St. Paul daily globe., 1891-05-07
The Standard Oil Company
Alleged to Be at Its Old,
Old Game.
Competition Not in It's Line
and Antagonistie Firms
Must Be Crushed.
What DilWopth Richardson
Has to Say About State
Oil Inspection.
Gar Nichols Holds the Fort
Awaiting the Production
Of SimOleOnS.

Inere is law on the statute DOCK OF
the state which says every barrel of oil
offered for sale shall be inspected.
State Oil Inspector Nichols says, 'Pay
me my salary or no oil shall be in
spected."
For week not barrel of oil has
been inspected. Mr.. Nichols has shown
himself to be more powerful than the
sovereign will of the people as en-
bodied in the laws of the state.
Meanwhile the various Oil companies
are hustling around to agree upon the
payment of Car Nichols salary. A
meeting was held in the executive Office
Friday, but nothing definite was done,
and Gov. Merriam agreed to call an
other meeting. He has been in Chicago
this week, and that is one reason why
nothing has been done to re-enforce the
oil inspection.
Outside the coercive policy of Mr..
Nichols TO extract his salary. there is an
interesting fight among the Oil COM
panies respecting the inspection law.
There are to the general outsider six
companies selling Oil in this state, the
Standard, the Globe, the Chester, the
Excelsior. 1t is given out by those ''Who
know" that the Standard, the Globe and
the Chester are but one company. The
latter two are but otfshootS of the parent
company. the Standard. The North
western and the Excelsior are but small
companies, so that the real competition
for the oil trade in the state is between
the Standard and the Independent COM
panieS.
The Standard people are said to look
down upon the Independent people with
lofty Scorn, claiming to do all the busi-
ness that is worth doing.
1t is singular, however, that in this oil
inspection rumpus the Standard COM
pany should be reSorting to tactics the
animuS of which is the crippling of the
Independent company. compelling it to
go out of business and giving clear
field to its formidable rival! DilWorth
Richardson, manager of the!1ndepend-
ent Oil company, late last evening was
met by reporter, and unboSomed him
self in this strain:
1--WE have not had a barrel of oil in
spected for a week, and will soon have
exhausted all the barrels we had on
hand which had been inspected before
the edict went out that there was to be
no more inspection of oil in this state.
Nothing has been done about settling
the difficulty. | telephoned to the gov
ernor yesterday and to-day, but he was
reported away. When he returns sup
pose something will be done.
A proposition was made by the Stand
ard company at Fridays meeting that
20 cents barrel should be paid for in
spection by the various companies.
This money is to go into the treasury,
and out of it the oil inspectors and
deputies are to receive their salaries.
When the legislature meets two years
hence, the money which remains in the
treasury is, by law, to be repaid the oil
companies. Such a proposition, no
doubt, sounds very nice, but the inward
ness Of the whole thing Is to down the
independent company. The Standard
company. or more correctly speaking.
the Great Trinity oil company, as you
know the Standard, the Globe and the
Chester are one and the same, can we'll
afford to have $4,000 or $4,000 locked
up IN the state treasury. 1t is a man.
moth company. The Independent is a
young company, but in accordance with
its youthfulness is very vigorous, and
the competition is not at all relished by
the Standard. That company, there
fore, in making the 20 cents barrel
proposition to the governor, cannot be
said to be acting at all disinterestedly.
''The Independent company IS per-
fectly willing to continue the payment
of the gratuity to the state oil inspector,
as no proper provision is made for the
same. The whole of the companies
have done this for over year. The
Standard was the first to cease paying
the gratuity. The legislature having
failed to amend the oil inspection law,
and as we must get along with it for
two more years, having got along all
right under the gratulty scheme for one
year, what objection could there be
against continuing it? The Standard
simply wants to down the Independent,
but in that they will find themselves
woefully mistaken"