Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-05-12
They are Organized to Secure a
Monopoly.
CRUSH OUT COMPETITION


Washington. May 1.-THE Industrial
ness to be- called In connection with the
Inquiry into the operation OF trusts.
The witness was Hon. James W. Ice OF
pitisburg. attorney for several pipe
lines and oil companies and formerly
q state senator Of Pennsylvania. SIT.
Lees testimony was directed especially
against the STANDARD OIL company.
Speaking Of the eject Of trusts upon
the customer. SIR. Ice said the ten-
dcncy was TO increase prices until they
became cstoitionatc. Trusts were or
ganlxed to secure a monopoly and when
this was secured b. closing up rival
establishments they were In position
10 ia prices which were. according TO
his observation. gcncraiy 'incrcaHcd In
order to permit dividends on watercd
niock. This had been eniucntiy true
OF the Standard oil company.
A. an Illustration. h. snid that when
tho Pure oil company. IN which tho
witness " Interested. wont Into the
Held In New York In 1896. they found
the standard selling oil nj Va cents n
gallon. The price was almost itnmc-
dlateiy reduced 20 "a cents and had
20 drive cut the rival The fifrt price
was inofdlnaicly high but the latter
was rulnouHly low and while the indc-
pendent company had met the rcduc-
ton. II had done 80 ut loss. lie
thought the competition had resulted
IN the saving ~ fully t1.Ooo.ODo 10 the
people OF Greater New York The name
condition Of affairi existed at compcti-
tive points.
Mr. Ice expressed the opinion that
the standard company was still getting
rebates from the railroad companies
despite the Law. and h. thought this
was accomplished by paying cxhorhi-
iant prices FOR lubrlcntinv oil.
iic estimated that the Standard COM
pnny had within the past twenty years
absorbed about ioo indepcndant COM
panics. but that the companies with
which he was connected had refused 10
rell at nm advance % is's per cent IN
cost when they were about TO be closed
by the sheriff, This refusal had been
dictated largely by sentiment now,
however. the Independent companies
were doing "a profitable burincsa. lie
know Of several rcinerica which had
been purchased nj hirh prices by the
standard company aud then had been
shut down. lie had also heard that
men had received a bonus to remain
idle, but he had no personal informa-
tlnn on this subject.
SIR. Lee Fnid the standard oil com
pnny had made an effort To prevent
The extension OF the buEinoss Of the In
depcndcn, companies TO foreign mar
fetr by buying "a, the fanfare NJ given
points and by rrlling Mt lower prices
than prevailed even IN the United
states. SIN the independent companies
We're able 10 compete abroad largely
becAur. In Great iifitnln and In Ger
many and In some other countries COM
petlilnn was preserved TO u greater cN-
tent than In the United States. In
Germany no one was allowed To- do bus
incra az a loss. The profit mad. abroad
was what enabled the independent
companies 20 continue IN existence NJ
the business OF this country alone was
Improbable.
sfr Lees testimony AZ tho afternoon
session was devoted To the eject ~
trusts upon the producer and upon la
hor. dealing again exclusively with the
oil business, lie said the atm ~ the
trusts WIS to get complete monopoly
n business. fixing the price M II may
please and leaving little or no profit
90 the producer. AZ an Illustration he
said the standard on company had
maintained the price paid Tor crude oil
az g cents per barrel Tor the year, ana
that Tor the ten years prior To 1855 the
price paid had averaged only 10 cents
per barrel, Whereas the nvcrago cost
~ production was not less than u.
lie further expressed tho opinion that
The counties In p"nnayivanin which
had produced all the oil turned out In
that state amounting TO about sno,ooo,-
90 barrcla.werr worse on for Us output
tilll there were some wells which were
largely remunerativc, due 10 their high
degree Of productivcncss A. q matter
~ fact. however, many Of the wells
produced very little. or the oo.0oo wells
IN operation. 2soco produced less than
half "A IulaF..l a each Hh0IIlfhl
thnt N there had been ffty rcfnerler
instead 81 the Standard company, the
market would have been lust an extern
rive, the consumer would have gotten
his Oh an cheaply and the producer
would have been much better on.
where has the balance gomez" asked
Mr.. Livingston.
u think" the witness rplled. tho
standard OH company could explain
that The understanding ~ that II has
realised about Noo.Ooo.Ooo."
Mr. Loo was quite confident that tho
general eject OF trusts was Injurious
u tabor. The effect was To deprive la
hotcrs OF oompetition. or chance for
employment with less work. Speaking
specifically OF the Standard company'r
treatment ~ IL employees, he said
they were well paid and n certain class
~ them received very high salaries,
SIN the ultimate eject ~ any m0nop-
oily must be Injurious TO labor.
As means of prevention ~ trusts,
Nr, Lee suggested a law -ptnking de-
ftructiye competition n criminal Of
fonse lie thought the fear of lmnflH-
nnmeni would lnilmidate some 81 them.
Nothing had done 30 much Ms desiruc-
tive competition 20 prevent progress
and fairness The law could be paHqed
by the states and In ease OF prosccu-
tlon. prices charged for years could be
used M evidence, He would also sug-
rest that the capital of all corporations
except those ~ n public or qunsi-duhlic
nature should be limited 10 1900 600.
lie thought that something Of this kind
was necessary. that n the remedy was
not found the country would be- ruined
by combinations ~ capital detrimental
20 the public Interests. Under the pres
ent conditions personal ambition was
riined and many men were being kent
out Of business because NJ the exist
ence of these combinations,
Open RlnE ut Lsionis.
Cincinnati. o.. May 1.-THE Latonla
Jockey club has announced that any
reputnbie bookmnker can driW I'm at