Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-16
HARTMAN LEADS ALL
Principal Owners of Railway
Stock.
MANY OFFICIAL REPORTS
Returns Received From Over 700
Corporations.
UNJUSTIFIED HINT AT A LEAK
Information Sent to Interstate Com
merce Commission Had Been For
gotten by It's Members.

That T.. II. Hartman owns more "a l.
road stock than any other man or cor
poration in the United States and that
his holdings in the Union and Southern
Pacific railroads alone amount to APP
proxima:ely s116.O00G0O. in addition to
millions of dollars worth of stocks in
other lines. is confirmed by the publica-
ton of the list of the ten largest stock
holders in the leading railroads of the
country. rs shown by the annual reports
for the fiscal year ending June go 1908.
recently made to the interstate commerce
commission by the railroads themselves.
Later these reports are to be COM
piled by Prof. Fl. C. Adams. the statis-
tlcian of the commission, and "a report
furnished by him which will deal with
the subject of stock control of the rail-
roads of the country.
The data thus far available also shows
that Mr.. Hartman holds practically all
the sto--. of the Oregon Short Line. his
common stock alone having a value of
$2I 100, 700. and nearly a million and a
half Of the Illinois Central railroad In
Southern Pacific his holdings are So &c.,
600 common and S}0OOO,OOO preferred. In
Union Pacific he holds $40. 900 COM
mon and $4,000 preferred.
1t seems clearly evident that Mr.. Har-
riman also outholds James j. Hill in stock
of the Great Northern railroad, and that
he is also substantial owner OF the stock
of the Northern Pacific, the other road
classed as a Hill road. OF Great North
ern Hartman holds s6,1T.3O0, or more
than three times much as James J.
HILL In Northern Pacific he holds ST.
$1,000. which is considerably less than
the value of Mr.. Hills holdings In New
York Central Harriman's holdings are less
than 1o,OO shares. The next largest
owner of Great Northern is John S.
Kennedy of New York. The lists do not
Indicate that Hartman has any interest in
the Gould roads. The names of James
Stillman, long at the head of the National
City Bank, and Speyer e. Co., who have
long been credited with being among the
largest holders of railroad stock do not
appear in the lists.
Other Large Stockholders.
The names of the Central Trust Com
pany and the United States Trust Com
pany, both of New York city. frequently
appear in the lists. 1.-THE former practically
owning the Reading. A Dutch company
appears frequently and the English Asso-
citation of American Share and Bondhold-
ers. limited. at intervals in the lists
OF the big insurance companies. the Mu-
tual Life seems to be interested in the
greatest number of roads. in some of them
quite heavily. j. Pierpont Morgan's name
appears only occasionally and never for
any startling amount The American and
Adams Express companies shown to
have large holdings in some roads.
Mary G. Thaw of Pittsburg, mother Of
Harry *. Thaw. with 10 shares having
only par value of $1,000, appears in
the list OF the ten largest holders of stock
of the Grand Rapids and Indiana rail-
road
Kuhn. Loeb & Co. are reported as hav-
ing holdings amounting to s1O.OOO,0O0 in
the Santa Fe road. the heaviest holder
OF which is the Dutch company.
One OF the surprises of the lists is the
name OF III. NJ Walker with 10000
shares OF Rio Grande as his holding. The
name is seen in several OF the lists.
Each report on shareholders is a book
OF printed forms, about ten inches wide by
fourteen inches long. and of seventy-five
or eighty pages. The examination of 725
of these books and the tabulation of THEW
information. the study of this taoulation
and the preparation Of the conclusions to
be drawn from it may easily be the work
of six months.
Indignation Aroused.
A list of the names and value of the
holdings Of the ten largest stockholders
of the leading railroads of the country
was published and circulated in Wall
street recently which aroused great in
dignation IN certain quarters, and charges
were freely made that confidential infor-
nation furnished to the interstate COM
merce commission had leaked out in a
mysterious way, suggesting improperly
at least. These charges We're empha teal
ly denied. however. and prominent mem
bers and officials Of the interstate COM
merce commission were reported in pub
lished interviews, as having again and
again denied that the lists of stockhold-
ers that had been published emanated
from their files, asserting that no such
list had been compiled since 1905 that
that list had not been made public, and
that even If it had been, which was again
denied. it was out Of date and worthless
as information of the facts which it pre-
tended to give.
Information Called For.
This went on the charges and denials.
until yesterday. when some one connected
with the commission discovered that the
latest form of the annual report required
of the railroads by the commission called
for the very Information that had been
published and that that information was
public property and could be obtained by
any who desired to call for it.
These facts had been forgotten. or
overlooked, by even some of the members
Of the commission itself. including. II is
said. Prof. III. c. Adams. statistician of
the interstate commerce commission who
Is said TO have declared that no names
of stockholders of railroads had been
collected by his Office since 1905 The an
nual reports made by the railroads. in
which the information is given. are a
part of the files of his Office and open to
public inspection.
Reports have been received by the com
mission from 12o railroads. each giving
the information required in detail. .except
the Delaware and Hudson company
whose report however gives the total
number Of shar owned by the ten lars-
est holders as 36, '94: the largest individual
holding as 5.052 shares. and the smallest
as 1900 shares with the added Informal
ton that all these shareholders are in
dividuals or estates. and that no railroad
corporation holds any shares of the COM
panys stock.
Compiled From the Records.
Prof. Adams today states that the fol-
lowing list. showing the records OF the
largest stockholders in the principal rail-
-