Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-04-14

tinuous line, by assigning to the
Southern Pacific, a half interest in
the Denver G. Rio Grande Western
and Denver & Salt Lake which, with
the lines of Rock Island from Color
ado Springs and Denver TO the Mis-
souri, river and Chicago would make
il to the interest of the proposed
Southern Pacific group to tear down
instead of build up the Ogden route
of the Union and Central PacIfic.
In addition he said, Both the
Union Pacific and Southern Pacific
are sent far afield into territories
where they have never been, where
they have no business or connections
and where apparently there is no
shadow of reason for them to go.
The Union Pacific is sent down into
Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Tex
as, Arkansas and Oklahoma with
lines to New Orleans, Laredo on the
Mexican border and to Ell Paso and
again into northern Michigan. The
Hill lines, however, are treated very
conservatively in this respect and
the only new territory in which they
venture is from Fort Worth to Hous-
ton. Texas, and over the Kansas CITY
Southern and another short line to
New Orleans"
With reference to Mr.. Holden's
substitution of the Chicago, Milwau-
kee & St. Paul for the Chicago q
Northwestern for consolidation with
the Union Pacific, Judge Lovett
pointed out that the former is COM
petitor of the Union Pacific for traf-
fic to and from the Pudget Sound
country while the Chicago & North
western is a connection.
1.-THE substitution would not only
disrupt existing routes and channels
of trade but would run counter to
another requirement of the law that
competition be preserved as fully as
possible. Again, the consolidation
of the Union Pacific and Chicago,
Milwaukee & st. Paul would be
linking of the two weakest Pudget
Sound lines while the Northern
Pacific & Great Northern which are
the oldest and strongest lines in
that territory, would be consolidated
under the Holden plan. Such an
alignment would certainly not be IN
the interest of giving the Puget
oOuHu COuHliy IhO DSSN
service"
Concluding this part of his tesi-
mony, Judge Lovett said, the con-
solidation of the Hill lines with
their subsidiaries into a single sys-
tenn would so far overshadow It's
and any other railroad
system proposed in the United States
in size and financial strength and
that one might infer a
desire to meet this objection had
to do with the jumbllng
of the International & Great North
ern, Texas & Pacific and st. Louis
San Francisco systems with the IN
ion Pacific and of the Missouri Pa
cific, Toledo, Peoria & Western and
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and
various other lines with the South
ern Pacific in order that there should
be other systems equal in mileage
and investment to the Hill combina-
ton. however unequal in solidarity,
financial strength and operating re-
Judge Lovett complimented high
ly the manner in which Prof. Ripley
and the commission had worked out
the direction of Congress for a plan
for the consolidation of the railway
of the United States. He
said that while there were defects
and mistakes here and there which
must be corrected if great injury
to public as well as private interests
is to be avoided that yet the tenta-
tive plan of the commission affords
the basis and ground work which
should be followed and from which
departures should be made only with
great caution. He said he doubted
whether railroad men themselves
could have formulated a plan so
fair and workable because they could
not have Invested themselves of their
and their affection for
lines with which they had spent
many years.
Judge Lovett opposed the sugges-
lion that all lines in western terri
.ory should be consolidated into four
systems saying -Four systems com
orising from 10000 to upwards OF
$4,000 miles each, and each extend
ing from Pudget Sound or the Paci-
ic Ocean to the Great Lakes, to the
mouth of the Mississippi river and
he Gulf of Mexico and traverslng
most of the intermediate states,
make the combinations entirely too
arge for efficient management and
service for the welfare of the corpo-
,ations themselves, their creditors
ind stockholders and for the public
rood; and present situation which
would be a source of much
friction and lin many |
ways a constant menace, especially
n case of failure.
He answered Mr.. Holden's argu-
nent, based on tn fact the traffic |
handled by the New York Central
md Pennsylvania respectively is sub
;tantially as great as that which |
would be handled by any of the four
,ystems, by pointing out that the
problems of management in a terri
ory extending from New York to
chicago and st. Louis are very diff
erent from the problems of manage
nent in new and rapidly developing
erritory, extending all the way from
he Canadian border, Pudget Sound,
nd the Pacific Ocean to the great
axes. the mouth of the Mississippi
liver, the Gulf and the Mexican bor-
Ter.
Judge Lovett also disagreed with
Ir. Holden's view that each of the
'acific coast lines should have line