New-York tribune., 1920-10-22
Many Railroad Ills Laid
10 Too Much Legislation
ere Marquette Chairman Contends That Duplca-
ion OF Lines and Effort Could Have Been
saved but for the Sherman Anti Trust Law

were parallel and competing. This ex
preston, by the way, came in due time
to be spoken Of with considerable de-
rision. The interesting point was how
iar the lines of two railroads had to
be apart before they could be said to
be on-competitive.' Of course. if one
extended across the northern tier of
states and the other across the extreme
southern tier they were still parallel
AS just indicated, the vital feature was
at just what point did competition
cease.
Hill Company's Organization
Take the Northern Securities Com
pany. 1t was organized nearly twenty
years ago by the late James J. Hill and
his associates to consolidate the North
ern Pacific the Great Northern and the
Burlington railroads. There is no rea-
son to believe that those men had in
mind the sitting Of competition, or
that under the control of the Northern
Securities Company those three great
railroad systems of the Northwest
would have failed to render the best
that the latter would have suffered by
the disappearance of so-called com
petition 1t might be noted in passing
that much Of the competition between
railroads in those earlier days was
rulnous to the companies engaging in
the practice and did not bring ma
terial and lasting benefit to their pa
irons.
The United States Supreme Court
held that the Northern Securities Com
pany was organized and operated in,
violation of the Sherman law and or
dered its dissolution
Under the terms Of that law the
railroads have not been permitted to
engage in the pooling Of facilities or
OF rates. In this instance again the
charge was that if this practice were
allowed the result would be the prac-
teal doing away of competition
Duplication Was Permitted
The facts are that if pooling of
iacliltes had been permitted by par
allei and competing railroads since the
passage of the Sherman law the build
ing Of a large amount of unnecessary
railroad mileage could have been
avoided. 1t is generally agreed by
railroad and banking authorities that
the Pacific Coast extension Of the Chi
cago, Milwaukee G. St. Paul Railway
Company never should have been built
1t has proved heavy financial drain
thus far obtained has not warranted
the heavy expenditures. The wiser
course would have been the making of
trackage agreements with the Northern
Pacific for joint use of its lines. BY
such an arrangement one line would
have been used chiefly for eastbound
traffic and the other for westbound
This arrangement, however, was not
regarded as possible, chiefly because
Of the provisions of the Sherman law
Prior to the war the railroads of
this country were gradually and speed
lily going backward because of burden
some legislation that made it impos-
sible, except upon terms absolutely
ruinous to themselves, to raise the
necessary money with which to main
tain the properties at tho highest
standard and to develop the facilities
demanded by steadily increasing
population and traffic. This was the
situation by which the railroads of
this country had been confronted for
some years when the war broke out
and when little later President Will
son commandecred them in behalf of
and for the purpose Of the govern
n1ent, in the prosecution of the war.
Narrow Minded Policy
In the years gone by, the Interstate
Commerce Commission had been
charged with having pursued narrow
minded policy in dealing with the rail
roads. 1t was generally conceded that
there was more or less ground for this
allegation. At any rate, the long de-