Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1909-05-21
'OTTON BELT MAY
!!
] BUY INTERNATIONAL
m2RE REASON FOR THE PUR.
CHASE THAN THERE is FOR
SALE OF GOULD ROAD.
(DtlOR Bell TO TideWater
fernationaI Has It-GouIds Own the
/ International, But Control the
Cotton Belt Only BY An
Agreement.

austin, Texas, May 2O.-It is per
iFently rumored here that the St
T bis Southwestern Railway com,
n.ay wants to buy the International
~ Great Northern railroad, which
y A. tlow in the hands of a receiver, and
q, L the recent visit of Vice Presi.
d.1at and General Manager Britton
OIL General Attorney Perkins of the
fiGst named company, simultaneously
nAh the visit of Receiver Freeman Of
~ International had something to dc
III the proposed deal. During this
hit they called upon the Railroad
n mmission, and the inference is
A Awn that this subject was discuss.
- AHowever, no confirmation of the
n,atter can be secured at the Rail-
noaa Commission offices. Indeed, it
:. Nil understood that the commits
sio,,t sanction of such deal would
10 Insufficient. Nothing short of leg
;s1,jYe sanction would suffice, but
jhusly the commissions opinion in
tha premises would be potential in
onn5,ing to the legislature for con-
SENT
r is easy enough to see why the
O. louis Southwestern Cotton Belt
sho,,sd want to make the. purchase,
b,+ not so easy to perceive a reason
g. the sale. The Cotton Belt is
j. anding many millions of dollars to
covert its property into first-class
eight line, having small ambitions
preugh Messenger traffiS, and
80 - .s.llt41 e=Lsdnt s gulf
te Indeed it has gradually
BEEN PSshing its Lufkin branch sea-
ward, although in somewhat a circuit
Gus and tortuous course.
Both of the lines are commonly
called Gould properties, but as a mat
ter of fact they are by no means iden-
teal in ownership. The Goulds own
a controlling interest in the Interna-
tional. They own a minority interest
in the Cotton Belt, but control it I'M
der agreement. Why they should wish
to sell a railroad which they control
by reason of ownership to a company
in which they hold only minority
interest, and which they control only
temporarily and by agreement, pre-
sents a question the answer to which
is not apparent.
1t is suggested that because the
bonds of the International are soon
to fall due, and because questions
might arise as to how much of these
the Railroad Commission would per-
nit to be refunded, the Goulds are
anxious to get rid of the property.
But this does not seem to be a rea-
sonable explanation, for the bonds
will begin maturing before such
deal could be consummated the pur-
chaser of the line would fare no bet
ter in the matter of bond approval
than would the present owners, and
besides it is believed that the Inter-
national will be able to make a show
ing as to the value of its property
sufficient to secure approval to the
issuance of new bonds in sum equal
to those now outstanding.
A more plausible suggestion is that
the Goulds, perceiving that the ma
iority interest in the Cotton Belt is
determined to push that line to the
gulf by new construction, which
would cut into the traffic of the In
ternational, are in a mood to say:
Don't build-buy."
The International and the Cotton
Belt connect at Tyler, Jacksonville,
Waco, Mertens and Fort Worth.
Should the two lines be combined in
to one system it will reach every
large city in Texas. In all probable
ity, too, connecting link would be
built northward from Longview, the
present northern terminus of the In
ternational, to a point on the Cotton
Belt midway between Texarkana and
Mount Pleasant, which would give the
system a straight shoot from st.
Louis and Memphis to Galveston, We
lasGo and Laredo, the the southern
terminus of the International.