The Seven Titans Controlling the West
A new 'community of interest' among seven massive railroad syndicates threatens to choke competition and consolidate total power over Western freight routes.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Within the past two weeks, significant signs indicate that all railroad power west of the Mississippi is fast becoming centralized in the hands of a very few men. Acting in concert, these men ultimately control the great traffic routes from the northern border to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Great Lakes to the Pacific. This trend toward centralization is epitomized by the recent reopening of negotiations between the Gould and Rock Island systems and the announcement that E.H. Harriman holds sway over the Union Pacific without opposition from J.J. Hill. A glance at the railroad map shows that seven great systems now dominate the West. These are the Northern Securities lines, the Harriman lines, the Gould system, the Rock Island, the Atchison, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and the Northwestern. Over 500 formerly independent railroads have been swallowed into these seven systems, ending the era of real competition and creating a 'community of interest' that allows these titans to dictate rates and commerce across the Pacific Coast.
“The grouping of these several warring elements into seven great harmonious systems was not called 'community of interest.' It was the age of consolidation, pure and simple.”
This 1903 report on the consolidation of railroad monopolies echoes modern concerns about corporate consolidation in the logistics and tech sectors, where 'community of interest' has evolved into algorithmic dominance. Just as the seven systems of 1903 dictated the costs for Walla Walla merchants, today's supply chain bottlenecks demonstrate that the centralization of infrastructure remains a primary factor in the regional cost of living.
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