The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-12-29

and thus It became public az was In
tended. There was a storm Of disap-
proVcl from an Quarters and the pack
efs themselves published The Garfield re-
port a. an Endorsement Of their method
of doing business.
1hey we're unaware or Intentionally
overlooked the fact that there was an-
other report a. q matter Of course, con-
tanning tho results OF sha observations
Of multitude Of special agents em-
p.ovcd BY the department for a number
OF months The second report never
yet has been published and probably
neyrr win be- II furnished data upon
which the pending prosecution OF ail
packers is based. u was a new work
for the special agents OF the depart
ments. but they gathered an immense
amount OF evidence tending to show that
there was az least a technical combina-
tion Of the packers. and that apparently
they had comblned together to raise the
prices Of meat products and dcpress the
price OF cattle on hoof
Whether this evidence is sufficient to
secure conviction is matter for the
courts at Chicago to decide The de-
pariment Of commerce ana labor prac-
tically has completed Its work on the
beef trust case, and the entire subject
now is In charge Of the department or
justice
Ssss inquiry Of Value.
Tie experience gained BY special
agents an dother representatives Of the
department In iuveslgHtins the beef
trust has proved an immense adyan-
tge in looking into the affairs Of the
standard OIL company. This additional
experience was more than necessary. be-
cause the agents Of the government
scarcely had begun their work before
! they were satisfied that the prosecution
Of the beef trust was mere child's play
in comparison to the attack ON the
standard oil company
! Cofnmissloner Garheid probably win
/ have two ~cports again but when he
gives out the public section he viii make
/ it entirely clear that he stin has other
and secret Information to be retained
as the law provides at The disposal OF
The president of the United States alone,
wL0 IA expected TO use IL In starting a
prosecution through the attorney general
and department Of jusiico il the facts
warrant il.
Inquiry Reveals conspIraey
This investigation which is now draw
ing to a close was started IN the quetesi
sort Of fashion last February ;t was
during the height Of the excitement Ia
regard to the Kansas oil fields it was
shown in congress and BY reports in
the newspapers that the OIL producers in
Kansas had been made the victims OF q
gigantic confidence game on the pic s.
the Standard on company. Tust gre'i
monopoly encouraged the farmers and
promoters generally 10 exploit the oil
fields 20 tine utmost extent Agents OF
the Standard Travelled an over the ci
territory and did everything in thVh
power to promote the digging OF mon,
, wells and prospecting for new terri.
tory. The big corporation bought al
Of the OH offered at prices which were
the top market for the whole country
No contracts were made, but the pro
, ducers we're led to believe the demand
for crude OH was unlimited, and if the,
would only keep out OF the refninl
business and sell the raw material e
Z the Standard they would have "a stead!
market al best prices. This game wa
Z kept up, as reports now In possession
! of the departments show, until the Kan
4 sas oil field practically had reached ih
: limit of economical development
Then the STANDARD put on the screws
y II controlled practically every outle
from the Kansas oil field Crude petro
O leum is nearly worthless in itself.
f posse sses a real value only when refine,
s and the Standard people know this al
thotgt the farmers seem TO have for
q gotten #.
I Having gotten all the wells into opera
II ton and worked the whole territory ur
= an il was calshle Of producing the larp
r. est amount Of crude oil, the standaI
e oil company suddenly lost interest
n the situo9on. refused to purchase oxcel
e at a ridlaulously low price and bega
l. a game Of freezing out according TO o.
T. time methods. The idea was, OF cours
IS 70 drive the producers into bankrupic
10 because there was no market for the
IN product and then. when the price
at Kansas oil leases was reduced to n
~ starvation point, the Standard oil con
re pany with Characteristic gcncroalt
would come 10 the rescue. not dlrdctl
but through friends and agents. al
"a thus acquire possession OF the Kans
be field for a song.
r Flanrant Action stirs People.
IN II was game which was work
he many times before, but this time Il "