The Commoner.
March 2l, 190a
THE NORTHERN SECURITIES TEST.
This is the bill of equity nicd in the
United States circuit court for the
district of Minnesota by the govern
ment to teL'l the validity of the North
ern Securities merger and asking for
a permanent injunction against the
Northern Securities company and
Northern Pacific and Great Northern
railrcads from further operations un
do the merger.
In the Circuit Court of the United
States for the District of Minnesota
The United States of America,
Complainant, vs. Northern Securi
ties Company, the Great Northern
Railway Company, the Northern Pa
cific Railway Company, and Others,
' Defendants.
PETITION.
To the Judges of the Circuit Court of
the United States for the District
of Minnesota:
Now comes the United States of
America, by Milton D. Purdy, the
United States attorney for the district
of Minnesota, acting under direction
of the-attorney general of the United
States, and brings this its proceeding
by way of petition against the North
ern Securities company, a corporation
organized and existing under the laws
of the state of New Jersey, the Great
Northern Railway company, a corpora
tion organized and existing under the
laws of the state of Minnesota, the
Northern Pacific Railway company, a
corporation organized and existing un
der the laws of the state of Wisconsin.
James J. Hill, a citizen of the state of
Minnesota and a resident of St. Paul,
and William P. Clough, D. Willis
James, John S. Kennedy, J. Plerpont
Morgtfh, Robert Bacon, George F.
Baker and Daniel Lamont, citizens of
the state of New" York and residents Of
New York city, and, on information
and, belief, complains and says:
I.
The defendants, the Northern Pa
cific Railway company and the Great
Northern Railway company, were, at
the times hereinafter mentioned, and
now are, common carriers, employed in
the transportation of freight and pas
sengers among the several states of
the United States and between such
states and foreign nations, and, as such
carriers so employed, were, and are,
engaged in trade and commerce among
the several states and with foreign na
tions. II.
On and prior to the 13th day of No
vember, 1901, the defendants, James J.
Hill, William P. Clough, D. Willis
James and John S. Kennedy and cer
tain other persons whose namps are
unknown to "the complainant, but
whom it prays to have made, parties
to this action when ascertained (here
inafter referred to as James J. Hill
and his associate stockholders), owned
or controlled a majority of the capi
tal stock of the defendant, the Great
Northern Railway company, and the
defendants, J, Pierpont Morgan and
Robert Bacon (members of and rep
resenting the bank'ns firm of J. P.
Morgan & Co. of New York city),
George. F. Baker and Daniel S. La
mont, and certain other persons whose
names are unknown to the complain
ant, but whom it prays to have made
parties to this action when ascertained
(hereinafter referred to as J. Pierpont
Morgan rnd his associate stockhold
ers),, owned or controlled a majority
of the capital tfock of the defendant,
the Northern Pacific Railway com
pany.
III.
The Northern Pacific Railway com
pany and the Great Northern Railway
company, at and prior to the doing of
the acts hereinafter complained of,
owned or controlled and operated two
separate, independent, parallel and
competing lines of railway running
east and west into or across the states
cZ Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Da
kota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and
Oregon, the Northern Pacific system
extending from Ashland, in the state
of Wisconsin, and from Duluth and St.
Paul, in the state of Minnesota,
through Helena, in the state of Mon
tana, and Spokane, in the state of
Washington, to Seattle and Tacoma, in
the state of Washington, and Port
land, in the state of Oregon; and the
Great Northern system extending from
Superior, -in the state of Wisconsin,
and from Duluth and St. Paul In the
state -of Minnesota, through Spokane,
in the state of Washington, to Ever
ett and Seattle, In the state of Wash
ington, and to Portland, In the state
of Oregon, with a branch line to
Helena, in the state of Montana, thus
furnishing to the public two parallel
and competing transcontinental lines
connecting the Great Lakes and the
Mississippi river with Puget Sound
and the Pacific ocean.
