Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-11-18
DHE hearing in Minneapolis before

THE hearing in Minneapolis before
the interstate commerce commits
sion on the proposal to unity or
merge the Great Northern and North
ern Pacific railway companies under
the title of the Great Northern Pa
cific railway company recalls similar
efforts made by James j. Hill IN 1870
and again in 1901 to consolidate the
operations of these two great north
western lines. Mr.. Hill was not sue
cessful in either attempt so far as
bringing about a corporate umficatlon
was concerned, but he did succeed IN
establishing harmonious relations be-
tween the two systems and IN elm
mating the unjust and wasteful
Eswarsn that had marked certain
phases of competition between them.
Presidents Ralph Budd of the Great
Northern and Charles Donnelly OF the
Northern Pacific have testified before the
Interstate commission thal
unifcation of the two systems VIII re-
suit In a saving of $40, 100000 a year IN
operating costs. This money. they claim,
could be used in developing the north
ny dlA0lA
ang present physical equipment OF the
two lines: it might contribute to the re-
.duction of freight rates. but in any event
1t will insure against possibility OF an
increase In rates.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul
railway company is the principal OPP
ponent to the consolidation proposal. 1t
is contended by the Milwaukee that IL
the G.. N. and the N. P. are unified 1t
will place the Milwaukee, now in the
hands of O receiver, at a further disad-
vantage which will be difficult to over
come and that the merger will thus be
an unwarranted brake upon the devel-
opment of a large section OF the north
west.
Ownership Almost Identical
So far as the present ownership of the
6wo Northern lines is concerned, a ma
ioritv of the stock in each ompan is
held by identical interests. This condi-
cion has prevailed to an effective degree
for more thar 80 years and stands as a
to the f~ar-sighted efforts OF
j. j. Hill to protect the northwest from
the encroachments of railroad interests
which he believed would have hindered
development in the northwestern states.
But to understand how this close re-
Iationship etween the Great Northern
and Northern Pacific came about n
must go back into history.
The Great Northern is the product Of
the vision and indefatigable labors OF
MIR. Hill. Though it was not organized
until 1889, 1t was the logical outcome of
the purchase of the bankrupt st. Paul
g. Pacific railway by Mr.. Hill and three
associates in 1878. The st. Paul & Pa
cifc was a small railway line in Mime
sofa which like most railways Of that
era, had been promoted more for the
graft to be made from land grants and
stock speculations than for real service
in the matter of transportation.
The Northern Pacific was a transcon-
tinental railroad chartered by congress
and subsidized by the federal govern
ment In 1870, Jay Cooke, who had made
a worldwide reputation in the world of
nance for the able in which he
had handled the northern governments
fiscal affairs during the Civil war, under
took to finance the construction Of the
Northern Pacific. In the panic of 1878,
The N. p, as well as the st. Paul g. Pa
cifc n scores of other railways, went
into bankruptcy. Henry Willard took hold
Of the reorganization of the N. P. and
put it on its feet again. but not as per-
manently or as efficiently as the st. Paul
& Pacific was established by ]. J. Hill.
Hill Was Canadian Boy
MIR. Hill had come to st. Paul in 1856
as a Canadian boy Of 10 on his way to
the Pacific coast, from which point he
hoped TO ship as a sailor to the Orient.
1t was his desire to get to st. a in
time to join a brigade going to the Red
River valley where he had friends, and
from there he Would the next year work
his way to the coast with free trappers
and fur traders. But he got into st.
Paul too late to go with the annual Red
River brigade. As he was nearly out Of
money, he had to settle down to work,
SO he became a clerk in the office of
agents for a steamboat company on the
Mississippi river. 1t was in this work,
which he followed for nine years, that he
came to make a study of transportation
and thus later became the empire build
er" whose name is imperishable in Amer
lean history.
His idea of running a railroad differed
from those who were in the business
back in 1873. Then, as always, he was
looking after business for the railroad.
To others. the struggle for granted lands
was everything. They could see only the
money that these ands would bring In
MIR. Hill did not despise the land grants.
He knew their value in trading for bonds
with which to build more lines But,
after all, 10 matter who controlled the
lands, to get people on them, to make
them productive, and SO to assure a per-
manent traffic for the railroad interested
him most. Not $500, 900 to be picked up,
but 500 900 bushels Of wheat to be car
ried came first to his thought. This
conception embodied one of the first
principles Of q life Of signal success in
the profitable management of railroads.
Later, many others came to accept and
act upon it. At that time 1t was unique
among the men in real control Of rail-
road affairs in this country.
Hills Breathless Activity
For the first is years after Mr.. Hill
took charge Of the St. Paul & Pacific,
which he renamed the st. Paul, Min
neapolis & Manitoba after it had been
reorganized, one mile of railroad on the
average was built and equipped for each
working day in the year. This shows his
breathless working activity, his deter