Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-02-24

canal, or UOWu lut OulO TlNcI AuuuICtlS
of miles to Huntington, thence by the
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad to Rich
mond, and so to the sea, Mr.. Vanderbilt
lowered his rates to the Standard so that
it could undersell any one who used these
devious routes. When the producers,
June, 1879, completed their own tide
water pipe line, l04 miles long, to a june
ton with the Reading railroad, obtaining
seaboard, Mr.. Vanderbilt reduced his
rates to the public from 81 40 to l.25 a
barrel to thirty-five and twenty-five cents,
and charged the Standard twenty, fifteen,
finally but ten cents For ten cents Mr.
Vanderbilt hauled for the Standard bar
rel weighing 800 pounds over 400 miles,
and hauled back the empty cars, at the
same time that he charged forty live cents
for hauling can of milk weighing ninety
pounds for sixty miles. So closely had
the Standard octopus gripped itself about
Mr.. Vanderbilt that even at the outside
rates its competitors could not get trans
portation from him. He allowed the
Standard to become the owner of all the
oil cars run over his road, and of all his
terminal facilities for oil. AS the Stand
ard owned all but 200 of the oil cars run
on the Erie, and leased all that roads
terminal facilities, it could charge its
rivals anything it pleased for the privi
legeS of New York harbor. When Mr..
Vanderbilt was questioned by Mr.. Simon
Sterne, of the New York committee,
about these and other things, his answers
were, Il don't know 81 forget" ~
don't remember" to l16 questions out of
249 by actual count. At time when the
Standard Oil company through its other
self, the American Transfer company,
was receiving from the New York Cen
trail thirtv-five cents q barrel onall oil
shipped by itself or its competitors, and
was getting other rebates which cost the
New York Central over 1000, 900 from
October II, 1877 to March 81, 1879, Mr..
Vanderbilt testified positively before the
New York investigating committee that
he knew nothing whatever about the
American Transfer company, its officers,
or the payments to it.
The Standards control of the Erie was
not less complete than its hold Of the
New York Central The Erie shipped
only ten cars for outsiders in a whole
year, and those were given by mistake.
Although public corporation and a COM
mon carrier, the Erie let the Standard
sink hundreds of wells on It's road bed,
and steal the oil of the neighboring wells.
After promising cars, of which it had
hundreds idle, to independent shippers,
the Erie withdrew them at the dctation
of the Standard. One shipper had 10000
barrels of oil brought down to the side of
the track by pipe line to be put into cars
promised him by the Erie. The agent Of
the Standard appeared and stopped the
shipment When this shipper told his
story, months later, before the New York
committee the oil had not been shipped,
though meanwhile the market value of
oil had gone down thirty per cent. In
giving the Standard special rates, rebates,
and the like, the Erie followed the same
course as the New York Central and the
Pennsylvania railroads.
When the Pennsylvania railroad began
its determinations against the oil produc-
ers, they appealed to President Scott for
equal rates with the Standard. At the
interview they obtained after repeated
solicitations, he answered their petition
by recommending them to make COM
promise with the Standard Oil company!
He did not want, he said, to
get into any trouble with that con-
Germ. Representing the greatest COM
mon carrier under the constitution of
Pennsylvania, which expressly provides
that everybody shall have ''equal rights
on the railroads of the State, President
Scott actually offered to get from the
Standard oil company for the shippers
the privilege of transportation over his
own road. He volunteered his personal
services to mediate between the Pennsyl-
vania railroad and the Standard. More
American than he, they refused the pro-
posed service. One of them, New
York refner, in describing the scene,
says, eve gave him very distinctly to
understand that we didn't propose to go
into any fix up where we would lose
our identity, or sell out, or be under any
BODY else's thumb President Scott
told these outsiders that they could not
have the same rate as tae Standard, not
even if they shipped the same amount of
oil, and refused to tell them what dis
examinations were being made. He re-
fused to give them transportation or to
let them put their own cars on the road,
although they had been his heaviest Gus
toners in the years when the Standard
was an ally of his competitors in one of
the fiercest railroad wars ever waged be-
tween the trunk lines.
Mr.. Vanderbilt, Mr.. Jewett and Mr..
Scott contracted with the oil producers
in writing, March Is, 1872, mot to give
any party the slightest difference in
rates or discrimination of any character
whatever and ';to make no change in
rates without ninety days notice in
writing to the producers" Among other
features of the systematic and chronic
violations of this compact, which began
almost Immediately, was special allow
ance by the Pennsylvania road of twenty
two and half cents barrel to the
Standard On all oil shipped by its COM
petitors or itself. Vice President Cas-
satt, of the Pennsylvania, said under
oath, in the Pennsylvania suit against
his road, that he did not think this special
allowance was any violation of the agree
ment But by it, as Mr. E. G.. Patterson,
of Titusville, said before the New York
investigating committee, the Standard
was able to sell refined oil at less than
the cost of manufacture, and put its
buyers of oil into the field, and crush out
the business of any rival, by bidding this
twenty-five and half cents, or part of
it, above the price any one not getting
this rebate could pay In the end the
rebate came out of the unfortunate pro-
ducer. After the Standard had used the
rebate to crush out the other refners,
In ,r-ore &c tho co