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Atlantic-Seaboard Merger Case Records, 1960-1969

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Burgess, Edwin H.
Title
Atlantic-Seaboard Merger Case Records
Dates
1960-1969 (inclusive)
Quantity
17 containers., (8.5 linear feet of shelf space.), (500 items.)
Collection Number
Cage 228
Summary
Hearings and testimony before the Interstate Commerce Commission regarding the merger between the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Airline railroads; also briefs before and decisions of United States District and Supreme Courts; and judicial correspondence and other papers of E. H. Burgess, representative of the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Baltimore, a participant in the merger action.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Mr. Edwin Burgess, a lawyer with wide railroad experience, was chosen in 1960 to represent the interests of the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Baltimore in the proposed merger of the Atlantic and the Seaboard. Mercantile held fiduciary control over nearly 35 per cent of the Atlantic Coast Line and thus would gain a controlling interest in the newly merged company.

This new railroad would bring together the 5,573 miles of track of the Atlantic with the 4,146 miles of the Seaboard. Both roads were in strong financial condition when they appeared before the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) for permission to merge. This merger, they claimed, would save the new line nearly 38 million dollars over a five year period. In addition, the merger would hasten the lowering of rates, eliminate duplication of service in many areas, and generally improve rail service along the whole southeastern coast of the United States.

The historical importance of this merger was recognized at the time since mergers between financially strong competitors were generally conceived as favoring monopolistic trends. Michael Conant in his 1964 study Railroad Mergers and Abandonmentcommented:

"A significant aspect of this case was the petition of intervening railroads that as a condition of approval the Commission require the Seaboard and the Atlantic Coast Line to transfer specific sections of their lines to intervenors. . . . All these requests for conditions to the merger were based on the argument that the merged line would divert so much traffic from the intervenors that their solvency would be endangered. (p. 80)"

The ICC rejected all arguments opposed to the merger since to permit them to stand would have frustrated the overall objectives of the merger. Thus, in approving the merger the ICC held that it was of greater import to eliminate wasteful transport and increase efficiency than to allow a near monopolistic situation to arise in the area's rail service. However, two of the ICC examiners did reject the proposed merger on the grounds that it would not help preserve rail competition in the southeastern United States.

The decision of the ICC favoring merger was rendered on December 2, 1963. The merger, however, was not completed until several years of intervenor's court appeals were finally ended when the United States Supreme Court, in a per curiam decision, sustained the merger on May 10, 1967.

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Content Description

The records of the Atlantic-Seaboard Merger Case are composed of published applications for merger, statements, reports, and exhibits of parties favoring or opposing the merger, over five thousand pages of arguments before the ICC, and the final report of the examiners. Briefs of intervenors, who between 1964 and 1967 had appealed the ICC report first to the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, are included in the records as well as the various court decisions.

The correspondence, though limited, reflects the intimate working relationship between Edwin H. Burgess, representing the Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company, with the legal department of the Atlantic and the executives of the Seaboard.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 228, Atlantic-Seaboard Merger Case Records . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The records of the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Airline railroad merger case were donated to the Washington State University Library by Edwin H. Burgess in 1969.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

  • Description: Applications of ACL & SAL railroads to the ICC for Approval of merger; supplemental application of Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Co.; applications of interested parties to intervene and other relief; ICC orders.
    39 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1-3
  • Description: "Statements, resolutions, and letters of parties supporting merger."
    64 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 2-4 / 4-12
  • Description: "Maps, schedules, reports, and other exhibits in support of merger."
    39 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 4 / 13-15
  • Description: "Statements, resolutions, letters, reports, and other exhibits in opposition to merger."
    40 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 5 / 16-19
  • Description: Replies of applicants to intervenors.
    9 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 6 / 20

  • Oral Arguments before Interstate Commerce Commission

  • Description: Corrections.
    11 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 10 / 40
  • Description: ICC Examiner's Report.
    2 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 11 / 41
  • Description: Exceptions of Intervenors to Examiner's Report.
    23 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 11 / 42-44
  • Description: Exceptions of Intervenors to Examiner's Report.
    10 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 12 / 45
  • Description: Applicants' replies to Exceptions.
    6 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 12 / 46

  • Court Proceedings

    • Description: "Suit by Florida East Coast RR, et al. in U.S. District Court to enjoin and set aside ICC order approving merger."
      19 items.
      Container: Box/Folder 12 / 47
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Briefs of parties opposing merger.
      3 items.
      Container: Box/Folder 12 / 48
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Briefs of parties opposing merger.
      11 items.
      Container: Box/Folder 13 / 49-50
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Briefs of parties supporting merger.
      8 items.
      Container: Box/Folder 13 / 51-52
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Oral arguments before U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida, and its decision annulling ICC order approving merger,
      2 items.
      Dates: May 13, 1965
      Container: Box/Folder 14 / 53-54
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Appeal by supporters of merger to U.S. Supreme Court, briefs of parties, and Supreme Court's decision vacating district court's adverse decision and remanding case to district court for reconsideration,
      15 items.
      Dates: Nov. 22, 1965
      Container: Box/Folder 14 / 55
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Proceedings on remand in District Court for conference between interested parties and the courts, plus briefs in support of merger.
      18 items.
      Container: Box/Folder 15 / 56
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Briefs of opponents of merger, oral argument before District Court and its judgment approving the merger.
      16 items.
      Dates: June 8, 1966
      Container: Box/Folder 15 / 57-58
      Location: Court Proceedings
    • Description: Appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by opponents of merger; briefs of parties, and Supreme Court's opinion per curiam sustaining the merger and Mercantile Safe Deposit & Trust Company's relation to the newly merged railroad,
      20 items.
      Dates: May 10, 1967
      Container: Box/Folder 16 / 59-60
      Location: Court Proceedings
  • Description: Summary of Testimony prepared for E. H. Burgess as of
    1 item.
    Dates: May 2, 1961
    Container: Box/Folder 16 / 61
  • Description: Abstract of Testimony before ICC prepared in the Law Department-of the Atlantic Coast Line RR Co. as of
    1 item.
    Dates: July 5, 1961
    Container: Box/Folder 16 / 62
  • Description: Abstract of Testimony before ICC prepared in the Law Dept. of the ACL RR Co. as of
    1 item.
    Dates: July 27, 1962
    Container: Box/Folder 17 / 63
  • Description: Preliminary Considerations of the ICC Examiner's Recommended Report and Order, prepared in the Law Dept. of the ACL RR Co.,
    1 item.
    Dates: Sept. 4, 1962
    Container: Box/Folder 17 / 64
  • Description: Correspondence of E. H. Burgess,
    91 items.
    Dates: 1960-69
    Container: Box/Folder 17 / 65-67
  • Description: Clippings re: proposed merger.
    10 items.
    Container: Box/Folder 17 / 68

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Railroads -- Mergers--Law and legislation--United States

Personal Names

  • Burgess, Edwin Haines.--Archives (creator)

Corporate Names

  • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company
  • Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company
  • Seaboard Air Line Railway
  • United States. Interstate Commerce Commission

Finding aid prepared by Robert A. Catale
2012

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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