November 4, 1936
The Board
Mr. Turner
Reference Is made to Mr. Clark's memorandum of October 1, 1936 to Mr. Dailey requesting a Board ruling fixing the first date from which service for the Copper River and Northwestern Railway Company may be credited.
On the basis of the facts detailed in Mr. Ferguson's memorandum to me, a copy of which is hereto attached, I recommend that the Board rule that service for the Copper River and Northwestern Railway Company at any time between July 25, 1909 and the present time may be credited. Memorandum Submitted to Mr. Turner by Mr. E. E. Ferguson with Reference to Creditability of Service for the Copper Piver k Northwestern ReiIway Company
*****
The first annual report of the Copper River k Northwestern Railway
Company, hereinafter called the company, was filed with the Interstate
Commerce Commission as of June 30, 1912. The following facts are found
therein:
1. The company was organized May 16, 1905 under the laws of
Nevada, (p. 3).
2. The company was a self-operating steam railroad, operating
its own line from Cardova to Kennecott, Alaska, a distance of 195 miles.
(p.13). For the year ending June 30, 1912, there was a total operating revenue of .$466,271,38 (p.39) of which .$400,000 was from freight, (p.45).
Freight originating on the line consisted of oil, coal, forest products, game and fish, and ore; freight received from other carriers included grain, hay, live-stock, lumber, oil, rails, machinery and manufactures
(p.97). Revenue other than freight was received from passenger, excess baggage, mail, express, telegraph and miscellaneous services (p.45).
3. All types of railroad employees were employed by the company
(p.91).
4. The company owned and operated all its own equipment.
5. There was no comparative balance statement for the previous year.
6. It was stated that none of the stock issued was held by the carrier (p.El), but on p. 11 It appeared that no corporation, associa tion, or Individual controlled the company.
The 1914 annual report (p. 108) clears up the apparent in consistency In #6, by stating that the "entire capital stock Is held for the benefit of an Association called the Alaska Syndicate, the prin cipals being J. P. Morgan & Co. and M. Guggenheim Sons". It seems that the road was built primarily "for the purpose of transporting ore from the Bonanza Mines at Kenneoott, which the Morgan-Ouggenhelm Alaska Synol- cate owns". (Statement of Mr. 0. 0. Laberee, Hearing before the Committee on the Territories, on Rallroede In Alaska, 61st Congress, End Session,
April 26, 1910. Mr. Laberee was president of the Alaska Northern Rail way, asking government aid).
A check of the annual reports of 1913 through 1916, and of the blue books from 1916 through 1933 reveals that throughout the period, the company was an Independent carrier, operating 196 miles of track.
The 1934 blue book shows that the company Is operating, but as a sub sidiary of the Kenneoott Copper Company, which controls the company through ownership of the entire capital stodk. The Interstate Commerce
Commission In holding that the company was not entitled to benefit under
Section E09 (a) of the Transportation Act of 1920 because it did not com pete for traffic or connect with a carrier under Federal control, stated that the company operated a line of railway about 196 miles In length, connecting at Cordova with the line of the Alaska Steamship Co., and having no connection at any point with a carrier by rail (82 I.C.C. 219
(1923)). Information as to operations prior to July 1, 1511 is not
so complete. The company has never been valued. "Thile the card index
in the Bureau of Statistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission indi
cates that circulars were filed in 1907, 1909, 1910, and 1911, such
circulars could not be found in the circular file, and the blue books
for such years did not list the company. There is no data whatsoever
in the Historical File in the same Bureau. The following information
was garnered from various sources:
The line was under construction from a date prior to
February, 1909, to March 50, 1911. (The 1915 annuel report (p.227)
sets forth a contract between the company and the Natalia Co., the
construction company, and shows an issue of stock to the Natalia Co.
for construction "prior to February 1, 1909", and subsequent such issues,
the last being for construction up to October, 1511. Poor's Manual (1911)
states that "on March 30, 1911 the line was completed from Cordova to
Kenneoott".)
Nevertheless, the company was operating completed portions of the line prior to March 30, 1911.
Poor's Manual (1910) (the first volume of Poor's in which the company is listed) states that the line was in operation since Janu ary 1, 1910 from Cordova to the mouth of the Tiekel River, a distance of
102 miles. This is substantiated by: (1) the official guide for August,
IS10 (the first volume of the Official Guide in which the company is listed) which gives a timetable for the line between Cordova and Tiekel, a distance of 101 miles; (2) a statement of Mr. Falcon Joslin in a hear ing before the Committee on the Territories of the House of Representatives on H. R. £3374, 61st Congress, 2nd Session, on the date of April 26,
1910, to the effect that the road was under construction and about
106 miles were completed; (3) the fact that the company's first tariff was filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission effective April 20,
1910, setting up local freight rates from Cordova to Tiekel, which was the last station on the line at that time.
Information as to operations by the company prior to January
1, 1910 was found at but one source. As previously Indicated, there were no annual reports nor available olroulcrs prior to that time, and nothing could be found In Poor's Manual (1909) or In the Official Guide prior to
August, 1910, However, the Report of the Clover nor of Alaska of September
IB, 1909, for the year preceding (Annual Report of the Department of the
Interior, 1909, p. 463) makes the following statement concerning the company:
On July 25th this railroad began operating the first 56 miles of Its road extending from Cordova to a point above Abercrombie Rapids on the Copper Rivar. By the close of the season it will have completed about 106 miles of railroad.
Conclusion:
The company is clearly subject to the Interstate Commerce
Act since July 1, 1911. The annual report as of June 30, 1912 and sub sequent report show transportation of property within the Territory.
Moreover, It has had a connection with the Alaska Steamship Company at
Cordova, where construction began, since a date prior to July 1, 1911.
This connection was and has since been undoubtedly the focal point for delivery or receipt of freight traffic destined for or shipped from outside points. That the company was engaged In similar, though necessarily more limited, operations from July 25, 1909, the date the first 55 miles we^e opened for operation by the company, to June 30, 1911, the last day not covered by the annual reports, is a warrantable deduction. It has been shown that tariffs were filed, effective as early as April 20, 1910,
covering the 302 miles which had been completed and opened for operation on January 1, 1910, and that in .August, 1910, the company was listed in the Official Guilds as publicly operating such mileage. This certainly
shows that the company was operating for such general carriage as it could get. There is no reason to believe that the nature of its opera tions for the 55 mile stretch opened July 25, 1909, was less inclusive than that for the 102 mile stretch. It is quite likely, as stated by
Mr. Joslin in the hearing of April 26, 1910 previously referred to, that the main traffic during the entire construction period consisted of construction materials. Nevertheless, it has been reported to be
"in operation" since July 25, 1909. Had it not been open for public business, such statements would hardly have been made.
It is my opinion, therefore, that the date from which ser vice on the Copper River & Northwestern Railway Company may be credited