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Show EXPRESS UNION 15 CREATED BY BIG COMPANIES Agreement for Merger Is Reached by Director Mc-Adoo Mc-Adoo and Heads of Carrier Concerns. CAPITAL WILL BE THIRTY MILLIONS Adams, American, Wells Fargo and Southern in Combine; Plan to Be Permanent. WASHINGTON, May 2S. One union un-ion express company for the United States was created today by agreement between Director General McAdoo and the Adams, American, Wells Fargo and Southern Express companies, whose transportation business will be merged under a new private corporation with a capital of more than $30,000,000, to be known, probably, as the Federal Express company. George C. Taylor, now president of the American, will be hoad of the new concern. After July 1, when the combination becomes effective, shippers will direct shipments "by express" without regard re-gard to company, and soon thereafter the individual names of the separate companies will begin to disappear from wagons, stations and cars. The company will be the express carrying car-rying agency of the railroads, operated operat-ed privately, but under contract to turn over 5QYi per cent of tbeir gross revenues rev-enues more than $200,000,000 last, year to the roads for transportation privileges. Three smaller railroad-owned railroad-owned companies, the Western. Great Northern and Northern, may .join the combination later. A pending application for 10 per cent increase in rates filed before the government operation of railroads for the express combination was contemplated, contem-plated, will be passed upon soon by the interstate commerce commission. More than J 00,000 employees of. the four companies are to be retained under un-der the new corporation, and their wages will be raised in many cases, according ac-cording to Mr. Taylor. Through economies by the common use of wagons, trucks, distributing stations, sta-tions, city offices, warehouses, railroad cars and other equipment, and the simplification sim-plification of accounting, the merged companies hope to save many millions of dollars and to rendpr better service. ser-vice. Planned as Permanent. Though the merger is arranged under un-der war exigencies, it is planned as permanent and accomplishes the object ob-ject which has been discussed in vain for almost a century of competitive conditions. Last year the four leading lead-ing companies barely made expenses, and the Adams recorded a deficit. Early Ear-ly months this year showed even a worse record. Some of the officials of the companies com-panies sought to have the railroad administration ad-ministration take over the express business busi-ness along with the railroads and guarantee guar-antee tfie average per-war earnings, which would have been about $3,700,-000 $3,700,-000 a year, but Director General McAdoo Mc-Adoo declined to extend his field of operations to this extent. The new concern, whose name will be the Federal Express company, unless un-less existing small companies with that name in two states object, will have stock of $30,000,000, representing the actual value of properties pooled, and in addition enough stock to provide ample working cash. The stock will be distributed among tho four companies accordiqg to the comparative value of the properties they contribute, to be determined after af-ter further valuation proceedings. Each of the companies will continue its financial fi-nancial business, such as dealing in money orders, foreign exchauge and limited banking, individuallv and with (Continued on Page Two.) EXPRESS COMPANIES FORM BIG ill (Continued from Page One.) e the union company as their agent. The corporate identities of the companies will be retained. Plan of Merger. Out of the 49 per cent gross earnings earn-ings retained, the union corporation will pay operating expenses, taxes and dividends of 5 per cent on its capital stock. Out of the next 2 per cent available for distribution, the company will receive 1 per cent and the government gov-ernment 1 per cent. Out of the next 3 per cent, the company will get 1 per cent and the government 2 per cent. One-fourth of amounts above this will be distributed to the company and three-fourths to the government. "The express company is given a contiuuing inducement to accomplish the greatest efficiency and economy," said the railroad administration announcement, an-nouncement, "and yet the government will enjoy an increasingly great proportion pro-portion of the benefits of all such efficiency ef-ficiency and economy." The express company will be permitted permit-ted to use station agents aud other railroad rail-road employees jointly with the roads, l-,nf ttinir cnmnptiMtinn will hp nail! Pfl- tirely by the railroads, which will be reimbursed by the company. . The four companies now have aggregate aggre-gate capital of $57,000,000 $24,000,000 of the Wells Fargo, $18,000,000 of the American; $10,000,000 or the Adams and $5,000,000 of the Southern, which is owned by the Adams. In recent years they have paid about 6 per cent dividends, but the Adams passed its last quarterly dividend. Taylor New Head. Mr. Taylor's choice as . head of the new company is in line with his spectacular spec-tacular rise from his first position as wagon driver for the American company com-pany in a Wisconsin town. He was general manager of the western department de-partment of the company four years ago, when promoted to president, to handle the critical situation which developed de-veloped in the express business at that time. He has a reputation for insisting insist-ing on courteous dealing with the public pub-lic and for a personal acquaintance with every employee of his company. B. D. Caldwell, president of the Wells Fargo, will be chairman of the board of directors of the corporation, and W. M. Barnett, president of the Adams, will be a director. Vice presidents and regional operating officers, with their headquarters, are as follows: Robert K. M. Cowie, vice president of the American, New York; E. A. Stedman, vice president of the Wens Fargo, Chicago; C. D. Summv, general manager of the American, St. Louis; E. M. Williams, vice president of the Adams, Atlanta; A. Christeson, vice president of the Wells Fargo, San Francisco. Fran-cisco. Other vice presidents will be D. S. Elliott, vice president of the American, Ameri-can, New York, in charge of traffic, and John W. Newlsen, vice president of the Wells Fargo, New York, in charge of accounting. Other Changes Made. Washington headquarters will be maintained in charge of F. S. Hol-brook, Hol-brook, now vice president of the Wells Fargo, who will be the assistant to the president. Mr. Taylor will make New York his headquarters. General counsel is to be T. B. Harrison, now counsel for the Adams and American, aud O. W. Stockton, vice president of the Wells Fargo. The manager of purchases pur-chases and maintenance will be E. B. Bush, now traffic manager of the American, with headquarters in 'New York. Mr. Taylor tonight issued a statement state-ment outlining the development he expects under the new system. "The consolidation now under way," he said, "merely reflects the trend of the times. It is to secure economy of operation and to render a more efficient service that this step is undertaken. Already the vast" terminals termi-nals now maintained by the various companies are being unified for a practical prac-tical saving of time and transfer. "The street enuiomont of between twenty and thirty thousand motor and horse vehicles are undergoing a redis tribution, lo avoid duplication of routes. Branch agencies and multiple offices in inaev cities will be subject to an economical readjustment. "The claim departments will be unified uni-fied and a closer co-operation established estab-lished with the shippers, to eliminate losses resulting from faulty packing and incorrect marking of shipments." |