The San Francisco call., 1903-01-27


II it became necessary to have it refined
&c a degree that would meet the require
nents of a flash test at $50 degrees tenn
perature.
MILLIONS WOULD BE LOST.
Senator O. 4. Hubben of San Bernardo
no County is perhaps as well qualified
as any member of the Legislature to dis
cuss the needs of the oil industry with
reference to legislation. He is himself
an oil producer and is interested in con
Germs which place upon the market 20,
600 barrels Of oil per month. He will
fight the Ralston bill. Until his attention
called to the measure he had not
given it notice, but was waiting until
the committees action was reported to
the Senate. He took up the bill this
morning for examination, and before he
had read two lines he said:
There is a bug and unless that is
changed it is sufficient to defeat the bill"
He referred to the wording of the first
section of the bill. wherein fuel and illu-
minating oils are placed on the same
plane with reference to the regulations
which the bill seeks to impose
This bill cannot be passed in its present
form and should not be passed at all.
said he. IF it is adopted as it stands
ii would cripple the oil industry of the
State and cause the loss of millions of
dollars Look at the first paragraph and
il will be seen that it would require the
same kind of oil for fuel as is used for
Illuminating purposes. I 90 not say that
there should not be a sufficiently high
test for Illuminating oil, but for the pur-
poses of this bill that matter need. not
now be discussed. Again, the bill pro-
vides that crude oil used for fuel must
stand a fash test of $50 degrees. a thing
that is impossible with 80 per cent of the
crude oil produced in the State. There
may be places where such oil is produced.
but to meet that test all crude oil or
practically all of it would have to go
through. some process to refine It, 1 am
opposed to the bill.
Assemblyman Amerige. lives in Fuller
ton, the heart of the extensive oil district
in Orange County, and the place from
which the Santa Fe Railway Company
gets nearly all the oil it uses in its loco
motives.
1T is vicious measure and cannot
stand he said. 1T should not be amend
ed, but should be killed. There are few
wells in the State which produce oil of a
grade which would stand the test i'm
posed by this measure. 1t seems to me
that somebody wants the job of refining
all the oil in the State before it can be
used either for fuel or Illuminating pur-
poses. Did you ever hear of the Standard
Oil Company? Remember it is in the
business of refining oils.
STANDARDS LABEL MISSING.
why did they not place the well known
stamp of the Standard Oil Company, s.
o. c. on this bill when they presented
it?" asked Assemblyman Dorsey of Kern
County, when his opinion of the measure
was asked. 1T might well have come
here written on the letter heads of that
we will be permitted TO use our crude oil
to lay the dust on roadways, or we may
use it as a lubricant, but to use It for
fuel purposes would be a violation of the
statute. There is hardly natural oil in
the State which could be made to meet
that flash test, and to impose any such
regulation upon the industry would ruin
the oil producers. notice that the use
of crude oil fuel in railroad locomo-
tivss is excepted from the provisions of
the bill. Could it not have happened that
this was inserted in order to prevent the
railroads from fighting the measure? AS
a representative of county in which mil
lions of dollars are invested in oil prop
critics, l know that this bill is a pernicious
measure and l shall do all in my power to
defeat it. 1 have no fears about the mat
ter, for upon the showing which we can
make 1 am satisfied that the Legislature
will kill the bill"
Assemblyman Drew Of Fresno said that
he had not looked into the provisions of
the bill, but that he had received word
from his constituents in Fresno and also
from leading citizens of Bakersfield and
Los Angeles to the effect that the bill
was the child of the Standard OIL Com
pany, and that it's adoption would para
lyze and ruin the oil industry and the
manufacturing and shipping enterprises
of California.
Similar opinions were expressed by
HoUser of Los Angeles. He said that he
had received numerous protests against
the bill from his constituents, and when
the Ralston bill comes to the Assembly
from the Senate, or when any other SINH
lar measure is introduced in the Assembly
he will give il particular attention.
Senator Ralston practically denies all
responsibility for his oil bill, which has
created such a stir among the oil pro-
ducers and consumers. He himself does
not like the bill in its present form and
will insist that it be amended before he
will vote for it. He said to-day:
EXPLANATION OF RALSToN.
What l know about oil could be written on
my thumb nail and what 1 do not know on
the subject would make several volumes in
called cinch bill, and I resent such an inn
outation. for every person who knows me
knows that / would not knowingly introduce
a cinch measure The bill was sent to me nv
the California Petroleum Miners Association
and L really know nothing about it, Before
we get through with it we will know more
industry. At least we will have this infor
nation II those who are opposed to the bill
will give their views. 1t would be farthest
from my intention to support a measure
nd