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Show - HMHT STA1ES TAKE HAIJ HEARING TRAFFIC A8SOOCIATION8 8EEK INTERVENTION IN 8. P.-C P. DIVORCEMENT CASE Producers and Shippers' Association Decleared to be "U. P. Railway Operating Op-erating Under Alias" Counsel Crltlzes California Body "Washington. Half n dozon Western states and scores ot communities and traffic associations on tho Pacific const and Itocky mountain territory took u hand In proceedings beforo tho Intorestate commorco commmlssion by which tho Southern Pacific railroad hopes to rota In control of tho Central Pacific despite tho dissolution order of tho supremo court. Frod II. Wood, counsel for tho Southern Pacific, mado no objoctlon to tho swam of intervention requests until tho California Producers and Shlppors' association was announced. "I'll not object at this ho declared, "but In point of fact this socalled association as-sociation Is nothing more than tho Union Pacific railway, oporutlng under un-der an alias, and that alias is resorted to for tho usual purposo that people use aliases. At tho proper time I'll ' move to strike Its petition and participation partici-pation from this record." "Wo'll meet tho gentlemen's argument argu-ment whon ho does It," repllod K. P. Treadvrell, representing tho association. associa-tion. Officials of Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, California nnd Wyoming petitioned peti-tioned tho commission for authority to interyono when Commissioner Moyor opened tho hearing, as did representatives representa-tives of nearly all tho coast cities. Tho Union Pacific, which has attacked at-tacked tho Southern Pacific's application applica-tion Tor retention of the Central Pacific, Pa-cific, was represented by formor Chairman Chair-man Clark of tho commission and othors, Ilopresentatlves Mondoll ot Wyoming appeared for tho government or that. Btato, declaring his soctlon of tho country desired dissolution of tho Southern Pacific-Central Pacific merger mer-ger on tho ground that It would tend to "maintain tho great transcontinental transcontinen-tal lines in tholr stuto ot highest use-fulness." use-fulness." I J. Spohco, director of traffic for tho Southern Pacific, explained In do-toll do-toll that tho financial and lease arrangements ar-rangements which havo resulted In tho closo Interlocking of tho two corporations corpora-tions slnco 1S8j. By Joint Issues of stocks and bonds, oxchango of securities securi-ties and absolutely unified operation, ho said, a situation had boen created In which dissolution under tho su-romo su-romo court order would glvo rlso to numerous perplexing nnd difficult problems. Mr. Spenco gnvo tho opinion Uint tho Central Pacific, if separated from tho Southern P-viflc, would loso so much traffic that its earning power would ho-sorlously diminished. Idko-wlso, Idko-wlso, tho earning powor of tho Southern South-ern Pacific itself would bo diminished. Ho dealt Incidentally with tho Union Pacific Intervention Into tho caso, declaring de-claring that this was besod on tho possibility that that lino could bo torclng through tho separation "complete "com-plete tho lmpovorlsmont of tho Central Cen-tral Pacific and facilitate Its ultimata purchaso on tho bargain counter." Nations Slow In Meeting Obligations "Washington. America's chonco for obtaining quick action this winter on refunding of tho dohts owod her by forolgn countries, aggregating eloven billion dollars, appeared dimmer hfro as Inquiry rovoalcd that fow countries havo mado any actual movos toward establishing contact with tho debt re-funding re-funding commission. Of twenty nations, na-tions, ihonoflclarlos ot the Amorlcan treasury during tho war yonrs, only soven according to the records of tho commission, havo made overture looking look-ing toward refunding negotiations. |