Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-02-27

we have any idea of doing it, but would
il not be a good thing?"
Commissioner Lane: "Supposing tina
you got the Santa Fe?"
Mr.. Hartman: You would not let
us get it,
| Commissioner Lane: How could We
help it?'
Mr.. Hartman: How could YOU heir
it? l think you would bring out you
! power to enforce the conditions of tn,
! Sherman antitrust act pretty quick
| If you will let US I will go and tax,
the Santa Fe tomorrow"
! Mr.. Hartman: why, certainly
v ould; would not have any hesitation
/ 1t is a pretty good property"
Commissioner Lane: Then it is on
ly the restriction If the law that keeps
you from taking it?'
| Mr. Hartman: Il would go on as
long as | lived
| Commissioner Lane: Then afte,
you had gotten through with the Santa
| Fe, and had taken it you would ais,
take the Northern Pacific and Greai
| Northern, if you could get them?'
ar Hartman: IF you would lei
me-"
| commissioner l4ttlle. ana your
power. which You would have gener-
ally increased as YOU took one road af-
ter another. SO that you might spread
not only over the Pacific coast, bu
spread out over the Atlantic coast"
Mr.. Hartmann: Yes, but hasn't
your organization increased in power
| Commissioner Lane: 1T undoubted
ly has That is what I am coming to
1
intervene there and should restrict you
in your power to use money raised TO
railroad purposes and raised on rail
road securities to the actual improve
ment of that railroad. or should yo'
be allowed to use it for acquisition OF
other railroads."
| Mr.. Hartmann: II think we shou
be allowed to use it for the -acquisi
ton of other railroads under propel
| regula TONS
| Commissioner Lane: "Now. what
| Mr. Hartmann: lone minute Whar
I meant by that is this. This is prob
| ably an illustration which l nigh
| make, as the law exists railroads ar
| prevented from consolidating or com
| bning. Take the instance of the Burl
| ington, Quincy and Great Northern am
| Northern Pacific, it was not GOO
| thing for the Northern Pacific and tho
| Great Northern and Burlington, or fo'
| the Northern Pacific and Great North
| ern to buy all the stock and eliminatr
| from the situation $4,000. or 10000
| small stockholders; that is what the
| did. They turned those $4,000 or 5000
| small stockholders from stakeholder
| to creditors, so that they were elimi
| mated from the development of tn
business on the lines of railroad. They
| did not care anything about it as Ions
| as they got the interest on the bonds
| Now if we had some legal method
| whereby the Burlington and Northern
| Pacific and Great Northern, under
| some legal restriction had been per
| mitted to make contracts by which
| hey could approximately have accom-
| plished the same thing, it would not
| have been necessary to issue the $780,
| 100000 of bonds to acquire the Burl
| ington stock, and the ownership of
these securities would have been in
| the hands of the people, where l be-
| lieve it is better as it should be. l
| have never gone to the extent of
| eliminating so far as we could possibly
avoid It, ownership by small people in
our property; we have been partners
of theirs and have tried to be partners
of the public"
/ Commissioner Lane: And you want
the powers of the commission still
further increased?'
| Mr.. Hartman: Gnterrupting) 4
cannot say that l do unless we have
our own power increased.
| Commissioner Lane, you want your
powers increased so that you can COM
bine. and you want us given power in
the first place to insure the rate
| Mr.. Hartman: yes to regulate and
go hand in hand with us. There is no
other country in the world where tho
business interests are so antagonized by
the government as this one"
Commissioner Lane: There is no 9TH
er government in the world that has Civ
en- so much land and money to the rail-
roads as this
Mr. Hartman: But there is no other
country in which railroads have improv-
ed the country as in this country
| Commissioner Lane: 1T is not a fact
that every reSulatvc act upon the rail-
road is the result of some policy pursued
by the railroads themselves"
| MT. IIdrriman: Il believe are
right l think the railroads themselves
are more to blame than any one fatcor
for the condition that exists today, the
antagonisms between the people and the
legislatures and the railroads them
selves
AS the court room darkened in the
evening, Commissioner Lane claimed at
tentton and, leaning across the bench.
began an impressive sketch of the enor-
nous requirements of the Union Pacific
under Hartman. He began with the is
suance of the s1OO,OOO,OOO in bonds and
traced its purchases out to Portland on
the coast in the Orient by steamship
lines. back to San Francisco, to Ogden,
TO New Orleans, to New York by steam
ships, into the Northern Pacific and ont
again. into the Alton. the Illinois Gem
tral, the Santa Fe, the Baltimore & Ohio
and the New York Central. His face
paled and his voice grew more impress