South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1889-07-26
THEINTELLlGENcER
FRIDAY. JULY Is, 1855.
TRUSTS & MoNOPOLIEs.
The Standard OH Alliance.
BY HON. wN. L. WILSON.
EUyiBRR III
NUMBER III.

no longer poxx.ed to know how.
within half dozen years. II came 20
control the oil refining business of
tue country. ss we'll for home con.
sumption as for expectation. The
mansgers OF this organization did
not aepe nd on the gr,dua! and resist.
less eft ct OF tteir great rebates on
the Eastern trunk lines to nd them
OF competition, but seem 20 have
adopted The rule of the Irishmau at
Doonybrook Fair, which was to
strike wherever he saw . head.
Serious and passionate charges
OF criminal character against some
OF the agents Of tie combination
were made by witnesses before the
House committed. who believed then.
selves victims Of its power aud per.
secu'ion, but IL is not necessary TO
examine or 10 credit these charges to
reach she conclusion that, having ac-
CURED giants strength, IL used 1.
like giant 10 extend its control
over the home market.
It's plans were systematic and
comprehensive, and seem to have
included o geographical division of
the country, its own intrenchmens
q. favorable distributing ceu,ers and
its command Of the intervening re.
gions. To accomplish this it put
forth its power rs reality in a small
as In large field 10 make compe;i,
ton impossible.
CRUSHING INDEPENDENT INDUSTRY.
The testimony of SIR. George Rice,
an independent re6ner of Marietta.
OHIO, reveals lhs difficulties, annoy.
sDces and Losses he encountered in
trying to market his oils in tue South
aud Southwest.
They involved higher freight
charges, absolute refusal Of carriage,
delays and shUhgs that amounted
u such refusal, and the immediate
reduction below cost OF the price OF
OIL in any village or town 10 which
he sent his produces.
Indeed, the fear u his powerful
competitor seems even 10 have made
construction companies refuse to
build cas- for him on their usual
terms. he produced let.ers, writ
ten by tie firm which repr esented
the Standard Oh Company a. Louis
viile,sinre organized into The "Stsnd.
ard Oil Company Of Kentucky" of
VIII, oh one directed The Louisville and
Nashville Railroad Company to turn
another screw" on him, which it i'm.
mediately did by raising his freight.
rates from less than sixty cents TO
ninety cents per barrel, and others
threatened his consignees in Louis
vile with a ''co mpetI,ion which will
not be confined TO coal oil, or to any
one article, and will not be limited
to any one year"-a momentous
threat 10 business frD in view of
the rower behind it and the speed
and secrecy Of its pcis bic execution.
A recent decision OF tue interstate
commerce commission. at the sui, of
Dir. Rice against certain railroad
companies, fnGs that their Giscr;mi-
nations In favor OF the Standard Oil
Trust. by tue devices OF underbill.
ing and tank cars, have not ceased
even under the law Of Congress, " hich
commands equity and equality as the
rule OF all charges made 10y carriers
VI interstate commerce.
THE WHOLE CONTINENT IN IT'S COILS.
1t thus came to pass by 1882 that
the Standard Oil combination, which
then Included a large number Of at
IL cted corpo atoms, held the whole
country in its coils, and Jefned and
sold in the home or foreign markets
four-hf.hs of all the petroleum pro-
duct of our oil fields, the remaining
twenty per cent. being handled by
quite a number Of independon; REIN
era, who existed more by it's suffer-
ance than from their own ability to
stand.
lie had immense refneries at the
seaboard, also at Pittsburg. Cleveland
and other interior points; it had lis
own tank cars for transporting oil
in bulk, is own manufactures OF
barrels and lamp wicks, its jobbino
houses, lis local pipeage in tho oil
fields, and lis through pipe lines from
those fields 10 tue harbor of New
York.
Its property had reached the value
OF many millions, This great prop
erty was held and this immense bu.
s.ness conducted by lnrge number
of corporations holding charters
tom various States. Some of these
were charters secured for the express
purposes Uf the combinations Others
were charters of independent and
competing companies whose stock
had been acquired, either in the
whole or in port. in it's progress to
universal domination.
CONSOLIDATING ITS POWER.
These corporations were carried
on under independent organizations,
each, however, as member ola com
mon scheme. Tue Standard man
ayers Owned all the stock 10 many OF
them. ia others a majority nf the
shares; sometimes bare majority,
merely Tor control, and in several
only small pen cent, either ss the
beginning OF acquisition or as sufi-
Gent for ih'i, purposes. Some Of
tui5 Aforementioned stock vas held
BY certain members ns trust. es Tor all,
and H. Is pOssiO C tia. an this gmD!o