At the times mentioned, these two
railway systems, which will hereafter
be referred to respectively as the
Northern Pacific system and the Great
Northern system, each of which, with
its leased and controlled lines, main
and branch, aggregate over 5,500 miles
in length, were the only transconti
nental lines of railway extending
across the northern tier of states west
of- the Great Lakes, from the Great
Lakes and the Mississippi river to
the Pacific ocean, and were then en
caged in active competition with one
another for freight and passenger
traffic among the several states of the
United States and between such states
and foreign countries, each system
connecting at its eastern terminals,
not only with lines of railway, but
with lake and river steamers to other
states and to foreign countries, and at
its western terminals with sea-going
vessels to other states, territories and
possessions of the United States and
to foreign countries.
IV.
Prior to the year 1893, the Northern
Pacific system was owned or controlled
and operated by the Northern Pacific
Railroad company, a corporation or
ganized and existing under certain acts
and resolutions of congress. During
that year the company became insolv
ent and the line was placed in the
hands of receivers by the "proper courts
of the United States. While in this
condition, awaiting foreclosure and
sale, an arrangement was entered into
between a majority of the bondholders
of the Northern Pacific Railroad com
pany and the defendant, the Great
Northern Railway company, for a vir
tual consolidation of the Northern Pa
cific and Great-Northern systems and
the placing of the practical control
of the Northern Pacific system in the
hands of the defendant, the Great
Northern Railway company.
This arrangement contemplated the
sale, under foreclosure, of the prop
erty and franchises of the Northern
Pacific Railroad company to a com
mittee of the bondholders who should
organize a new corporation to be
known as the Northern Pacific Rail
way company, which was to become
the successor of the Northern Pacific
Railroad company; one-half of the
capital stock of the new company was
to be turned over to the shareholders
of the defendant, the Great Northern
Railway company, which in turn was
to guarantee the payment of the bonds
of the Northern Pacific Railway com
pany. An agreement was to be entered into
for the exchange of traffic at Intersect
ing and connecting points and for the
division of revenues therefrom. The
carrying out of this arrangement was
defeated- by the decision of the su
preme court of the United States In
the case of Pearsall vs. the Great
Northern Railway company (which
was decided March 30, 1890 ,and is re
ported in the 161st volume of the re
ports of said court, beginning on page
646, to which reference Is made), In
which it was held that the practical
effect would be the consolidation of
two parallel and competing lines of
railway, and the giving to the defend
ant, the Great Northern Railway com
pany, a monopoly of all traffic In the
northern half of the state of Minnesota
as well as of all transcontinental
traffic north of the lino of the Union
Pa'cific, to. the detriment of the public
and in violation of the laws of the
state of Minnesota.
Early in the year 1901 the defend
ants, the Great Northern and Northern
Pacific Railway companies, acting for
the purpose of promoting their joint
interests, and In contemplation of the
ultimate placing of the Great Northern
and Northern Pacific systems under
a common source of control, united
in the purchase of tho total capital
stock of the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy Railway company of Illinois,
giving the joint bonds of tho Great
Northern and Northern Pacific Rail
way companies, payable in twenty
years from date, with interest at 4
per cent per annum, for such stock, at
the rate of $200 in bonds In exchange
for each $100 in stock, and in this
manner purchased and acquired about
?107,000,000 of the $112,00C,000 total
capital stock of the Chicago, Burling
ton and Quincy Railway company, or
about 98 per cent thereof.
In this manner, at the time stated,
the defendants, the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific Railway companies,
secured control of tho vast system of
railway lines known as the Burlington
system, about 8,000 miles In length, ex
tending from St. Paul, in the state of
Minnesota, where it connects with tho
Great Northern and Northern Pacific
Railway systems, through the states
of Minnesota, Wisconsin, "and Illinois,
to Chicago, in the state of Illinois, and
from these two cities through said
states and through the states of Iowa,
Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, South
Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, to
Quincy, in the state of Illinois; to
Burlington and Des Moines, in the
state of Iowa; ' to St. Louis, Kansas
City and St. Joseph', in the state of
Missouri; to Omaha and Lincoln, in
the state of Nebraska; to Denver, in
the state of Colorado; to Cheyenne, in
the state of Wyoming, and to Billings,
in the state of Montana, where it again
connects with the Northern Pacific
Railway system, these states lying
west of Chicago and south of the states
crossed by the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific systems, and consti
tuting the territory occupied In part
by what Is known as the Union Pacific
Railway system, which has been and is
a parallel and competing system with
in said territory with the said Bur
lington system.
