RAILROADS: President Holden's Plan

To combine the 62 railway systems west of Chicago into four great groups is the plan of President Hale Holden of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. Each group would include 30,000 to 35,000 miles of rail; each would have an investment value of approximately two billions; each would have access to the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean. The divisions proposed are based geographically upon the four great systems of the West:

The Hill Railroads.

The Union Pacific.

The Santa Fe.

The Southern Pacific.

" This plan," says Mr. Holden, "would bring about reduction in rates. Better service could be rendered by the roads, and delay at junction points would be eliminated. Car supply to shippers would be more flexible, and a beter general standard of service would be maintained on all lines."

By provisions of the Esch-Cummins Transportation Act (passed in 1920) "the Interstate Commerce Commission shall as soon as practicable prepare and adopt a plan for the consolidation of the railway properties of the continental United States into a limited number of systems." Under this law the Commission must act just as if the Sherman Anti-Trust law were nullified by its provisions. Later the Supreme Court will decide whether such combinations are legal. The Court may hold that the Sherman Act applies only where the combination is to the public detriment.

Rail executives, railway lawyers, and the press are of divided opinion as to the feasibility of Mr. Holden's plan.

But Arthur Brisbane, Hearst editor, continues to advocate " one big merger "—government ownership.