Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-16
RAILROAD
TON

- va e5o
~ government and the federal
courts sought to break up railroad
mergers and consultations, and
did so in several notable instances.
When they took over the railroads
from their private owners and OPP
Grated these roads themselves they
soon learned that such ~consollda-
tons served the public interest by
giving increased efficiency, better
s~ervice, and possibility of lower
rates. Therefore when congress
passed the new railroad transpor-
tation law in February, 1920, under
which the railroads passed from
pubic operation back into private
control they provided i'll section
407 Of that act that THE interstate
corrnerce. commission shall as soon
as practicable prepare and adopt a
plan for the consolidation OF the
continental railroad properties of
the Unfth States into a limited
number of systems. In the dlvls-
ion of such railways into such sys-
TENS under such plans, competition
shall be preserved as fully as pos
sibIe and wherever practicable the
existing routes and channels OF
trade and commerce shall be main
tanned"
Acting under this clause the in
terstate commission re-
Gently proposed that.the country
should, be divided into 10 systems.
Montana is only interested in two
of these, consolidated systems No.
IA and No. IS. Of these No. Ia
consists of the Chicago, Burlington
& Quincy, Northern Pacific, Chi
cago Great Western, Minneapolis
& S.. Louis, Spokane, Portland &
Seattle. The second, No. IS, con-
sists of Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
PAU. Great Northern, Chicago,
Terre Haute & Southeastern, Du-
luth & Iron Range, Duluth Mes
saba & Northern, Green Bay &
Western, Spokane, Portland & Sc
attic, Butte, Anaconda & Pacific.
A hearing on this tentative propos-
al s to be had before the inter
state commerce commission on the
18th instant. Later hearings will
be arranged before all the state
commissions in the states affected
by the proposed consultations.
The so-called Hill lines, the Great
Northern, the Northern Pacific
and the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy, will appear before the in
ters@ate commerce commission on
the 18th and later before the state
commissions and object to this
grouping, or any grouping which
will divorce the three Hill roads
and other roads they W sepa-
rateIy or in common, such as the
Spokane, Portland & Seattle, which
was built by the Northern Pacific
and the Great Northern in COM
mon for their common use and ben
eff.
This is a subject in which a
newspaper like The Tribune may
well fear to express any dogmatic
opinion because Of necessary ig-
ncrance of all the factors entering
mo the case. But this much we
are quite ready to say, viz. 1t 1T is
for the interests Of the Hill roads
to remain in one sysetm as the
late J. J. Hill planned, it is for the
interest of the public that they
should do so. For it is plain as a
pikestaff to US that only by the
prosperity of the people in a coun-
try in which a consolidated rail-
wa system operates a the rail-
roads comprising the system pros
per. That is a great truth that
was fully realized by Mr.. Hill and
he acted on it. He was always
ready to build up more tonnage for
his railroad by building the pros
perity of the industries Of the
country he served. Therefore il
the Hill railroads think it is no
for their interest to be broken uf
and divorced from each other anc
caa prove their case, we are IN
evitab1y and logically drawn to th'
conclusion that it is not for the IN
terest of the public that it .shople
be done, for the railroad inter
est and the public interest is one
Both rest on the prosperity of thu
country they serve. Mr.. Hill wa
a broad minded4and far seeing bus
ianess man. We would be inclinet
AZ assume that any combination O.
rai1roads he favored would be
good thing for those roads ant