The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-05-26
TmE .uaoERooe."

lank, hungry dog that comes out the
worse for wear and tear in a rough
and tumble fight.
Sometimes a whole pack-just for
a dOg-like purpose and for no other
jumps on the pampered, well-kept,
well-bred city dog and chews him al
most into ragleLs, so, in this case,
what is the justice-loving bystander
to do-side with the lean, lank, ca
daverous CANNES simply because the
dog they do up' belongs to differ
emit breed and dos'nt run in their
class?
1t does not seem to US that that
would be following either in the foot
steps of Socrates or Christ.
Likening the newspapers, the
preachers and the politicians, to a
! race of CANNES, we find the whole
pack jumping on to our old friend,
John Rockefeller, simply because he
has been more successful in the strug
gle for the Almighty Dollar than
some Others who have been and are
still hot along the same trail.
Now, if those fellows who are be-
rating Mr. Rockefeller spurneu the
"dollar;'' if they saw them spread
along the streets to be picked up for
the asking and would walk on the
other side' so as not to be polluted
by their faint nor touch, then and in
that case there would be some logic
and consistency in their pretensions,
but there is none SO long as they are
hot after the dollar themselves and
are pursuing identically the same
methods to obtain them.
Is there a single case on record.
when rebates were the fashion,
where a shipper refused them?
If there is such case it has never
been called to our attention and we
are in absolute ignorance of it.
1t was not through the receiving of
rebates but it was by the establish
ment of his system of pipe lines that
enabled Mr. Rockefeller to control
the oil output.
And was this crime?
If the watermelon and cantaloupe
growers of Florida were to find that
they could ship their products to mar
ket cheaper by the establishment of
wagon lines to the nearest seaport,
wouldn't they boycott the railroads
and establish such line, and who
would blame them for it?
That is all in the world that Mr..
Rockefeller did.
So why should the pot rise up in
heat and anger and call the kettle
black, and because thereof refuse to
be comforted?
Our policy is to treat everybody
rich and poor, shipper and carrier
alike and let them all feed from the
same spoon.
AS Mr. Rockefeller is the ''under-
dog'' in the fight now going on
against him from pulpit, press and
legislators, this paper hunted about
to see if nothing could be said i'll his
praise, and discovered in an old store
ledger of the year 1867. among other
things, that in those ''good old days.
kerosene oil retailed for 81 per gal
lon, Us against 20c per gallon in these
degenerate days." and it thought
that the consumers of this illuminant
might at least be willing to accord
Mr.. Rockefeller some need of praise
for reducing the price in SO marvel
GUS d manner.
1t is commended, however, that in
lowering the price, Mr.. Rockefeller
beat down competition.
That, no doubt, is true. The ''sur-
viVal of the fitteSt''-which means
the survival of the strongesu-is not
only the law of competition, but is
likewise the law of our civilization
and the law of our very creation.