Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1884-03-29
THE STANDARD DEVIL FISH,
TunoraH WHOSE SUCKERS RuNs
NATURES GIFT OF OIL
Tpr STANDARD OIL Co.. WHICH Is
Now A GIANT AS W ELL As
FINANCIAL FRAUD

FINANCIAL FRAUD
The dc il fish of American business has
been only thirteen years in growing Shd
getting the petroleum trade OF the W"ri".
completely in it's control. Its iron Ten
tsclrs railroad iron and iron pipe lines
hold that industry tight while 1t sucks
blood at leisure In the final settlement
which the American people surely have t"
make with corporate power, the longest
and darkes, account Will be for the part
the common carriers" played in breath
ING the breath of HE into the Standard
Oil Monopoly.
There was ut frst IA double drswback X
contract with All the railroads lea ling out
of the oil regions, whereby the Standard
OH Company WAS (1) to ENJOY an tAc'u-
sive low rate OF freight on all OIL 1t ship
ped, and was ~ TO receive "divvy
from the excessive freight which compet-
ing Shippers mnst pay. The railroads Ia
yor.d .hc Standard and picked the pock'
eta of its business rivals, handing the
.>v,y ovrr to the Sran,llrd Sioday school
e,n.rint,ndrnts and Others. Part of tue
time the Standard hxcd not only the iate
of its own freight, but directed how much
por barrel the railroads sh"u steal 'f'"
competitors shipments for its benefit. IL
was AS if the railroad employees iai se>
cretly run given number ot barrels o'
oil out of every tank car Of ind pendent
shippers into the cara ot the otannat.t
O, course this douplc steal soo' mntte tue
Standard the only shippers OF crude pc
troleum.
Then they went for the rcfiiners. a
doubly heavy drawback was put IN re-
fined oil shipments, in addition I" The DIS
examination on crude rates To indepcnd-
ent r, fncrs. Aud it WAS not long before
Tn. Standard owned sll the rctneries IN
the counry. or had crushed the owners
and reduced the works 10 Junk heaps
rhe property it thus destroyed or con-
tiscnt.d amounted 10 millions, and thert
~ ~ no r, ,nrdy found in II land whef'
property rights are held $" sscred, u Ia
boring man propnsts taircr shake az.
II here and there an independent shipper
or r,finer held out, thinking he conld pay
tire excessive freight and live out ot IN,
enormous margins the Standard was mah-
ing between the price OF crude ana re-
6ned the railroad. refused point blank I"
haul ou, tor him ut amy price even II Ne
furnished his own tank cars. AMI tho
courts. in the celebrated case OF Ohlen
decided that the railroads could not be
pr. vented from thus garrotinG trade.
Tao Octopus had now pretty good
grasp on the refining business. by the
grace of Satan in the railroads Il han con
stituted itself the only purchaser OF crude
and the only seller OF refined.
But the producer was restivc Under
this state OF things which put him g."
much at the mercy Of the devil fish.
Other ,entacles were then thrown around
the producers in the torn OF p'pe>l'nes,
thousands Of miles long, with sucker
reaching to every we'll in the oil region.
With tins new system Of claws the pro-
ducer uf oil NOT only must ssll to the
Standard Oil Company, but he could not
move u drop of his own property to mar
ket, except at the will ct the monopoly
and to deliver it to whom il might direct
The producer Of this property then was
not as much i.s owner as the Standnd
WAS.
Only one thing prevented the m"n"p-
oly filing the prize on All crude as low rs
il plsssed-ss i, touia tha. Of refined AS
nigh as i, plsased-~and that was specr'a-
tive BUYERS. Outside capital thought pe-
.roleum good ''spec" at fifty and seven
ty.fve cents barrel, and began to ouiio
tanks and run oil into them to hold tor 4"
rise. The devil FISH never would toler'
ate rivalry. 1t began to head OF this IN
terterence by refusing I" run any on
through its pipes from The wells oh'c' the