The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-14

moved from Atlsstic ports to Pacific coast points h conDetition with the all raA cArrters.
 By virtue of tho oonsolsdat,en Of the Union Papific AnA 1ontbesn Pacific tteamshiD, compAnies All oompAkition between these stsamship linss has been destroyed and there ie/ some evidence possibility of -naintnAning n. in6epen- dent steamship Mne running out Of any of theae ports without thS consent of and arransement with ccnnecting raii
 The santa Fe Company. formerly had line of steamships to the Orient, con- meeting with. its road at San Diego. Calf. Under an arrangement, with the Pacific MailA steamship Company for. . division of the Oriental business brought to tkis country Nby thAk com pany. this independent santa Fe line was abandoneA A
 It is . mattSr of large signiflcance that our trade rklations with the new ly acquired territory of Hawaii and our Philippine dependencies. to say nothing whatever of the newly awak- ened lands on the other side of the Pacific ocean must depend to no slight degree upon the competitive relations between rail carriers reaching our Pacific coast ports.
 There is further consideration of national policy arising out of the his- tory of the Union Pacific. the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific roads which distin- guishes . combination of such roads. The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific were born out of na- tion felt the necessity for rail con- tional felt the necessity for Fail con- nection to its isolated Pacific coast ter- ritory and for this purpose and to an unprecedented degree pledged its own lands to create . national highway be- tween ths Missouri river and the bay Of San Francisco. In every statute ress- ed by Congress affecting these roads there 10 to bs found. proof of che exis- tence of such policy. Under the at of June 90, 1874. they were to be built toward each other---one from the east and the other from the yves. .-and were to form one continuous line which was business and govetnm sn:al necessities of our people.
 Tho Union Pacific was therefore for ever guaranteed without purchase. a connection with the Central Pacific up- on terms as favorable as might be giv- en to any other connection.
 In the construction of thess roads the people had in view the protection of the frontier in timce of war the settlement of . great wilderness west Of the Missouri river and the develop neA t of it's resource.
 In no other portion of .he country is the federal government expanding such large sums for the purposs of de- velopment as h this great western region tributary to the Union Pacific and the Southern Pa ;i;ic and in no other part of the Un.ted States is the commerce of the country dependent up, on So few railways co,,iny 50 vast a territory and controlled hy so few men: l: could such control ha Ss such far reach- ing effect.
 It is undoubtedly true that this is . desirable connection, but as We have seen. whether purchased or not. the Central Pacific is required to form a through line of transportation with the Union Pacific and not to diseriminate against 1t in the receipt and trans portation of freight and through traf- hc. The public is entitled to all the advantages of this line as a competi-t tive line of transportation with other trans-c0ntinental railroads
 The various lines which now com pose the Southern Pacific from New Or leans to California, were also built un- der the patronage or the Federal 0ov- ernment. by the donation of many mill lions of acres of Government land and formed an important and separate route.
 While Congress did not prohibit in express terms the union of these great Federal railroad systems. 1t is hardly to be believed that such prohibition would not have been imposed had 1t been thought that in the course of time they would have been brought un- der a single control.
 The report then details tho stepa taken to secure control of each of the roads before mentioned, and concluded with the famous Alton deal. Part of the report on the Alton and the com- ment thereon follows:
 It developed during the inquiry that the Union Pacific Railroad in the year 1903 became the owner of 103.431 shares of the preferred stock of the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company and the Commission therefore deemed