Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1905-03-16

lions DeIOre the luterSthto Sohi'N' "
commission, which promise Ill for the
beef trust. is any indication OF the
spirit and thoroughness with which
the investigation Of the Standard OIL
business will be conducted, Mr.. Rookie
Teller may we'll begin to fidget In his
chair and recall unpleasant memories
of how Frank S. Monnett. the attor-
ney general of Ohio. forced the
Standard to abandon its trust form
of organization, leave the sta and
take refuge in It's present form of a
New Jersey corporation.
Monnett Deals Standard Blow.
This will not be the first time the
Standard has been investigated. Three
times the trust has been up before leg
islative commissions and has once
been taken before the courts. The
! legislature of New York delved into
the affairs of the monopoly in 1897,
with the Hepburn committee Con-
Cress tackled 1t in 1883 with the
Bacon committee. and again in 1890
with the Industrial commission. But
the most severe shaking up 1t has re-
ceived in its history was that given 1t
by Monnett. and though 1t was a bit
ter nil for the Standard to swallow,
It had the grim satisfaction at the next
election of defeating Monnettfor reelec-
ton as attorney general, and forcing
him into private life.
AIonnett is as familiar with the
Standard Oil business as anyone out
side of the company itself, and Kan
sas has turned to the one man who
has given Standard black eye.
The Ohio man is now at Topeka and
will aid in the fight. He will assist
the Kansas Oil Producers association
in preparing data to be submitted 10
Commissioner Garfield.
Lawson, eager to get into the fight
has sent word that to help the lnvesti-
gators he will 90 to Washington bare
foot in the snow. If necessary
At New York. District Attorney
Jerome is preparing to bring proceed
ings against the directors OF the
Standard in an effort to indict them
for conspiracy as defined In section
1GS of the penal code.
Secretary Hitchcock, head of the in
terror department, and ex-Secretary
Hoke Smith are being drawn into the
fight. too, through the blanket lease oil
100000 acres of oil lands in Indian
territory granted to the Standard for
ten years by Smith in 1896 Mr.
Hitchcock says this deal is q public
scandal, and Mr.. Smith replies that
the field had not been tested and that
there was little hope of finding Oil
But the upshot of it all may be that
the Standard may lose part or all OF
its valuable Usage leases.
Even Paul Morton may not escape
the investigation of Standard Oil
methods in Kansas. Charges have
been filed against the Atchison, To-
peka & Santa Fe Railroad company
alleging that this company, by raising
rates until they were prohibitive, as
sisted the Standard in driving an in
dependent refiner out of the business
and in the same way conspired to
make the producers completely Deepen
dent upon the Standards pipe line
These acts are alleged to have taken
place while Secretary Paul Morton
was in charge of the Atchison's traffic
When the lower house of congress
ordered unanimously the investigation
of the Standard, it had a marked ef-
feet upon the stock of the company,
decline of 20 points being noted in
few days. The stock has been held al
$50 and it dropped to $50, with an
uneasy feeling prevailing.
It certainly looks as though the
Standard Oil ship had drifted upon
troublous waters. and that all the oil
of its thousands of storage tanks
throughout the world would not bt
sufficient to quiet the rising waves
which may yet wash over its decks
and bring disaster.
We speak of the Standard Oil com
pany and we think Of the man who II
the brains and sinew, yes. and money
too, Of the gigantic corporation-JohI
d. Rockefeller, who began 80 year
ago with nothing and to-day counts
his wealth in the hundreds Of millions
. He is by all odds the richest man II
the world. How did he ges within
his grasp all this wealth? What o
the man anc what of his methods!
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