New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-03-11

decision and the day the decision WAS "'''I
public their legal representative openly "'ho''
his belief that the trust would he apah"oii'u'
In the last few days there nave pceh lohS Co''",,
tons hetw cen the Rockefeller brothers, Henry -
Rogers. Henry NJ Fagler and other trustees anu
their counsel, which finally resulted IN the Issue
of the following notice yesterday to ceruhca'e
holders:
ONCE Of Standard Oil Trust
No. % Broadway. y. y.
Now.Yo-k March 10.
. snoc,,l meeting o, the holders Of the STANDARD Oh
Trust certificates Will held at the o'c Of tn Trust on
Monday March 2l II O'Clock a m. for 'he Pup'se o
voting NJ on resolution to terminate the tru't agTe"'""
in accordance with the te'mS o S'u agreement '' T,
such further action a may BE- thereby rhdeiru
rono,t,,l,, H. NJ. FLAGLER, Secretary.
1r,o octual bnsincss of the Standard organization
: oonducted bv companes organized under the
lows of the different States. There IS Standdr"
on Company for New-York, Pennsylvania, New
Iersev Ohio. Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky. These
companes conduct the refining branch OF the pusi-
ness while the transportation of crude OIL from "e
producing fields TO refining points in the interior
and al the seabOard is done by pipe lines Inc
principal pipe lines are operated by the Nauohal
Transit Company which stores and transports the
oil produced in New-York, Pennsylvania, west Nlr-
ginia and parts OF Ohio The Buckeye Pipe Line
handles the inferior grade of oil produced In the
central and northern parts of OHIO. All OF
these corporations are united in the
Standard Oil Trust, which is simply a
noel of the stocks of the individual compa-
r,es. The trustees are John D. Rockefeller, Will
lam Rockefeller, Henry NJ Flaeler, John d. Arch
bold. Henry II. Rogers, Benjamin Brewster and
". H. Tilford. The aggregate capital held III the
control of the trustees is about 800, ,OOO,0O0 Inc
certificates issued by the trust simply represent
the e0nities in the property held by the trustees
of the Standard Oil Trust
Bv the provisions of the trust, 1t may be
terminated at any time on the vote OF ccrth-
cate-holders. The trust is purely personal
affair the stock of the various companies peilS
uooled not by corporate action, but by the action
of stockholders Individually There is no intent 'n
of replacing the trust by corporation, as was
1Le cas- when the Sugar Trust and Cotton Seed
Oil Trust wcic reorganizcd, because OF the dli-
ference in tie character OF the several agreements
In disSolvlnr the Standard Oil Trust, individual
stockholders will simply receive back the pooled
securities. but of course some method VIII DE
devised bv which the outside hol!cfs OF trust
certificates will be fully protected in their elu'lc>
Some Of the banks hold the Standard Trust Ger
tiicates as collateral on loans. but they have
been fully assured by the Standard people that
they will he fully protected in any stcls when
will be necessary in case il is decided at the
When the trust was formed there were thirty
holders of certificates and now there are no more
than abost 200 The trustees for about eight
years paid / , per cent dividends from the profits
of the controlled business. The certificates have
sold as high as 22j, which was prior TO in
clease in tie form Of stock dividend,
which was declared few years ago In the last
week the price of certificates advanced 10 points
10 l59. The certificates are not listed any OF
the public stock exchanges and all dealings in
them are conducted by outside negotiations.
s. c. T. Dodd, solicitor of the Standard Oil
organization, said yesterday: If oil could now
he sold in the market at the prices ruling in 1874.
il would cost cOnsuners $500, 600 600 more than
they now pay. The combination of interests III
the refining business has resulted in steady
cnea pening Of the product and only by this union
has this country been able hold it's export trade
against the competition Of Russian oil in Europe
ard Asia. The cause Of the proposed dissolution
is the public outcry against trusts, Of course sup
plementcd by the recent decision OF the ONO
courts That was the first legal decision to affect
the Standard Oil Trust. The decision in the New
York courts in the Sugar Trust case was III effect
that no company corporation could become
member of trust a. such. This did not aiect
the various Standard Oil companies which were
not members of trust. The stockholders Ol
the various companies merely put tbclf SloCh III
the hands of trustees TO hold Tor
them. IL was personal trust TIE ONO
Court decided that such trust as
the Standard was Illegal because sufficient num-
Der of stockholders went into ii TO involve the CON
troll of tie S.aic corpOratiOn This applied only 10
the Standard Oil Company OF OHIO, ana the Ata'-
card Oil Trust could meet the decision by Simply
Withdrawing the stock Of the Ohio corporation.
But the moral effect would be bad for the trust,
as it has done business for ten years III legal
way. aud does not now desire 10 use any hchhl-
cality to escape legal criticism.
Tie history of tie Standard on organization Is
one filled with public controversies. 1t has served
orators and writers as The example of one of the
most successful monopolcs ever established in the
business world, and AT th" same time lis friends
have tcen able TO point 20 the fact ti-t as the
combination became stronger, the eos, II the
l~rduct which IL manufactured has steadily b. en-
lowered IN price % the consumer. The Standard
oil D.lng into life IN Cleveland, where small
iefnely was established some thirty years ago ly
John H. Rockefeller and his brother William,
Ilqarv NJ Flaglcr aftcr"ard joining the firm. The
standard Oil Company was formed by these men III
1870 and as TIE Importance Of the petroleum Tc-
pons OF PENNSYLVANIA developed the company
reached out To control IT.
Rv - combination with tie railroads which secured
tho STANDARD special rates. tremendous advan-
ta"e WAS given 10 the organization over its com
pctitOrs who We're gradually either absorbed or
forced out Of business. The Standard was early in
the field TO control the methods OF transporting
crude oil 10 the seaboard by means OF pipe lines,
and in recent years IL has made immense purchases
OF producing territory which now give ii the own
cislp Of a large proportion OF the cru lc product
"a wel rs supremacy IN the transportation and
refining branches OF the oil business. Millions
have fcen made by the controlling maragers, but by
barishing competition in the refining business the
cos. OF manufacturing has been Iednced to mini
num- and with the growth Of the monopoly, the
course of the refined article has been downward in
haa markets.