Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-02

on account OF the Northern Pacific panic,
the recent dividend episode and many other
things. His connection with the Equitable
Life Assurance society, his alleged stock
market Affiliations, his political life have
furnished texts for moralsts OF every grade
and caliber. Yet these things are hardly
germane to the central question; What
has e. II. Hartman done for his country,
his followers and his railw0ys?"
For the west, his policy has created a
new highway from the lakes to the Pacific
"a highway hardly second to the great
arteries of trafic from the Atlantic to the
lakes. He has undoubtedly brought
greater measure of prosperity to San Fran
cisco, Salt Lake City, Omaha and all the
intermediate territory than 1t could have
enjoyed without this highly efficient rail
road highway. He has opened little new
country but has increased and centralized
the business of the country he inherited.
For his stockholders, those VINO followed
him through to the end, he has laid up a
heritage of rich dividends today and rich
promise for tomorrow. The revenues of the
Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific
are ample to reply to the question.
For his railways, he has brought them
both from a state of poverty, decrepitude
and danger to a high position among their
far inevitably the result of nine years of
prosperity. It is difficult to say. 1t is
enough to say that the growth in strength
and wealth came while the railways were
in his hands.
III-Harriman-whnt NextF
The goal of the Hartman ambition for
the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific
has been practically reached. The era of
danger, of careful nursing, of painstaking
economy is passed Mr.. Hartman and his
two Pacific railways have entered into
their heritage.
Will Mr.. Hartman now change In his
ways and become a second Vanderbilt,
spend six months a year in Paris, buy
racing stable of due proportions and give
up the strenuous pursuit of railway power,
the care and trouble of railway administra-
ton? Will he do as the Gables did with
the old Rock Island, just let 1t run and
enjoy his revenues in the happy conscious
ness that he has made two great rail-
ways, and they owe him all they can pay
him?
No one believes It. No one can imagine
this man as the gentleman president" of
a NICE respectable and innocuous railway
system out west-such, for instance as the
Northwestern, the st. Paul and the Burling-
ton until very recent years-even IL That
railway is giving him stupendous revenues
year by year. The idea that this man, with
his tremendous ambition, his terrific en-
ergy, his restless, tireless capacity for work,
will long remain bottled up as the af1uent
president of an af1uent and completed rail-
way strikes the west-which knows him
as a Joke.
Then-what next? The answer TO that
question cannot yet be written. Because
there surely must be an answer, the finan-
cal world Is full of rumors. 1t says that
Mr. Hartman has used his profits In Union
Pacific TO buy the st. Paul. He intends
to exploit that staid, respectable, 'conven-
tional road as he has exploited the Union
Pacific. What he intends to do with 1t no
on tries to guess except that he Is going
to builS - the Pacific 1t pays per cent
on all iA stock today. Perhaps he will
double the stock and pay 10 per cent-who
knows?
This is cited but to illustrate. Every one
now knows that the Chicago 4 Northwest