Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-12-15
Protest of the Oil Producers.

An informal meeting, in which anumDer
of prominent oil men participated, wa
held at The Office of e. H. Jennings bros'
in Pittsburg last Thursday. The object OF
the meeting was TO discuss, from produc-
ers' standpoint, the placing of crude and
refined petroleum oil on the free list as
proposed by the Wilson bill.
M. Guffsy, P. NJ Shannon, e. Fl. Jen-
nings, Bernard Forst, John Galloway an
other representative oil mcn addressed the
meeting, and all denounced the measure
in the most bitter terms:
The meeting unanimously adopted
protest which will be sent to Congress.
The protest recites that the development
of the RUS ian oil fields, which are owned
by the Rothchilds, the Bakou Standard
Company, and the Noble Bros. has re-
Gently attained such proportions that the
quantity Of oil produced there is now dou-
BILE that of American fields; that these
Russian oils are produced at such low cost
that they have already virtually driven the
American oil from foreign markets, and if
the provisions of the Wilson bill, as now
proposed, are now adopted, they must
Immediately gain control of the American
market also, the inevitable result of which
will be the destruction Of the American
oil business; that the importation offureign
oils cannot result in any reciprocal ex-
change q commodities, for the reason that
the vessels used to carry oil cannot, owing
to their peculiar construction, be used for
the transportation of any other commodity,
and such policy will result in the de-
struction of the home industry without
compensating advantages of our country.
The protest further says: 1--WE desire
TO call your attention to the Importance OF
our industry by stating that conservative
estimates place the sum invested in this
Commonwealth alone, in the production
of crude petroleum, at $50, 600, ,000-the an
nual product at 29.000,0O0 barrels-the
value to the producer; at present low
prices, at more than $22, ,000,000 and the
number ofipersons directly employed ut
5000.
We WOuiu csinoshJ uko uPoN 49, -
portance Of using every effort to defeat
this measure as proposed, and insist upon
the present duty, and If any change be
made, the duty should be increased, rather
than reduced"
1t was agreed that p. N. Shannon, chair
man of the committee, have LOCO copies
of the protest printed and placed in the
hands of all those interested in defeating
the proposed measure. After to-day these
blank petitions for signatures can be
had by applying to or addressing P. NJ.
Shannon, 108 Fourth avenue. After being
properly signed they will be returned to
Mr.. Shannon, and he in turn will forward
them TO Washington.
A SUMMARY of the work done in the
State Department for the current year
shows that 422 foreign corporations have
been granted permission to do business in
Pennsylvania since January lst, 1893; dur
ing the same period 522 general corpora
tions have been chartered under the act
Of 1874; 70 building and loan associations
have been granted charters, 0 natural gas
comanies. 2 cooperative association com
panies, los street railways, insurance
companies. 5 bank renewals have been
granted, banks have been chartered; 20
steam railways have been chartered, and
IL street railways. Mary of the building
and loan associations charters are only re-
newals although they have the force of
new charters inssmuch as the business OF
the old firms was wound up entirely and
the companies started afresh. Under the
general corporation" group is included
charters granted to electrical companies,
water companies, manufacturing compa-
nies, etc. While the showing is good for
the past year, it is still not as good as
usual.-Harrisburg Telegraph.