The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-16
ALTON GOES TO
THE ROCK ISLAND
Union Pacific Only Had a Mi
n0rity Interest in Wrecked
Railway Property.
AGREEMENT Is hRR0GkTEn
AGREEMENT is ABROGGTED
TALK WITH DIRECTOR OF THE
HARTMAN ROAD.

New York, June ia director of the
Union Pacific Railroad company,
speaking of the abrogation of the Chi
cago & Alton agreement today, said:
THE suggestion in today's papers
that there is to be a contest for the
control of the Alton is absurd. A clear
majority of the Alton stock is now
owned by the Rock Island interests
and has been owned by that interest
for nearly three years.
''The right of the Union Pacific to
own stock in the Chicago & Alton is
not open to question. since their lines
are nowise parallel or competing. The
Union Pacific could lawfully hold all
of the stock, but the Rock Island owns
q line between Chicago and Kansas
City parallel with the line of the Chi
cago & Alton, and if there is any
doubt about the agreement being legal,
Il is due entirely to the competitive
interest of the Rock Island company.
Instead of being a restrictive. the eff
feet of the agreement was obviously
intended TO be and absolutely has been
the contrary. When il was entered into
in October, 1904, the Rock Island
owned a clear majority of the road,
thus the Alton would soon have be-
come subject to the control of paral-
lei, competing line.
Alternate Control.
by the agreement control was post
pOned for two years, and thereafter
the interests were entitled TO control
only in alternate years. The effect
was to inevitably relieve the Alton
from and preserve its absolute indie
pendence of control by a competing
company every alternate year. 1t is
very difficult. therefore, to see how the
agreement would be regarded as in
restraint of trade. Mr.. Hartman tes-
titled before the commission that the
main inducement for the Union Pacific
TO enter into the agreement was the
understanding that the Rock Island
would use the Kansas City line for its
through traffic and the Union Pacific
would use the Kansas City-St Louis
line for its eastern connection out of
Kansas City, and that with both sys-
TENS using the Alton. the latter would
serve the needs of the two and prove
profitable to the stockholders and con-
serve the public interest. But the Rock
Island never carried out the plan thus
contemplated, and hence one of the
main purposes of the management as
far as the Union Pacific is concerned
has failed. and as the Rock Island de-
sired to abrOgate it, the Union Pacific
acquiesced, being still of the opinion
that the public disfavOr into which the
agreement has been brought is due to
a misconceptiOn of its terms and effect.
The Alton now. by the abrOgation of
the agreement, comes under the abSO-
lutte control of the Rock Island with it's
great competitive interests
No Change Was Made.
The intimation in the morning pa
pers that the very satisfactory results
of the operation of the Alton for the
year about closing is due to any change
I'm the mana cement, is without fOunda-
ton. While under the voting aTree-
ment the Rock Island interest was Civ
en- one more director, making a major
ity of the board at the election of 1906
IL continued without any change what
ever in the management of the road
as il existed since the syndicate took
it over in 1899. Mr.. FELTON,, the presi-
dent, and his entire staff has continued
III the actual management of the prop
erty, and the results achieved are due
entirely to the improvement of the
property, and the management inaugu-
rated Mr.. Harriman's control and con-
tinued to this date"