously for awhile and looked
about to see what he could do
In those days IL was Mr.. Hills princi-
pal object in life to secure the con-
troll of some line that would feed the
Great Northern and connect il with
Chicago. He tried his best 10 acquire
the Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul.
but holdings of the stock of that road
were so concentrated that he could not
get control. Then he turned to the Chi
cago Burlington and Quincy and found
that the chances were better. He kept
under cover and went TO Boston and
bought stock in the open market and
in the course of time achieved his pur-
pose.
Then the quarrel began. Until then
Mr.. Hllrs property had not been in
active competition with the Union Pa
Cifc and the Southern Pacific routes,
the lines traversing widely separate
territory. The Burlington. however.
HIS new purchase, was in lively oppo-
sition TO the Union Pacific throughout
its entire course, the lines being prac-
tically parallel. Edward II. Hartman
had obtained the ascendency in Union
Pacific and Southern matters. and he
made up his mind to head off this
threatening invasion. His first step
was To adopt HIS trick OF buying in
the open ma rket. He bought Northern
Pacific until Hill discovered the scheme
and began buying in competition.
Shares of Northern Pacific stock went
up 10 1000. and the excitement grew
30 intense that there were symptoms
of "a panic.
J. Pierpont Morgan, then abroad.
heard of the impending crash and
Counseled moderation by cable. Finally
both sides agreed to stop buying and
the panic was averted. When the at
mosphere cleared II was found that
one party held a majority OF the COM
mon stock and the other a ma jority of
the preferred. Neither side had actual
control. Affairs were in that unset
tied and unsatisfactory condition when
A scheme the ODRrQtiOn of the
Northern Pacific. the Great Northern
and the Burlington was Matched by a
Minnesota lawyer. who drew up a char
ter under the law OF New Jersey for
new organization called the North
ern Securities company. Mr.. Harri-
man and his supporters did not have
much faith in the arrangement, fear
ing that it would not pass muster I'm
the courts. but they were obliged to
accept il.
The supreme court OF the United
States did not take kindly to the new
organization. 1t decided that IL was
contrary TO the Sherman antitrust law
and that II must be dissolved and all
the stock OF the three roads returned
pro rata to the original owners. Then
there arose a great dispute rs to how
the stock should be returned Hill
proposed to redistribute the stock so
that he and his friends would retain
control of the Great Northern and the
Northern Pacific roads Hartman and
his friends demanded that they should
receive the identical shares which they
had surrendered when the new COM
pany was formed. 1t was taken into
the courts decided in favor OF the Har-
riman contention. reversed and finally
decided by the United States supreme
court in Hill's favor.
James J. Hill. who is the builder of
tn only transcontinental line ever con-
structed without government aid. has
been a great figure in the railway world
for about dozen years. The last
spike was driven in his Great Northern
railroad in January. 1898. the same year