The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-29
Frisco Reorganization Approved

Every one ldlIlllldr WlCH b. T |. Yoakums splendid record as the or ganizer and developer of the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad, popularly known as the Frisco system, and as an upbuilder of the south and the southwestern territory, will be glad to learn that the plan for the reor- ganization of the properties with which he has been so prominently connected has been approved by the Missouri public service commission. When the plan was submitted to the commission, MT. Yoakum made cer- tain objections and asked for modi- fications which he contended would be just and fair to the public and to the property. His objections were sustained, and in rendering it's decis- ion the commission laid down sound economic principles, which, it is be- |lieved, will be followed in many other reorganization cases.
 A small New York syndicate was scheming to get control of the Frisco through the reorganization process. MT. Yoakum objected on several grounds; and one of the strongest points he made was that as the lines were operated in the Mississippi val ley and for the benefit of the people of the south, control should center in this section. Attorney s. s. Gregory, in his able brief in support of MT. Yoakum's objections, emphasized many facts of wide interest, and, in passing, presented this appreciation of MT. Yoakum's services: This property is the creation of l Benjamin F. Yoallum, a big, strong man, mentally and phy scally, born in | Texas, not indeed to the Tyrian pur- pie, but starting with nothing and l making his way by his own efforts Working in the west, with true west 1 ern spirit and energy, he has built up l this great railway system and for the | best years of his life devoted all his | time and energies to it's development 1 keeping always in close touch with the l people living in the territory through which the road ran
 | As pioneer in this field, he built 15 l per cent of all the railway mileage in | Texas. In Oklahoma he built over !, 20 per cent, travelling through that re- zion when in many places one ranch 1 house would be 50 miles from it's near est neighbor.
 | It is tribute to his sagacity as a railroad builder that the territory l served by these lines has seemed to | enjoy a larger measure of growth and l prosperity than other localities in the l same regions. (Mr. Hendricks Report, | Petition, 1S-14)
 Can it be wondered at that after the
 misfortunes of this company, occur 1 ring while he was in control of it's op-
 erations but due solely to bad fnanc- ing, first by Seligman and afterward | by Speyer, after he has worked faith
 fully and diligently for over two years, entirely without compensation. | in the effort to rehabilitate this prop | erty and put it upon a sound finan-
 cial basis, he should have had a not | unnatural desire to be continued in some important capacity with an en-
 terprise with which he had been so
 long and so closely identified? = | Knowing him, as I have learned to | know him in the last few years, l have
 no hesitation in saying that, in my
 judgment, his Identification with the l reorganiZed company, in view of his
 acquaintance with it, with the country
 through which it runs and with the
 people of that territory, would be of
 inestimable value in promoting its suc-
 cess.
 Mir. Gregory's estimate of Mir.
 Yoakum is not in the least exag-
 gerated.
 As a result of the Missouri public
 service commissions decision Mir.
 Yoakum will be distinctly identified
 with the reorganized Frisco system.
 His strong personality and his ener- getic leadership will be in evidence
 again; all of which will cause a feel
 ing of unqualified satisfaction in the
 territory reached by the Frisco lines Including the Birmingham district, oi (which MT. Yoakum has long been ar
 ardent prophet.