Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-02-08

commerce and which would inS that way
restrain such trade or commerce is made
Illegal and that such illegality does moi
depend upon restraints of interstate com
merce which are unreasonable in then
nature, but embrace all direct restraints
imposed by any combination, conspiracy
or monopoly upon such commerce.
The above being the law of the case, ]
find on page 1854 of the hearings before
the senate interstate commerce committee
the following facts. Mr.. Clements, one of
the interstate commerce commissioners.
says:
ION this subject of consolidation etc,
1 have some figures here further illustrat-
ing the processes by which it goes on
steadily, and I have taken this simply be-
cause it is a striking illustration of the
same consolidation and combination
which must affect the limitation on COM
petition. The Pennsylvania railroad has
$685. 504, $50 in stock and the Pennsylvania
company s40,0O0,000, the Baltimore and
Ohio company $1S4C0 900, the Chesapeake
and Ohio $62, 900, 900, the Norfolk and West
ern $S9,000000, the Philadelphia, Baltimore
and Washington railroad $23,000000, the
Northern Central Railroad company SILL
100000. / am merely giving you the round
numbers here without the odd dollars. :
''There are great many other railroads
in the Pennsylvania system. / am only
speaking of these important lines This
includes the Pennsylvania Railroad COM
pany and the Pennsylvania company, the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company,
the Norfolk and Western, the Chesa-
peake and Ohio, the Philadelphia, Balti-
more and Washington and the Northern
Central. I have limited these to this num-
Der because they are very conspicuous
and important roads and Illustrate the
manner in which these holdip are inter-
locked, SO to speak, with Sc different
roads, OF the stock of the pennsylvania
company the Pennsylvania railroad com
pany owns all--$40 900, COO. the stock OF
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad com
pany which is 10000, the Pennsyl-
vania owns s51000,o00 and the Pennsyl-
vania company s16,000,000, the Philadelphia,
Baltimore and washington Railroad com
pany owns 81, 7S1, 900, and the Northern Cen
trail Railroad company owns 81, 78l,00O. OF
the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohlo
Railroad company which is $62,000,000 the
Pennsylvania railroad owns 10000, 000 the
Pennsylvania company $4oo0,00o, the
Northern Central Railway company
S1,5O0, 900. OF the stock of the Norfolk and
Western Railroad company, which is $685.
100000. the Pennsylvania Railroad COM
pany owns $25.0O00OO, the Pennsylvania
company S26,50000o, the Northern Central
company s.. 800, COO, and of the stock of the
Philadelphia Baltimore and Washington
Raj -oad company which is $23000,O00, the
Pennsylvania Railroad company owns
SIS. 100000, with some odd figures-prac-
tieally all.
A Reasonable Inference.
.sNow. among the persons who are on
boards of directors one person who is on
the PENNSYLVANIA Railroad company s
board of directors is on twenty-four diff
ferent boards of directors. Another per-
son is on seventeen boards and so on.
Some of these directors are on practically
all of these boards of directors. For In
stance. Mr.. Barnes is on the directorship
of the Norfolk and Western road, the
Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania
company, the Pennsylvania Railroad COM
pany, but not on the Chesapeake and
Ohio. Mr.. McRae is on the Pennsylvania
company, the Pennsylvania Railroad COM
pany, the Baltimore and Ohio and the
Norfolk and Western. And SO it goes. ]
have these statements, which illustrate
how the management of these roads is IN
the hands of the same men.
ssBut | think it a legitimate inference
when the same, or many of the same.
people are on the board of directors OF
each one of these roads, or all but one,
that they are not as likely to indulge IN
competition with one another as they
were when they were separate and dis
tinct and independent. That seems to be
a reasonable inference
l feel confident that a full report from
the interstate commission will develop
the fact that these roads are under one
MANAGEMENT, that the rates of freight are
fixed by one controlling head and that
such thing as competition among them
does not exist.
I call attention to another fact disclosed
in the hearings before the Interstate COM
merce commission in the case entitled No
3D. Red Rock Fuel company versus Bal
timore and Ohio Railroad company, de.
cided Nov %, 1865, where in substance
this condition of affairs is revealed: Not
only are the Pennsylvania railroad, the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad and others
in combination to control railroad traffic
proper, but that they own coal mines in
combination, and that they refused ac-
Communications for the shipment of coal by
Independent coal miners.
In the case last above referred to the
complainant was corporation for the
purpose of mining coal. 1t had 1900 acres
Of land, 1900 of which were underlaid with
coal. This coal field was in the Paramount
district, West Virginia. The company was
independent of any railroad companies
and simply desired to get its coal out
as interstate commerce. These coal mines
are situated near the track of the rail-
road company controlled by the B. and Q.
BY building switch track $3.50 feet long,
which the company proposed to do and
was ready to do, they could connect with
the B. and 0. track, provided the latter
would permit the connection. The Balti.
more and Ohio Railroad company refused
to allow the connection, and the facts
clearly show that the reason they refused
is that these roads are in combination. as
above stated, not only for the purpose OF
controlling freight traffic proper, but also
for the purpose of mining coal, and sim
ply to keep this companyss coal out of the
market in competition with their coal
they refused to permit this connection.
The interstate commerce commission de-
cfoed against the railroad company and
ordered that it permit the connection to
be made so that the complainant COM
pany could get the product of its mines
on the markets of the country In the
finding of fact by the commission in this
case it clearly discloses, to my mind,
a barefaced, bald, open conspiracy in
restraint Of interstate commerce, and
believe if the interstate commission viii
make full and complete report of all
the facts in its possession tending to
rff,I i0faS