Show THE COMBINATION Railroads Protecting Themselves Against Bankruptcy CHICAGO November 28lt was ascertained that the plan which has been made public of forming an immense im-mense railroad combination to embrace em-brace all the territory west of Chicago and St Louis with a clearing house for competitive business and a commission of presidents to control rates is after all only one of the plans that was considered con-sidered at the New York conference and is not the one that was formally adopted The plan that received the most favor in fact wa3 a much stronger form of agreement end mOle severe in its restrictions as to the use of the rate making power J W Midgely who was present at the conference in the capacity of adviser said today This plan was one of several that were considered I am positive that IT WILL NOT BE ADOPTED for the reason that it is not strong enough to answer the purpose for which I I it was intended Aside from the arbitration arbi-tration feature it is but little different from the agreement of the Western I Freight Association This talk about I trusts as applied to such an agreement is the sheerest nonsense The truth is that the railroads have become desperate des-perate at the prevailing condition of affairs and something must be done or they will be driven to the wall The meeting at New York represented the financial interests of these roads It was composed of men who own property and who believe it should yield some renrnn They were determined if posible to savejthe RAILROADS FROM BANKBUPTOY The interState law prohibits pooling arrangements and of course it was necessary to devise seme other means of checking the demoralization Mr Miagely said if the present conditions which were in the main attributable to the operation of the interState law should continue two years longer there would not be a solvent railroad west of Chicago When asked if there was any movement move-ment on foot to petition Congress for a repeal of the law he said No such movement has been taken as yet and no appeal sent to Congress It is not regarded as a most favorable time to present such movement between the two administrations Jt The projectors of the scheme FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF RATES and Mr Midgley were agreed on one point and that was that subordinate officers of railroads must be deprived of the ratemaking power and that any assumption of this power must be punished by their dismissal Before the plan was completed it was submitted sub-mitted to the presidents of some important im-portant western lines Favorable replies re-plies had been returned by presidents of the Union Pacific the stickney system and Chicago Milwaukee St Paul while Presiaent Cable of the Hock Island has gone to New York to personally express his views on the ubJect President Marion Hughitt of the Chicago Northwestern railway was asked today if he was favorable to the scheme He replied I know nothing about it except what I have read in the newspapers I am not prepared pre-pared to say anything as to its merits or as to the probability of its being adopted The Chicago Northwestern Northwest-ern HAS NOT nEE REPRESENTED at any conference nor has it been consulted I con-sulted on the question of the new agreement agree-ment We are at present parties to the agreement of the Western Freight Association Asso-ciation and also to the passenger agreement agree-ment and have no present intentions of going into any other We shall certainly cer-tainly not go into any new plan until we have thoroughly considered it VicePrtsidenc Stone of the Baltimore Balti-more Ohio said he had paid little attention at-tention to the proposed scheme and as he had nt been consulted in regard to it there was nothing for him to say on the subject IT SEEMS PROBABLE that if the framers of the plan fail to unite all the railroads northwo west and southwest of Chicago the agreement agree-ment will go into effect west of the Missouri Mis-souri River since the Southern Pacific Union Pacific Missouri Pacific and Atchison are all in accord with the movement and they practically control that territory Mr Midgley says he called no meeting meet-ing to consider the matter as the proposed pro-posed plan is not completed |