The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-02-15
HILL LINES
WOULD AID PUBLIC
C. N. PRESIDENT TELLS OF AZ
FILIATION OF C. NJ, N. P.
AND BURLINGTON

and improvements in railway service
to the public may be brought about
through that section of the Trans
p~ortation act which provides for the
consolidation of the railways of the
country into a limited number of
systems, Ralph Budd, president of
the Great Northern Railway, told
the st. Paul Transportation club in
an address recently delivered before
that body.
"If these consultations can be ac-
complished, | believe many addition
al economies will be developed" he
said, especially in the West, and
these in turn will inure to the pub
lie benefit because directly, Of indi-
rectly, all railroad operating costs
will have to be bourn by the public.
There also will be developed various
methods of expediting railroad tran
sportation and make it more salts
factory to the public.
Three Big Points
'"These are three advantages to be
derived, viz: best service to the pub
lie, smallest charges for that service
and the greatest economy in capital
charges and operating costs.
"These benefits would result from
a consolidation of Western lines
which have a great variation in traf-
fc density and many branches with
very thin traffic.
"The consolidation plan Of the
Transportation Act is purely permits
sive. Congress did not attempt to
compel the railroads to consolidate.
There was grave question whether
there was any constitutional power
to bring about compulsory CONSOLE
dations, since a corporation is gen
orally supposed to have the right to
sell its property or refuse to sell it.
Therefore, what we actually have
under the Transportation Act is only
the machinery for creating a plan
for voluntary consolidation.
Points Out Best Method
"The practical question is, how
can these consultations be brought
about?
"I desire to make the question as
concrete as possible, and to make it
applicable to conditions in which the
people of the Northwest are vitality
interested. Consequently / want to
point out a way which l believe will
surely lead to important and bene-
fetal consultations, and another
a which I believe would largely de-
feat any realization of consultations
under the permissive plan of the
Transportation Act.
'The way hat will be successful
is for the Interstate Commerce Com
mission to authorize the consolida-
ton of the Northern Pacific, Great
Northern and Burlington.
For more than 20 years the
Great Northern and Northern Pa
cifc have owned more than 81 per
cent of the Burlington stock and
both the Northern companies and the
| Burlington have adapted their de-
velopment accordingly.
Opportunities for Economy
eff the Interstate Commerce Com
mission will put these three railroads
into the same system they will con-
solidate in accordance with the Tran
s~portation Act and will Immediately
begin giving the public the benefits
flowing from this consolidation, and
there will still remain ample compe-
tition through the other systems
which the commission will create and
which will reach every important sec
ton served by the Great Northern,
Northern Pacific and Burlington
lines. There will be new %opportuni-
ties for economies and new oppor-
tunities for the increased CONVEX
fence of shippers through the con-
solidation of tariffs, through better
arrangement of car distribution so
as to get more service out of the
same number of cars, and SO as to
keep the cars more fully employed
throughout the year.
EThe utilization between these three
companies offers an opportunity
which does not exist anywhere else
in the country for the prompt reali-
alton on a large scale Of the con-
solidation principle, which is so high
ly in the public interest.
A Mere Paper Plan
son the other hand, if the Com
mission should put either the North