Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-18

tions III such countries, for Europeans
are prejudfced against foreign corpora
tons, as are the people of many OF our
! states. NtN.
COMBINATIONS A NECESSITY.
These different corporations thus be-
come cooperating agencies in the same
business and are held together by COM
mon ownership of their stocks.
1t is too late to argue about advan-
tages of Industrial combinations. They
are a necessity. And II Americans are
to have the privilege of extending their
business In all the states of the Union
and into foreign countries as we'll, they
are a necessity on a large scale andre
Quire the agency Of more than one ,cpr-
pOration.. y. 4
Their chief advantages are:
l l. of necessary capital"
t 2. Extension Of limits Of business!M
!. Increase of number of persons in
terested in the business. ~
4. Economy in business.
, 3. improvements and economics which
are derived from knowledge of many ~
terested persons Of wide. experience ~
6. Power to give the public imprinted
products at less prices and still I1Ake
profit for stockholders. M
Z. Permanent work and good Wilkes
for labOrers.
business, with which I have been inti.
mately connected for about 40 years.
Our first combination was a partnership
and afterward a corporation in Ohio.
was sufficient for g. local refining
business. But dependent solely upon To-
cal business we would nave failed years
ago.
, We were forced to extend our markets
and to seek for export trade. This lat
ter made the seaboard cities a necessary.
place OF business. and we soon discovered
that manufacturing for export could be
more economically carried on at the sea-
board, hence ref1neries at Brooklyn,
Bayonne and Philadelphia, and necessary
corporations in New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania. -
PIPE LINE CAUSED COMBINATION.
We soon discovered as the business
grew that the primary method of trans
porting oil n barrels could not last.
The package often cost more than the
contents, n the forests of the country
were not sufficient to supply the material
Tor an extended length of time. Hence
we devoted attention to other methods
or transportation, adopted the pipe line
system N found capital for pipe line
construction equal to the necessities Of
the business.
To operate pipe lines required fran
chlses from states in which they were
located, n consequently corporations
IN those states. just as railroads running
through different states are forced to OBJ
crate under separate state charters.
To perfect the pipe line system of
TRANSFORMATION required in the neighbour
hood of $50, Ooo.0 900 of capital. This could
not be obtained or maintained without
industrial combination. rEt /;
The entire OIL business is dependent up
on this pipe line system. Without it rey-
cry well would be shut down. every for
eign market would be closed to us. The
Pipe line system required other improve
ments. such as tank cars upon railways,
and finally the tank steamer. Capital
had to be furnished for them and COR.
them. - - -,
Every step taken was necessary in. the
business if 1t vas to be properly devel-
oped. and only through such successive
steps and by such industrial conlbina-
ton is America today enabled to- utilize
the bounty which its land pours forth and
to furnish the world with the best and
cheapest light ever known, receiving in
return therefor from foreign lands nearly
$50. 900, 1000 per year, most Of which is dis
trlbuted in payment Of American Labor
l nave gwen a picture rather h a
detail of the growth of industrial COM
bination. It is a pioneer and it's work
has been of incalculable value.
, There are other American products
besides for which the markets of the
world can be opened, and legislators will
if they unduly hinder by legislation the
combination of persons and capital re-
quisite for the attainment Of so desirable
an end. I
DANGER IN ABUSE OF POWER.
@. What are the chief ADVANTAGES or
dangers to the public arising from them?
A. The dangers are that the power
conferred by combinations may be
abused, that combinations may be formed
for speculation in stocks rather than for
conducting business, and that for this
purpose prices may be temporarily raised
instead of being lowered.
These abuses are possible to a greater
or less extent in all combinations, large
J or small, but this fact is no more Of an
argument against combinations than the
fact that steam may explode is ar argu-
ment against steam. Steam is necessary,
and can be made comparatively safe
Combination is necessary, and its abuses
can be minlmized; otherwise our legisla-
tors must acknowledge their ~incapacity,
to deal with the most important instru-
ment of industry.
Hitherto most legislative attempts have
been an effort not to control, but to de-
stroy, hence their futility.
@. What legislation, if any, would YOU
suggest regarding industrial comhipa-|
! tons? q /
A. First. federal legislation. under,
which corporations may be created and
regulated, If that be possible. i
Second. In lieu thereof, state legisla-
ton as nearly uniform as possible, en-
couraging combinations Of persons. and
capital for the purpose of carrying ON in.
dustries. but permitting state SUPERB
vision. not Of a character to hamper in.
dustries. but sufficient to prevent frauds
upon the public. 2 i
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. |
State Of New York, County of New
YOrk,-ss. IL I
I swear that these statements made
by me Of my own knowledge are true and
that all other statements I believe TO be
JOHN n K ? .Ep 1