Northern Securities Company

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The Northern Securities Company was a large United States railroad trust formed in 1902 by E. H. Harriman, James J. Hill, J.P. Morgan, J. D. Rockefeller, and their associates. The company controlled the Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and other associated lines. The company was sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by President Theodore Roosevelt, one of the first anti-trust cases filed against corporate interests instead of labor.[1]

Hill was the president of the Great Northern Railway and Harriman controlled the Union Pacific Railroad, two of the largest railroads in the U.S. Both sought control of the Burlington to connect their roads to the vital railroad hub of Chicago, Illinois. Hill, who also had a minority interest the Northern Pacific Railway, outbid Harriman for the Burlington, by agreeing to Burlington President Charles Elliott Perkins's $200-a-share price.

Together, the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific assumed control of nearly 100 percent of the Burlington's outstanding stock. Knowing that the Northern Pacific controlled almost 49.3 percent of the Burlington's stock, Harriman launched a stock raid against the Northern Pacific. Control of the Northern Pacific would allow him to appoint directors to the Burlington, which could then be forced to treat Harriman's Union Pacific favorably in business matters. Harriman's stock raid in May 1901 led to the "Northern Pacific Corner", driving shares of Northern Pacific to $1,000 per share in some trades. Hill, working with J.P. Morgan, took majority control of the Northern Pacific despite Harriman's best efforts.

This speculation resonated throughout the stock market and the country as a whole. The two men, their backers, and associates agreed to settle their differences and eliminate ruinous competition through a monopoly combination. The Northern Securities Company was formed by Hill to control the stock of his major railroad properties. Some of Harriman's directors were appointed as representatives for his holdings of Northern Pacific shares.

A public outcry over the new company made its way throughout the country, and both state and federal officials prepared to file litigation. On February 19, 1902, the United States Department of Justice announced plans to file a suit against the company on the behalf of President Roosevelt. When approached by J. P. Morgan to settle the issue in private, Roosevelt later remarked, "Mr. Morgan could not help regarding me as a big rival operator who either intended to ruin all his interests or could be induced to come to an agreement to ruin none." Although Roosevelt still believed that trusts were not always bad for society, he could not bear to feel treated as just another rival operator. The suit continued[2].

After vigorous federal prosecution, the company was dissolved according to the 1904 Supreme Court ruling in the Northern Securities case, five to four. The companies were convicted under the Sherman Antitrust Act, overturning the previous decision of United States v. E. C. Knight Co. In that case, the Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act was insufficient in regulating that monopoly. In the following seven years, 44 other cases turned out rulings similar to the Northern Securities case. Ironically, included in these break-ups were Harriman's own holdings of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads.

The Northern Securities case was one of the earliest and most important antitrust cases and provided important legal precedents for many later cases, including that against Major League Baseball.

In 1955 the Northern Pacific and Great Northern renewed talks at merger. In an ironic twist of fate, the Supreme Court approved the merger, and as a result, the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Burlington, and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway merged on March 2, 1970, to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Mowry, George E. Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement. University of Wisconsin Press, 1946.
  2. ^ McGerr, Michael. A Fierce Discontent. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2005.

[edit] Further reading

  • The Northern Securities Decision [1] Northern Securities Co. v. United States at Cornell Law School's Supreme Court Collection.
  • Bryant, Keith L., Jr., Editor. Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Railroads in the Twentieth Century. New York: Facts on File, 1990.
  • Frey, Robert L., Editor. Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Railroads in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Facts on File, 1988.
  • Hidy, Ralph W., et al. The Great Northern Railway, A History. Boston [Mass.]: Harvard Business School Press, 1988.
  • Klein, Maury. The Life and Legend of E.H. Harriman. Chapel Hill [N.C.]: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
  • Martin, Albro. James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
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