St. Paul daily globe., 1891-05-01
The Oil Inspection Farce
Comedy Soon to Be Rung
Down for Good.
It Is Probable the Courts
Will Be Called On For a
Solution.
No Prospect Of an Increased
Price for st. Paul Ice
This Season.
1t Was William Whalen, Of
Saltwater, Who Fell to
Death.

The Statute-Oil shall be inspected.
Inspector Niehols-Oil shall not be
inspected.
The wrongs and Irregularities of the
system of inspecting Illuminating oils
for the past two years are bearing fruit
now. AS matter of fact there has
been no inspection. While the Standard
Oil company has been paying the salary
of Inspector Nichols and the other COM
panies have been paying his deputies,
the stencils have been in the hands of
the companies themselves, and they
have been running the inspection at
their own sweet will. This is a beau
tiful state of affairs.
But it has come to a head.
The causes leading up to the situation
may be briefly summarized: When the
legislature of 1889 cut off the inspectors
fat fees and give him salary no appro-
priation was made for it. He then pro-
posed to pay himself out of the fees and
his deputies to do likewise. But the
courts held that no more of fee could
be charged for inspecting a tank than
for barrel of oil, and the fat fees dissl-
pated into thin air. But the law said no
oil could be sold unless inspected, so
the Oil companies patched up an agree
ment. The Standard was to pay In
spectOr Nichols salary, and the inde-
pendent, Excelsior and other companies
were to pay the salaries of deputies.
This obtained for while and all went
well-aS we'll as it cOuld-untii finally
the state stencils were turned over to
the companies and they did their own
inspecting.
Now comes the crisis.
Yesterday Inspector Nichols served
written notice on the several oil COM
panies to this effect: From and after
May there will be no inspection of oil
in Minnesota" At the same time he
ordered in all of the branding stencils,
which are the property of the state.
Mr.. Nichols evidently intends to force
matters TO a crisis, and certainly this
will do it. The law says no illuminat-
ing oil shall be sold in Minnesota except
after having been duly inspected and
having stood a flash test. Unless the
inspection is made, oil companies are
prohibited from selling their product,
under penalty, and it is not to be sup
posed they will quietly submit to that
The Standard company is very pro-
nouncedly on its muscle and proposes
to fight. Manager Converse said yes
terday his company did not longer pro-
pose to pay the salary of the oil in
SpectOr, and it did propose to have its
oil inspected as the law directs. This
makes the situation very interesting.
If there is no salary and no fees, it
would be hard to find man who will
inspect oil for pure patriotism.
A mandamuS wilt be asked for.
But if the oil inspector should resign
and no one Should consent to serve
without pay the law would be practi-
cally imperative. The Independent
and Excelsior companies are willing to
pay the salaries, as heretofore, but the
Standard will none of it. AS a result of
this complication, a meeting of all the
oil companies, with the governor and
Oil Inspector, has been called for the
governors Office as soon as the execu-
tive returns from the lake, possibly to-
day or tomorrow, when it is hoped
there may be found some satisfactory
way out of the difficulty.
AS it is, the law and the situation are
badly mixed.
The report of the senate committee
on illuminating oils was very explicit,
and told the whole story. The same
committee recommended the passage of
a bill which turned the oil inspection
over to the dairy department, but the
bill failed of enactment. InaSmuch as
there was ne provision for his salary,
and not sufficient fees to make the sal
ary good, it is difficult to see how Oil
Inspector Nichols can be blamed: and
yet, the public will be pleased to see
some action that will Straig hten out the
situation,