New-York tribune., 1921-11-06
Oldham Divides Lines on
Basis of Strong and
w ak Capitalization; !;
Not Particular About
Retaining Competition

nEuCCu ny tHS ANcW lLisls id1u LCAAAOhaE
in their request to the Interstate Com
merco Commission for higher revi
sion Of the through rates into and out
Of New England.
The New England system would have
6,903 miles of railroad and $21,98S
gross revenue PER mile. System No.
would have 1858 miles and $21,932
gross per mile. System No. 2, the
Buffalo system, would have 12.004
miles and $20,966 gross per mile. Sys-
tenn No. 8, the Pennsylvania, would
have II 1884 miles and $35, ,481 gross per
mile, and System No. A, the Baltimore
& Ohio Reading, would have 9,266
miles and S25,904 gross.
/ In forming System No. 8 Mr.. Oldham
departs radically from the principle ad
hered to both by the commissions plan
boldly disregards the elimination Of
competition entirely. He combines the
! Chesapeake e. Ohio with it's controlled
Hooking Valley, the Norfolk &; West
ern, the, Virginia and the Carolina,
Clinchtield G. Ohio. There would be
distinct operating advantages to be
gained, but the principle of preserving
competition as laid down in the trans
portation act is entirely disregarded.
The result of such elimination of COM
petition would probably be felt pri-
marily in the coal trade, and might or
might not work out to the ecoomic ad-
van ntage of consumers of bituminous
coal 1t may be recalled that the Inter
Dstate Commerce Commission formed
two competing soft coal systems.
System No is 12,295-mile system,
consisting Of the Atlantic Coast Line,
| Louisville & Nashville, Nashville, Chat
tanooga & st. Louis, some other
smaller roads and half control of the
Chicago, indianapolis e. Louisville.
Giving this system half control of the
] Monon would perpetuate an arrange
ment which is now in existence, and
which, in the opinion of Il good many
railroad men, has never worked sats-
tactorily, The joint control of the
Monon by the Southern and the Louis
Vile e. Nashville never resulted in
the Louisville & Nashville using that
entrance into Chicago.
a Weak System
System No. is the Southern Rail
way, it's affiliated lines, the Florida
East Coast and the Seaboard Air Line,
which form a SYSTEM of 14,512 miles,
with average gross earnings OF $10,145
a mile. Without recapitaization of
both the Southern and the Seaboard it
is difficult to see where Mr. Oldham is
to get the credit which he deems es-
sential for each Of his systems.
The IrastscOnf55sentals
System No. combines the Great
Northern, the Chicago, Milwaukee &
st. Paul, st. Louis G. San Francisco and
a half interest in the Chicago & Alton.
/ Mr.. Oldham is in agreement with the
Interstate Commerce Commission in
giving the St Paul to the Great North
ern to perform the function now
performed by the Great Northern s
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. but
goes one step further in that he com
/ bines q transcontinental and South
western system (the Frisco)
Like the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, the Oldham plan gives the
Northern Pacific the Chicago, Burling
ton & Quincy, but adds also to it, to
form the System No. 8, the Chicago
Great Western, Denver & Rio Grande,
Western Pacific and Kansas City South
ern. Whereas, therefore, the Interstate
Commerce Commissions plan made the
chief competitor of the Union Pacific
the newly created Atchisc system
son the Denver & Rio Grandes the
Western Pacific and Colorado & South
ern) the Oldham plan makes the Bur
lington and Rio Grande the newly set
up strong competitor of the Union
Pacific.
AS in the Interstate Commerce Com
mission plan the Chicago Northwestern
and the Union Pacific are combined
and this combination, together with a
and q full interest in the Missouri,
Kansas & Texas, forms System No. 10
under the Oldham plan. This plan,
however, recognizes the fact that is
conceded by nearly every railroad man
who knows the transcontinental situa-
tion and gives to the Union Pacific the
Central Pacific.
System No. II is the Atchison, To-
peka & Sante Fe. Texas & Pacific, half
interest in the Chicago & Eastern
Illinois, full interest in the Interna-
tional & Great Northern and the
Missouri Pacific. 1t would appear that
in forming Systems 3, 10, II and 12-
II being the Southern Pacific, Chi
cago, Rock Island G. Pacific, FL Paso e.
Southwestern, ST. Louis Southwestern
and half interest in the Chicago &
Eastern Illinois-the Oldham plan
divides up the southwestern and trans
continental road among systems far
more equitably than did the Interstate
Commerce Commlsslon's plan.
The Last System
The thirteenth system consists of
the Illinois Central, Minneapolis & St
Louis, Minneapolis, ST. Paul and Sault
Ste. Marie, the Duluth, South Shore &
; Atlantic, and the Mineral Range. BY
giving the 500, which is now a sub
sidiary of the Canadian Pacific, to the
Illinois Central, it is possible that the
Oldham plan strengthens American
railroads as against their Canadian
competitors.
Mr.. Oldham comes to the conclusion
based on combined figures for each
system for three years, June 80, 1915,
to June so, 1917, that his grouping has
created systems "of about the same
size and earning power; that the sew
eral systems competing in the same
district obtain their earnings from
passenger, freight and miscellaneous
traffic in similar proportions to the
total; that the character of the ton
mage was much the same; that the
average rate per ton mile and pei
passenger mile was substantially uni
form, and that under these conditions
similar results from operation were OBJ
tanned by all systems which competed
with each other"
G@r.SL, - DoEa