The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1905-04-28
IN NO POSITION TO FIGHT JIM
HILL.
MERGER KING is SUPREME
Union Pacific Magnate Not Strong
Enough to Successfully Invade
Northwestern Field.

New York, April 26-As J. ]. Hill
swung down Liberty street the other
day on his way from the ferry to his
office, he was greeted by the cries
of the newsboys calling extras of the
evening papers containing fearful and
wonderful accounts OF the alleged
"great fight" which was crumbling
the prices of Northern Securities,
Union Pacific and allied stocks.
what do you think of it, Mr.. Hill?"
he was asked.
IF you want to believe that kind Of
rot" said Mr.. Hill mo one is going to
stop you. 1t is not even respectable
fiction"
Later in the day, when definite de-
tails of the flight" were shown him,
covering the alleged plans of E. H.
Hartman to build a through line to
the coast between the Great North.
ern and Northern Pacific, Mr.. Hill
smiled grimly:
"It looks interesting, but it would
be too expensive" was all that he
would say.
The exact way in which it would be
too expensive is the subject matter
of the following remarks, from one
of the closest associates of j. J. Hill
and one of the men whose names
appear in the list OF large holders OF
Northern Securities stock, recently
published:
Load Too Heavy.
eff war of that kind broke out, the
Milwaukee and the Northwestern
would be up against it in three years
and the Union Pacific would be itself
on the verge, carrying two, or perhaps
three, bankrupt railroads on it's books
as assets. Therefore war is not &C.
ing to break out. The reason is that
old man Hill has got the railroads
Of the great northwest by the tail,
and they know it.
"The Great Northern was built
across the continent on the lowest
possible grades and at the lowest
possible cost. 1t was built on the
stock, not on bonds. The others were
built on bonds and the stocks were
the rakeoff. That is the reason that
the Great Northern could cut it's an
nual earnings to $5,O00,O0O and still
be solvent. If you cut down the freight
earnings of the Union Pacific 40 per
cent-that is enough to meet the cut
possible on the Great Northern with
out causing Hill to default-Union Pa
ciflc would not earn it's charges by
over $3,000,000 a year. With simi-
lar reduction, the Milwaukee and the
Northwestern would run $5000,000
behind fixed charges every year.
Hill Holds the Key.
Figure as you please on the bound
less credit and power of the Union
Pacific, in the end it comes to this,
that j. J. Hill has in his hands the
key to the northwestern railroad sit
uation. Mr.. Hartman may rave in
his disappointment over his defeat in
the invasion of Hill territory. I do
not believe that either Mr.. Hartman
or the banker who have stood behind
him, and to whom he owes so much
of his power, will dare to lift hand
to precipitate again the state of af-
fairs that landed the Union Pacific
in the receivership of 1898.
"There is not going to be war in
the northwest. There is going to be
peace-and the. kind of peace that j,
J. Hill and J. P. Morgan say that there
will be. A month from now it will
be known across this continent that
there is peace. These alleged fights
arise out of market conditions. After
il is all over there will probably be
a Encouragement of the situation up
north, but it will take a form not
looked for anywhere. 1t will be o
split in one party-not a split be-
tween two parties. Also-it won't
hurt Hill, When it is all over you
will note that old man Hill Is still
the biggest railroad man west of the
Mississippi river, if not west of the