The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-24
WAR OF GIANTS.
Hill and Hartman in a Battle
for Supremacy.
Contest Is for Control of West
ern Traffic.
ADVANCE IN Up. STOCK
Secret of Recent Steady Gain in
Prices Is Out.
Hartman Sold and Hill and
Morgan Bought.

| Chicago, Dec. 2S.-The New York cor
respondent Of the Chicago Evening
Post, who is recognized as unusually
well posted on big doings in Wall Street
says:
Wall Street Is on the outlook for an
other Encouragement of the Northwest
ern railway map and holiday melon
cutting by James J. Hill.
Ever since the United States supreme
/ court put Kills railway trust compro-
mise company-the Northern Securities
practically out of business, the great
railroad and industrial chief of the great
northwest has been devising plans
quietly to carry out some of his old
ideas about progressive upbuilding of
his territory and properties. The failure
Of his merger compromise was a great
disappointment to him and now it is
possible to state definitely a few of the
wide reaching plans which, as Mr. Hill
said recently to some of his financial
hackers. will make you as much money
in the next seven years as I made for
my old associates in 25 years"
Mr.. Hill likes to make good but he
| takes his own good time. He knew the
! Great Northern branch of the Northern
| Securities was the. possessor of valuable
!
| developed to great profit to his friends
/ This property apparently is to be the
/ next means of turning dollars into the
/ laps of his associates.
It has been known here for some
/ days that the leases of the ore lands
to the United States Steel corpora
/ ton on a sliding royalty scale lacked
| only signatures to make them effective.
/ When these are completed the Great
Northern's lands will be operated on
a fFaraa civ S-lr
win net four per cent the first year
and finally 10 per cent on the capital
of the holding company which will re-
ceive the profits.
Mr.. HIPS Plan.
It is Mr. Hill s. plan at present to
make the remnant Of his one-time
1-$40o, zoo. 600 Northern Securities COM
pany serve this particular. In order
to do the right thing by his financial
associates, he says he will distribute
| to them any new stock issued by this
: company at rock bottom figures.
But his plans go still farther. The
Great Northern. and the Northern Pa
! cihc-untl recently held by the North
ern Securities company-are too
! closely associated They have Jointly
/ bonds, the proceeds. of the sale of
which went to buy the Chicago. Bur
| lington & Quincy. This road now must
have different control and conse-
I IuC1itly It Is pldIAilGQ 10 nave II mem
Der of the Great Northern family.
where it originally was intended to
abide.
Irfaorder to bring about this change,
I me Great Northern Pacific
| Burllngto ton joint per cent bonds must
be retired and the Northern Pacific
! must be paid about $25 600 900 for its
equity, There is a bare possibility that
the real purpose of the recent issue of
S25,000,000 Great Northern stock coin
cides with. the present need for new
stock. There is clause in the mort
gage behind these bonds which stipu-
| lates that they may be retired on six
months notice any time after January
1, 1906 at los and interest.
Recent activity in the market for the
bonds suggests the Hill-NIorgan inter-
ests have been buying up with a view
| of saving what can be saved of the
price between current market rates and
s25. 100000 to Spend.
After these bonds have been retired
and new ones issued, the Northern Pa
cific VIII have s2560e, 600 to spend and
Mr. Hill thinks about 1000 miles of new
trackage tapping valuable territory will
be good policy This is not because of
the contracts now under way for ex-
tending the Chicago, Milwaukee & st.
Paul to the Pacific coast.
The other day in conference with one
of his western friends, Mr.. Hill said he
would be willing to give the st. Paul
| the use of his coast terminals "at cost
for the good it would do in developing
the ports of the northwest
When the Northern Pacific uses its
! S25,O0O,0O0, and more for these extern
sions it probably will issue some new
stock in order to make the project com
plete.
Hill and Hartman are not wholly
/ reconciled to each other and there is
some rivalry between these giants and
! the st. Paul. According to current
Wall street Information Hill and his
banker. J. P. Morgan, think Harri-
mans Union Pacific a good proposition
to leave untouched. Until only recent
~ it was known generally that the
/ Union Pacific, through the OREGON
Short Line, owned a great block of the
/ Hill stocks owned in turn through
Northern. Securities. Much of this prop
erty has been sold openly until Union
Pacific stockholders specially the
! speculative sort@are champing to get
a. distribution of the profits of the "a la
It is said here that Hill and Morgan
ia order not to let too many profits
from their own projects, go over to
their old enemy, have been buying
Union Pacific heavily of late
It is even declared they expect to
/ get a representation on the board of
! the company. Mr.. Hartman specu-
! lates not a little. In carrying out his
! projects he had to tell some of his
/ friends his plans and the stock mar
! ket accordingly got too strong for his
i notions. It is said in order to hold
! down speculation he sold more Union
/ Pacific stock than he should have done
1 if he hoped to keep control and that
Mr. Hill and Mr.. Morgan bought it.
/ This would never do, so Mr.. Hartman
sold most of what stocks Of HiIl's COM
panies he held in order to pay for
! having been caught mapping and to
buy back precious Union Pacific stock
In the meantime Hartman, so it is
said here, has conceived the old plan
Of bringing his road into alliance with