The Bismarck tribune., 1922-11-13
RAIL MERGER
PLAN OPPOSED 4
BY HILL ROADS
Want Northern Pacific, Great
Northern and Burlington
In One System
| g. GIVE REASONS HERE
Matter Is Laid Before State
Officials by Representa-
tives of Railroads

The position of the railroads con-
cerning the proposed consolidation
I rlan of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, so far rs it relates to the
so-called "Hill roads"-the Great
Northern, Northern Pacific and Bur-
. !ington--was laid before Governor
Nestos, Assistant Attorney General
, George Shafer and '. e. Smart, trail
4ic manager of the state railroad COM
mission, by General Counsel H. a.
Couatryman of the Great Northern
and General Counsel Judge N. C..
: ) Dung of the Northern Pacific.
The matter was presented because
{ The railroads desired the state oftic-
: ials and peope to know Of their po-
! sitions, they stated.
The Interstate Commerce Commits
i son, in proposing to consolidate the
major railroads Of the country into
great systems, suggested inclusion
OF the Northern Pacific with the Bur-
4 lington, Chicago Great Western, Min
neapolis and St. Louis and Spokane,
4 Portland and Seattle. The Great
Northern would be put in a system
4 with the Milwaukee, and several
smaller roads. The commission has
s, .gow power to fore. the mergers but
took the initiative as directed by
Congress. -..A
The Great Northern and Northern
Pacific desire to be included with the
: Burlington, since, ~ was stated, they
have virtually been consolidated for
Z years.
"Our purpose in appearing before
4 YOU at this time is to present, fer
: For information, the essential facts
regarding the proposed consolidation
5 Of railroads, so far as the three So
called Hill lines, namely, the Great
Z Northern, Northern Pacific and Bur-
lington, are concerned" said Mr..
] CounGyman. eve fully realize that
\ the people Of this state are greatly
interested in this subject, and it is
: our desire and intention that they,
and their government officials, shall
I be furnished, we'll in advance of any
federal or corporate action, all avail
! able leainformation.s We earnestly hope
that the public will endeavor to pre-
serve an open and unprejudiced mind
Z with regard to these matters, pend
ing the hearings and Investigations
which are to be conducted by the In
terstate Commerce Commission at
Z Washington and later in the several
i states. The railroads which we rep
resent have nothing to conceal, and
on the contrary, feel that their cause
will be greatly strengthened with
i the public interested, when all the
facts and conditionse involved are
rightly understood"
After quoting the act of Congress,
he continued:
"The Interstate Commerce Com
mission, in order to perform the duty
imposed upon it by this Act Of Con-
gress, has drawn up a tentative gen.
eral plan for consultations, whereby
it has grouped the railroads of the
United States into nineteen large
systems, and has called on interested
parties to express their views about
THOSE tentative groupings.
The only groupings with which VIZ
are directly concerned are system:
Nos. IA and Is. System No. IA
known as the Burlington Northerr
Pacific, embraces the following:
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Northern Pacific, Chicago Grea
Western, Minneapolis & st. Louis
Spokane, Portland & Seattle.
System NO. Is, known as the Mi
waukee-Great Northern, embrance
the following:
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Great Northern, Chicago, Terre Haut'
q Southeastern, Duluth & Irol
ange, Duluth, Missabe & Northern
Green Bay & Western, Spokane, Port
land & Seattle, Butte, Anaconda 1
Pacific.
To Make Appearance.
"In compliance with that notice
the Great Northern, Northern Pacifi
and Burlington will appear befor
Sthe Commission in Washington on tn
18th instant, and express their view
in regard to systems Nos. IA and It
At the outset, it should be observe
that neither the Act Of Congress-, no
the Commissions tentative plan un
der it, compel or actually involve an
consultations of railroads. The plal
merely is to determine, with NOR
spr less particularly, the grouping
within which consultations may b
hereafter authorized by the Commits
sion in the event, and only in tn
event, that the interested carrier
shall decide and agree among them
selves that they wish to consolidate
upon terms Of consolidation agree
able to them and which the .Commis
sion may be willing to approve.
"At the hearing to be held befor
the Commission at Washington o
the 18th, the three Hill lines viii
unanimously oppose the Commits
xion's plan of consolidation as Sc
forth in systems Nos. II and Is. |
support Of their objections, the fol
lowing facts and conditions will b
presented. =.
For more than twenty year
(since July !, 1901), the Burlingto
system has been owned virtually one
half by the Northern Pacific and one
half by the Great Northern, eac
company having invested more tina
s1OO,0OO,000 in the purchase of tn
Burlngton's capital stock. This pul
chase was made because both tb
Great Northern and the Northern Ps
cifc needed the Burlington as cor
nection and feeder, and the Burlint