The Advocate and news., 1898-11-23
Rockefeller, the Good, Christian Man.

that John d. Rockefeller is wrongly
abused, that he is a good Christian man
Of whom people ought to be proud In
stead Of bounding him as they do. 1t has
been proved time and again that Rookie
feller is meek and lOwly in all his bear
ings, that he frequently gives large sums
for Christian objects, and that person
ally he is most charming and deVout
man. 1t has also been frequently proved
that his great corporation, the Standard
Oil trust, works on Sundays and other
days to crush out competition and ruin
men who want to conduct their business
In a Christian way. Rockefeller Is q
Christian man, but his business is devil
ish. But there are people who assert
that Christianity Is spiritual and Of an
other world, while business is temporal
and controls this world. They would be
very indignant If you called them anar-
chists although they cannot prove that
there is a great deal Of un-Christian
anarchy in our present business system
The Social Democratic Herald gives
the following account of some of the
methods of the Standard Oil trust, which
is not by any means the worst Of the
way in which Mr.. Rockefeller Is his
brothers. keeper:
Mr. George Rice, Of Marietta, Ohio,
was one of the witnesses in the recent
investigation Of the Standard Oil trust.
He complains because he was ruined by
Rockefeller" That is, being one Of the
losers in system where some, usually
the most deserving, must lose, he feels
that he is the victim Of injustice and is
angry at the winner, who usually has no
scruples as to the methods Of his sue
cess. Mr.. Rice has yet to learn that his
ruin and the ruin Of men like him is in
evitable. What he has to say Of the
Standard people, however, is interesting
and ought to open the eyes Of every man
who, in the jubilee days, thinks he is
living in country where there is oppor-
tunity for each of us to do business on
his own initiative. Mr.. Rice says
II have been an oil producer for thirty
years and a refner for twenty years, but
l shut down my refinery two years ago
because it was utterly impossible to do
business without loss. The works and
all the employees have been idle ever
since and all my income has gone to
wreck and ruin.
Most of the railroad companies are
acting in collusion with the Standard
Oil Company. This is proved by POOrs
Railway Directory, that shows Standard
Oil managers to be directors in One-fifth
the total mileage of this country. The
trunk lines without exception are under
the domination of the gigantic trust.
Now, was destroyed by freight disCrim-
ination.
when / sent trainload Of oil to
market found that the railroad charged
me three or four times the rate charged
the Standard Oil people and gave the ex-
cess paid by me to them. / made the ap-
pailing discovery that in shipping crude
oil from MaCksburg, where my wells are,
to Marietta twenty-five miles) was
forced to pay thirty-five cents barrel
and the Standard Oil only 10 cents.
But that's not the worst, incredible as
it seems, for the Standard Oil Company
received my rs cents excess as a bonus.
The railroad, therefore, carried Standard
Oil for nothing and paid Is cents per bar
rel for doing So"
But where did the railroad come in?"
was the next inquiry.
ut did not make dollar, Of course;
but the directors were Standard Oil
stockholders, and they were willing to
bankrupt the road to put money in the
treasury of the Standard. That is why
so many of the roads running through
the oil country are hOpelessly nom
dividend payers.
81 had fought the trust openly and
stubbornly. have been before the In
Ierstate Commerce Commissioners and
several legislative inquiries, but nothing
has come of it. hope for results from
the present investigation, but it is along
new lines"
Did the Standard people ever offer to
buy you out?"
20, yes. They made me an offer Of
about one-twentieth the value of my
"a Y