The attempt to turn over a controll
ing interest in the stock of the North
ern Pacific Railway company to the
Great Northern Railway company and
thus effect a virtual consolidation of
the two railway systems, having thus,
in the year 1896, been defeated by a
decision of the supreme court of the
United States, the defendants, James
J. Hill, and his associate stockholders
of the defendant, the Great Northern
Railway company, owning or con
trolling a majority of the stock of that
corporation, and the defendants J.
Pierpont Morgan, and his associate
stockholders of the defendant, the
Northern Pacific Railway company,
owning or controlling a majority of
the stock of that corporation, acting
for themselves as such stockholders
and on behalf of the said railway com
panies In which they owned or held a
controlling interest, on and urior to
Write Me a Postal.
LEARN HOW TO GET WELL
No Honey If Wantcd-1 Take All tho Risk.
TOOK NO. 1 ON DTBl'EPSIi.
IIOOK NO. J ON THE UK ART.
BOOK NO. 3 ON THE KIDNEYS.
JIOOK NO. i ron WOMEN,
ROOK NO. & fOIl MEN. (fJ.J.)
00K NO. 0 ON 1UIKUHATIBM.
You are wronging yourself In neg
lecting to send for my books you who
need holp.
Perhaps prejudice deters you; but
note that 1' ask no money. I take all
tho ' risk myself. A physician who
makes such an offer must have learned
how to cure don't you know it?
, I alone am tho loser if I fail. You
r 3 the gainer if I cure.
Merely say which book you want.
With it I will send an order on your
druggist for six bottles Dr. Shoop'fl
Restorative. I will authorize him to
let you test It for a month. If you arc
satisfied then, the cost Is $5.50. If not,
I will pay him myself.
I mean that exactly. I simply ask
tho chance to prove what my remedy
can do.
My records for five years show that
39 out of each 40 who took the six
bottles paid for them. Yet no dissat
isfied patient is ever asked to pay.
Don't you want to know more about
a remedy like that?
I have spent a lifetime In learning
how to strengthen tho inside norves.
My success comes from bringing back
tho nerve power that operates tho
vital organs. I make weak organs
strong by giving them the power to
act. My method always succeeds, save
where some condition like cancer
makes a cure impossible. Without
this nerve strength one never can bo
well.
Read ray book anyway. You owe
that to yourself. Then get the remedy
or not, as you choose.
l Simply state 'which
book you want, and
address Dr. Shoop,
Box 515, Hucinc. Wis.
MIM (uu Etciirol,uttnniaurlb7MrtwolUU. MMdroftfiit.
the 13th day of November, 1901, con
triving and intending unlawfully to re
strain the trade or commerce among
tho several states and between said
states and foreign countries carried
on by the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern systems, and contriving and
intending unlawfully to monopolize
or attempt to monopolize such trade
or commerce, and contriving and in
tending unlawfully to restrain and
prevent competition among said rail
way systems in respect to such inter
state and foreign trade or commerce,
and contriving and intending unlaw
fully to deprive the public of the fa
cilities and advantages in the carry
ing on of such interstate and foreign
trade or commerce theretofore enjoyed
through the independent competition
of said railway systems, entered into
an unlawful combination or conspir
acy to effect a virtual consolidation of
the Northern Pacific and Great North
ern systems, and to place restraint
upon all competitive Interstate and
foreign trade or commerce carried on
by them, and to monopolize or at
tempt to monopolize the same, and to
suppress the competition theretofore
existing between said railway systems
In said interstate and foreign trade
or commerce, through the instru
mentality and by the means follow
ing, to-wit:
A holding corporation, to be called
the Northern Securities company, was
to be formed under the laws of New
Jersey, with a capital stock of $400,
000,000, to which, in exchange for Its
own capital stock upon a certain basis
and at a certain rate, was to be turned
over and transferred the capital stock, -or
a controlling interest in the capital
stock, of each of the defendant rail
way companies, with power in the
holding corporation to vote such stock
and in all-respects to act as the owner
thereof, and to do whatever it might
(Continued on Paza 8 J
V ,4