Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-25
BY THOMAS CARENS.

tinental system. The Goulds
and Hartman dreamed of road which
would begin at tidewater on the At
lantic and stretch across the map as
broad black ribbon to the edge OF
the Pacific The Goulds and Hartman
even took the preliminary steps to call
such a system into being. They failed,
for n variety CT reasons. The general
public was suspicious of any combina-
ton of such magnitude. But more
practical reason YVES that railroad e.;-
perts reached the opinion, which they
hold today. that such system would
be financially and economically un-
sound.
But even though the weight of in
formed opinion may be emphatically
against the idea, transcontinental
railroad is again the subject of dis
cussion, due to one of the latest moves
of those very remarkable brothers OF
Cleveland-Oris Paxton and Mantis
James Van Sweringen. They dominate
the Allegheny Corporation, which they
prefer to call an investment corporation,
but which suspicious Congress views
as a holding company. And the Ale
gheny Corporation has recently reached
out 10 acquire controlling interest in
| the Missouri Pacific, which spreads its
| $4,000 miles fan-like from st. Louis to
such important outlets as Houston, Ell
Paso, Denver and Salt Lake. Between
| ST. Louis and the principal Atlantic
ports the Van Sweringens already con-
troll the component parts of what is
destined to be one of the great Eastern
systems 1t requires only glance at
the map, therefore. to show that the
| Van Sweringens, either through the
Allegheny or more directly, must reach
only a little farther. toward the setting
sun and their holdings will bridge the
continent.
1t is the personality of the Van
Sweringens which makes other finan-
ciers wonder whether they, too, have
dreams of empire, as did their most
distinguished prototype of the last gen
i eration-Harriman. These orotners
have done so many startling things
since the American railroads freed
themselves from the shackles Of war
| time control that Wall Street wouid
scarcely be surprised at anything they
| attempted At least they appear to
have demonstrated that If the United
| States is ever to have tranScontl-
mental railroad, the Van Sweringens
will be the boys to turn the trick.
Comparatively Unfamiliar.
i Less than decade ago, when the
Congress of the United States, in its
1
creed that the hundreds of railroads OF
the country should be merged into a
limited number of systems, the name
of Van Sweringen was comparatively
unfamiliar both in Wall Street, where
railroad securities are fioated, and In
the Interstate Commerce Commission's
Building in Washington, where such
flotations are subjected to microscopic
scrutiny.
/ Crowley and Atterbury and Willard
and Loree were the great names in
American roalroading then, as they are
today. But since that time the doors
have opened wide to admit the Van
Sweringens on terms of equality with
all the others. They are no longer
regarded as comets, due to shine
brightly for q while and then disappear
down the horizon, but they are now
fixed stars of the greatest magnitude in
the American railroad armament. In
the language of the Street itself. what
ever Is to happen in the way of con-
solicitations, the Van Sweringens must
be declared in.
From their offices high in the Termi-
nal Tower in Cleveland, a monumental
structure which they envisioned in the
| early days of their success, the Van
Sweringens have disclaimed any am
bilious plans for their new properties
| west VI Tic MISSISSIPPI. AASy AiSise
that their Allegheny Corporation will
continue to be an investment concern
and will not tamper with the manage
ment or the operation of the road which
/ it acquires. Undoubtedly they mean
that. Yet it is an axiom of all sorts
of business that ownership controls, and
even though there be no change in the
personnel of the Missouri Pacific, how
can its officers conduct themselves
! xry{f rd hn nd
the policies of the men who own the
securities?
Congress is now trying to determine
whether these railroad investment cor
porations-of which the Allegheny of
| the Van Sweringens and the Pennroad,
which is said to be linked to the Penn
sylvania Railroad, are the most con-
spicuous-are desirable. The Interstate
Commerce Commission appears to have
its doubts. These doubts have been
conveyed to the committees on inter-
state commerce of both the Senate and
the House. An investigation is under
way. Some time next Winter, perhaps,
legislation of some kind may emerge.
Until that time it may be taken for
granted that the Van Sweringens will
not attempt to follow up the Missouri
Pacific purchase with any radical moves.
But Wall Street will continue to Won
der what is in the heads of these quiet,
shy, efficient brothers, who spend so
much of their time attempting to kill
the publicity which would come to them
so naturally.
Sections Are Different.
Ask any number of railroad men why
tranScontinental system is not FEAST
BILE and you will get the same answer.
Apparently 1t has been the stock ex-
nl0nQtinn Hor fai tN
; tend his holdings beyond Ogden. You
are told that East Is East and West is
West and that in railroading the two
sections are essentially different; that
In the East railroads strike a Decline
! from the Mississippi to the North At
lantic ports; that in the West the pro-
ducing areas are so widely scattered
the great river. The Eastern road must
draw on all those small Western lines
for its trafic. If the Eastern road
buys one rib of the fan. however, the
others at once become its competitors
and 1t loses Its fair share of eastbound
traf1ic on all other roads It sounds
convincing. But does that mean that
! the genius of the Van Sweringens can
not overcome such an obstacle as they
nave overcome so many others in the
/ last 10 years?
If the principal business of railroads
were to transport passengers-a theory
which SO many of us laymen held-there
would be real argument for a system
which could accept passengers in New
York and speed them across the country
without change of cars. The rival sys-
TENS of Canada do that now and there
/ Is something impressive i'll the unbroken
+, spirit OF the de luxe Canadian trains
| from Montreal to Vancouver. But pas
senger traffic is merely the by-product
OF railroading. Shining Pullmans whiz-
zine through the night are wonderful to
| look at, but dividends come from the
unfomantic, even unsightly, lines of