Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-16
MEXICO FEARS TRUST
Reason Government Wants
Control of -the Railways.
BAR TO AMERICAN SYSTEMS
Remarkable Statement by Minister
Limantour.
OWNERSHIP IDEA IS POPULAR
Cabinet Officer Tells Congress Defen-.,
sive Action is Necessary to Save
Lines From American Combine.
OWNERSHIP IDEA IS POPULAR

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, December 15.-
Minister Of Finance Limantour, In q
speech remarkable for its straightforward
ness, has presented to congress the rea-
sons which prompted the government to
consummate the great railroad merger by
which the. republic comes into possession
of the two great trunk lines of the coun-
try, together with thousands of miles of
subsidiary lines. With the control Of the
National and the Central, together with
dependent lines. the Mexican government
practically owns all of the big operating
lines of the country.
The most remarkable statement in the
minister's speech was that to the effect
that the government was forced to go
into the railroad business on larger scale
because of fear of what he styled the great
railroad trusts in the United States. He
said that If this defensive action had not
been taken by Mexico some Of the great
railway systems of the United States would
enter the republic and swallow the trans
portation facilities of the country. This
he characterized as peril which was now
alarming the people of the great northern
important forecast which -intimated that
the merger vas only the beginning of a
great plan, and he declared that the Mexi-
can government had decided to vigorously
For Speedy Consideration.
After delivering his speech he presented
bill, at the request of President Diaz,
the speaker said, asking that the session of
congress which is about to close be pro-
longed that the whole situation might be
carefully considered by the deputies and
the senator's. During the address Minister
Limantour said that the government was
at tn int ba
ness In 1903. when the National was pur-
chased, because of the fact that merger
between that line and the Central was
then about to be consummated.
At that time the government declared
that its attitude in railroad affairs would
from thenceforth be passive. but the cir
cumstances mentioned, he said, had been
forced by the so-called railway trust of the
United States. The minister said:
Gentlemen, you are familiar with the
aspect offered by the transportation ques-
ton In the neighboring nation; the prob
lem there is only phase of the trust
question, which may be characterized as
peril Those great corporations are be-
ing extended every day, and many of them
cover considerable areas of territory. The
tendency to expansion has been SO pro-
nounced in recent years that it may be
added that the aim of most of the fnan-
cial interests, controlling the great trans
portation system of the United States. is
to absorb as many other lines as possible.
1.-THE United States government, alarmed
by the tendency and DESTROYS of initiating
pa reaction against 1t, has, you well
know taken action which aims at combin-
ing those organizations and checking their
continued expansion. Under these circum-
stances 1t was natural that we on our
side should endeavor to prevent the power
full corporations in question, attacked as
they being by all legal means in their
own country. well as harassed by the
pressure Of public opinion. from coming
hither and seeking to absorb those Mexican
railroads which are not already under the
direct control of the government"
Minister'S Reasons.
The minister summed I'D his argument as
follows:
Thus, gentlemen. there are three main
arguments for the incorporation of the two
great systems of the National and the
Central: First, to avoid friction between
the different corporations when the two
are competing lines, or when one of them
fears being antagonized by a concert in
which the government holds controlling in
of properties not controlled by the gov
eminent by one of the great railway sys-
TENS of the United States, and thirdly
the prospect of realizing considerable econ
omieS through the consolidation of all the
great railways under a single manage
ment."
The speech throughout it's delivery was
frequently appauded. There seemed to
be an overwhelming sentiment in favor of
the idea as advanced by Senator Imam
tour.