Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-14
The Hartman Roads.

During Mr.. Harriman's illness, and
still more after his death, the ques-
tion has been propounded on all sides,
What Of the Hartman roads? We
here in Nebraska and other states
served by the Union Pacific system
are naturally more interested in the
future Of that great property than in
the lines which Mr.. Hartman con-
trolled east Of the Missouri river.
And whatever may be in store, we be-
lieve the people OF the west are largely
Of one mind in hoping for a continued
unified management and operation Of
the Union Pacific system, and in that
term include the Union Pacific proper,
the oregon Short Line, the Central Pa
oifc and the Southern Pacific. If Mr..
Harriman's fame for constructive
work rests upon anything, It rests
upon his successful lifting OF these
properties out of chaos and in weld
ing them together in one Of the most
perfect pieces OF transportation ma
chinery ever known.
It is reported from Washington
that, with the elimination Of Mr.. Har-
riman, there may be a disposition
manifested on the part of the Depart
ment of Justice not to press the pros
ecution of the suits instituted to dis
solve the merger of Mr.. Harriman's
roads. The whole system las been,
and is now, operated practically n
der a single management without de-
veloplng any serious abuses that were
not previously there. and with the fed
eral government exercising full power
and authority over rates and service,
1t is difficult to see how the dissolu-
tion of the merger could be now eff
fected without producing more harm
than good.
From its very inception the purpose
Of the government in s%ubsidizing the
Pacific roads was to secure the build
ing INT operation of a %transconti-
mental highway to take care of the
overland traffic. To cut the Union Pa
oi1c system up again into pieces, IL it
meant restoring the chaotic conditions
which characterized the service dur
ing the receivership, would be a dis
tinct step backward instead of for
ward. Mr.. Harriman's methods of
uniting these railroads under one con-
troll may not always have been praise
worthy, and the menace OF Mr.. Harri-
mans personality with his admitted
ambition of reaching out for the entire
railroad mileage of the country may
have been regarded as a source Of Ian
ger, but what he accomplished in the
way of consolidation or what is known
as the Union Pacific system has, I'M
~questionably, been beneficial to the
territory served by improving the
transportation facilities, developing
population and natural and
immensely increasing trade and COM
merce. The theory Of the suit to dis
solve the merger is to restore compe-
tition, whereas everyone knows that
with government regulation and rate
fixing there would be no more compe-
tition than now.
AS the headquarters city of the
Union Pacific, Omaha has still a fur
Their, and perhaps a selfish, interest in
preferring to have the whole system
kept intact rather than to have the
Importance of the offices, shops and
supply depots here impaired by segre-
cation. In fact, such segregation
would be just as Objectionable to us
as would be the abolition Of the gen.
eral headquarters here by the transfer
of the active management to Chicago
or New York.