The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-26
Attorney General Bonapate WiII Begin At Once Fight on
 the Union Pacific
HARTMAN NAMED AS
 PRINCIPAL BEFENBINT
Counsel For Hartman Lines Does Not Believe That Absorbed Roads Will Be Taken Away Because of
 Technical Points in Law.

Washington, January 25.-(Special)--
 Attorney General Bonaparte announced
 late this afternoon that he would in-
 stitute proceedings at once to have the
 merger between the Union Pacific and
 The San Pedro. Los Angeles and Salt
 Lake and the Oregon Short Line dis
 solved. as a merger in restraint of trade.
 This is the long contemplated suit against
 the Hartman lines
 The Attorney Generals statement in-
 dicates that the suit will be brought
 along the lines found so effective in the
 Northern Securities case. Special Coun-
 sel F. s. Kellogg will handle the case
 for the government.
 Aside from the roads as a corporate
 defendant the government will make the
 Farmers Loan and Trust company of
 New York a technical defendant, as it acts as trustee of the stock and then
 names Edward H. Hartman Otto Kahn.
 William A. Clark and other prominent
 members of the directorates of the two l roads as defendants
 Judge R. S. Lovett, who is chief coun- sel for the Hartman roads, is in the 1 city. When asked today about the case, he said:
 'I assume that the case will be fought out in court. The law as l understand it, prohibits the merging of built and competing line. It seems the chief point
 of the government reyolves around the
 San Pedro line. That road was not built
 when the Union Pacific took over control of it. It is extremely dubious whether
 it comes under the purview of the law l The government will base most of it's
 charges upon evidence adduced ny ths
 interstate commerce comrnlssion in it's
 investigation of the Harriman lines.
 Official Statement. The Attorney General today issued an official statement to this effect and after 1 referring to the extended investigation l by the interstate commerce commission
 into the relations existing between the 1 various lines of road engaged in trans l continental traffic, says
 From the evidence so adduced and l from independent investig the de-
 partment has arrived at the conclusion
 that the stock holdings of the Union
 Pacific and its subsidiary companies in
 the other corporations mentioned above i is in direct violation of the Sherman l act.
 The department regards the suit as i of first importance and 1t is sought by | means thereof to break up a substan- 1 tial monopoly of the transportation 1 business of the country between the Missouri river on the east and the en- l tire Pacific coast south of Portland. 1 Ore, on the west.
 Aside from the railway companies ! above mentioned, the other defend- 1 ants In the suit are the Farmers Loan l and Trust company of New York. which l is the depository of all the stock of ] the San Pedro road under a contract l by which 1t is required to give proxies 1 to such persons as may be named by | MT. Hartman and Mr. Clark for a l period of years. There are also the 1 following individual defendants who | the alleged to have conceived and car | ried out the conspiracy complained of:
 F. H. Hartman Jacob II. Schiff Otto H. Kahn. James Stilman. Henry .. 1 Prick, Henry H. Rogers and William 1 A. Clark"
 No Individual Suits. | While naming the individual de- fendants the statement makes no men-
 tion of any intention to prosecute any | of these officials personally in any l criminal proceedings
 l Ine SldltueHl continues. IL dD- pears by the testimony in the possess
 sion of the department that com mission was formed about the begin- | ming of the year 1901, by MT. E. H. 1 Hartman of New York the president | and chairman of the executive com
 mittee of the Union Pacific and cer- | tain of his associates, for the purpose l of obtaining a monopoly of all trans 1 continental transportation business. 1 The first made the acuuiSi- l tion of sufficient stock of the Southern | Pacific company to insure it's control. 1 That company owned a line of rail- road extending from New Orleans and l points in Texas on tidewater through | California to Portland Ore, also am 1 other line from ogden, Utah, to San l Francisco.
 "The Southern Pacific has been for years one of the principal competitors 1 of the Union Pacific. As the result of | such control by stock ownership the | management of the two companies had l been amalgamated and since 1902 ma- 1 jority of the board of directors of the l Southern Pacific have been members of | the board of directors of the Union Pa l citic Connection between the two l companies has been substantially elimi- | hated.
 | Santa Fe Lines.
 i "As to the Santa Fe, which is a conn l peting line with both the Union and | Southern Pacific. 1t appears that MT. Har- | riman and his associates acquired suffi- | cient interest in the Santa Fee so that two members of the Union Pacific board, l Messrs. Prick and Rogers who became, 1 and still are, directors of the Santa Fe l and the Union Pacific as a corporation 1 purchased and still hold large block or l Santa Fe stock. As the result of the l close union between these lines competl- l ton has to large extent been destroyed. 1 The Oregon Short Line is also holder of | large amounts of stock of the North l ern Pacific ard Great Northern Railway 1 companies. In pursuance of the plans of | MT. Hartman and his associates for ac- l quiring control of transcontinental traffic. | the Union Pacific in 1901 secured ma