THE PROBLEMS OF TRANSPORTATION 107 



in any fifty cases ever argued before the Supreme Court of the United 

 States. That one party to the issue shall at once be defendant, 

 judge, jury, and, court of appeal and last resort, is, in my humble 

 judgment, a condition which an enlightened public opinion will not 

 long tolerate. 



Consolidation 



A third transportation problem still in the making is that of 

 railroad consolidation. A great movement began on the Eastern 

 trunk lines in 1898, which culminated two years later in a wild out- 

 break of combinations of railways in all parts of the country. It 

 was freely asserted that all of the carriers in the United States would 

 ultimate^ fall into four or five groups, each holding a monopoly of a 

 definite section of the country. In other words, that a division of the 

 field similar to that which took place in France many years ago was 

 the only logical outcome. These predictions confidently made three 

 years ago are now being subjected to the test of experience, with the 

 result that an ultimate solution along the lines expected seems much 

 more remote than it did then. 



The growth of giant consolidations has not ceased since the cul- 

 mination of the furor in 1900. The Great Rock Island system, con- 

 trolling over twelve thousand miles of line, has taken place since 

 1902. Of the first magnitude, this consolidation extends from Chi- 

 cago to Denver, to the Mexican line, and into the very heart of the 

 eastern Southern States. The Atlantic Coast Line Company, by pur- 

 chasing a controlling interest in the Louisville and Nashville Rail- 

 road, forms a vast railway loop reaching from Chicago to the Gulf 

 and away up round the Alleghenies on the east to Richmond. The 

 so-called Gould system has reached points on the Atlantic seaboard 

 through control of the Wabash and of the Western Maryland. In 

 fact the coup by which it broke the monopoly of the Pennsylvania, 

 by entrance into Pittsburg, is one of the most interesting episodes in 

 modern railway history. Another Eastern company ceased inde- 

 pendent existence early in 1903 by the joint control of the Phila- 

 delphia & Reading by the Baltimore & Ohio and the Lake Shore 

 companies. Inasmuch as these latter roads are controlled by the 

 great Pennsylvania and New York Central systems, consolidation 

 in trunk-line territory is appreciably advanced by this operation. 

 More recently still a considerable system is presaged by the appear- 

 ance of the Pere Marquette as an absorbing company. And finally, 

 if rumor be true, the Chicago & Alton Railroad is passing at this 

 present time into the great Union Pacific group. 



Progress toward consolidation has not, however, been universal. 

 A number of events are contributing toward an increasing independ- 

 ence of many companies. The adverse decision of the Supreme 



