The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-08-24

NOFOL1.
Hon. VIM. l.. Wilson's Paper-Tht
Marvellous Power Of a Single Cor
poration-How it Crushed
Competition and Piled
Up Its Riches.
Few volumes, imagine, would be
more interesting than one which
would trace with accurate knowl
edge a full history of the successive
stages of development by which q
partnership of oil refiners in the city
of Cleveland, Ohio, grew into the
great combination whose name heads
this article. Much has been writ
ten about it, both by way of accuse
ton and defense Mr.. J. f. Hudson
in his book, 1.-THE Railways and the
Republic" adapting title from
Victor Hugo, narrates portion OF
its story as the "History of Com
mercial Crime" Others have recit-
ed the same story as they would tell
of some great scheme of universal
benevolence Certain it is that no
one who has not had full and con-
fidential knowledge of it's progress
from the beginning, and of that
large part of its history of which no
record was ever made, will be able
to unfold the wonderful story as we
should like to hear it told. Forum
ately our present undertaking re-
quires nothing more than a summa-
ry of so much of the past history as
will enable us to understand clearly
the present combination. The large
volume of testimony taken by the
House committee contains the testi-
mony of at least two of its founders,
put the purposes of the investigation
did not require minute inquiry into
any matters beyond the structure of
the existing trust" and the railroad
discrimination from which it is be-
lieyed to have drawn it's greatness.
Upon the latter branch of the in
quiry | believe this testimony will
prove of special and permanent val
ue, for the committee, recognizing
the necessity for expert knowledge
in eliciting the facts, employed eoun-
sci in the person of Mr.. Gowen, ex-
president of the Reading Railroad
Company, a gentleman particularly
familiar with the general field of in
quiry, and lawyer not often equal
ed in his ability to handle witnesses.
HISTORY OF THE STANDARD OIL TRUST.
Prior to 1870 there was firm of oil
refiners in the city of Cleveland,
Ohio, doing business nnder the part
nership name of Rockefeller, An
drews q Flagler. They were not
producers of oil, but received their
crude oil from the Pennsylvania fields.
The capacity of their refinery was
six hundred barrels per day.
In 1870 they became incorporated
under the laws of Ohio as "The
Standard Oil Company with Ca
pital of one million dollars and Il
refining capacity of over thousand
barrels per day, that is to say, ca
pacity for doing about one tenth of
all the oil refining of the country at
that time. There were MANY other
refining firms and companies in ex-
istence, some of which had equal
plant, equipment and capacity.
The location of the Standard at
Cleveland was not an advantageous
one. The numerous refineries near
er the oil fields and the seaboard
held superior positions and enjoyed
cheaper transportation facilities.
Those at Pittsburg, for instance, re-
ceived their crude oil by barges on
the Allegheny river, and had much
shorter route to the seaboard for
their refined product; then, as now,
the great bulk of our refined oil be-
ing sent to foreign markets. The
carriers for the Standard, and doubt
less for the other refneries at Cleve-
land, were the railroads-the Erie
and the New York Central, with
their connecting lines.
The Eastern refineries were con-
scious of their advantage in position,
and paid little heed to the Ohio
company, which however, seems very
early to have conceived an ambition
for controlling the refining business
of the country, and it's means of CON
quest were, we may believe, suggest
ed to it by its very inferiority in To-
cation, and, as so often happens, out
of it's difficulties grew its greatness.
Its first movement was to acquire
and consolidate with itself the other
refineries in its own city, whose will
ingness to merge into it was proba-
bly, quickened by the considerations
above stated. AT any rate, before
1873 the Standard Oil Company
possessed all the refineries in Cleve-
land, having effected their acquisi-
ton by the issue of an additional
million and a-half of stock.
In January, 1872, a great uproar
was suddenly raised among the pro-
ducers and refineries in Pennsylva-
mia by the discovery that a certain
Southern Improvement Company
had consummated secret contract
with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, to which also the Erie
and New York Central had become
parties, by which it was to have oil
shipped at rates ranging from 40
cents to $1.32 per barrel cheaper
than any other shipper who did not
ship an equal amount and possess
and use works, means and facilities
for carrying on and promoting the
petroleum trade equal to itself.
THE STRANGE INTRUDER
But who was this strange intrud-
er whose first entrance into the oil
business portended ruin and disas-
ter to all others? The Southern I'm
provement Company had one of the
special charters which in those days
were frequently obtained from the
Pennsylvania Legislature, not for
use but for sale. This charter had