were again joined with the Boston & Maine there would be left as competitors in New England only the Boston & Albany, and the Central Vermont-Grand Trunk system. Uniting the New England lines with the Delaware & Hudson and the Lackawanna, to reach the anthracite fields direct, and to carry traffic through to Buffalo, where the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh would deliver a soft coal tonnage would create a "New England-Great Lakes" system, is a second alternative. The third, placing the New Haven with the B. & O., and the Boston & Maine with the New York Central, would create a more real competitive situation, on through business. On local business, there has long since been effective monopoly of the field. Indeed, consolidation has gone so far in New England that it is difficult to establish any systems truly competitive and conforming to the flows of traffic without dismemberment of systems already well knit together in personnel and working tradition. New England, because of the terminal character of its lines, is the most logical place for the exercise of the Commission's discretion in permitting substantial monopoly in the public interest. § 7. In the South the problem is rather one of finding a place for the numerous small independent lines, than of providing through competition on long hauls. Already combination has created two systems operating lines from St. Louis and the Ohio River to the Gulf and from the Virginia Cities (Norfolk and Richmond) to the South Atlantic ports and Atlanta; the Southern Railway, with its proud boast that "the Southern serves the South," and the Atlantic Coast Line-Louisville & Nashville system. Control of the Central of Georgia, owning the Ocean Steamship Company, gives the Illinois Central a voice in the joint councils. Now it is proposed to allocate the latest of the systems paralleling the Eastern coast, the Seaboard Air Line, to the Illinois Central, to complete a third line through Birmingham and Atlanta, around the base of the mountains, although officials of both roads have appeared before the Commission in protest. These three systems, with the assigned short lines, would effectively complete the occupation of the South-three "horse shoe," or "U" systems. The extent of the competition is effectively shown by the following chart: § 8. Lines in the Southwest now radiate from St. Louis. The channels of trade are generally northeast and southwest, an exchange of grain, lumber and cotton for manufactures. The proposal of the Commission comprehends two great southwestern systems with a Chicago entrance, however, in order to meet the effective competition from the two proposed Southwestern transcontinentals, the Santa Fé and the Southern Pacific-Rock Island which would have Chicago terminals and a net of southwestern branch lines. By combining the St. Louis-San Francisco, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the St. Louis Southwestern with the Alton, and joining the Missouri Pacific with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, two systems are proposed extending from Chicago to St. Louis and Kansas City, and, by lines to the South, occupying effectively the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. With the "Frisco-Katy-Cotton Belt" would be included the Louisiana Railway & Navigation Com pany, to give entrance to New Orleans, and with the C. & E. I.Missouri Pacific would be included the Kansas City Southern the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient, the Texas & Pacific, the International & Great Northern and the Gulf Coast Lines, connections with New Orleans, Port Arthur, and Galveston. Again the chart is helpful to illustrate the extent of the com petition: Chicago Memphis Shreveport "F.-K.-C.B." C.& EI-MP. Santa Fé SP-RI. X X New Orleans El Paso San Antonio Houston Galveston The remarkable disclosure of this chart is the extent to which the proposed Southern Pacific-Rock Island merger would dominate this competitive situation. These two systems are striking complements in their strategic ramifications. § 9. To supply the need for east and west transportation west of Chicago and the Mississippi (New Orleans, St. Louis to the Twin Cities) the aim of the Commission plan has been to build up five systems which would be competitive in pairs: a. Southern Pacific-Rock Island, competitive with the Santa Fé in conjunction with the Chicago-Missouri Pacific (present Texas & Pacific and Gulf Coast lines). b. Santa-Fé-Colorado & Southern-Western Pacific, competitive with above, and more directly with the Union Pacific-Chicago & NorthWestern. c. Union Pacific-Chicago & North Western, competitive with above, and more directly with the Northern Pacific-Burlington. d. Northern Pacific-Burlington, competitive with above, and more directly with the Great Northern-St. Paul. e. Great Northern-St. Paul, competitive with above, and with the |