The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-02-06

Standard Oil company by the throat
and compel it to be decent.
Here is what Speaker Stubs said al
the Kansas Day club dinner:
Our boosted freedom IS only half COM
plete as long as the citizens OF kansas
lars worth of property that they dare not
even consider marketing except in the
prescribed by their absolute masters. SC
far as this property is concerned. This
mat prevail IN various forms Throughout
the business world Of this country. There
Is an honest, earnest effort being made by
PRESIDENT Roosevelt 20 modify insofar as
it is possible. these villainous, damnable
conditions, and / sincerely hope to see
Kansas DO her fun part in placing our
SAFE equitable, decent basis
In view of all these utterances. these
two men will be held responsible for
any failure upon the part OF the legis-
lature to more than trif1e with the oil
proposition, or to evade the issue by a
mere experiment.
Elsewhere in this paper are given a
few newspaper clippings showing the
intense feeling on this subject in diff
ferent parts of the state This is but a
small showing of the deep-seated deter
mlnation to do something to save to
the state the benefits of the wealth ly-
ing IN the oil fields and destroy the
grasp of the oil monopoly.
An experimental refinery has al
ready been established and it is a sue
cess, despite the most hostile action
against 1t upon the part of the Stan
dard Oil company. assisted by friendly
railroads. This independent oil re-
finery is located at Humboldt. It is
known as the Webster Refining COM
pany- Since it has been marketing its
products freight rates on oil it is said
have been doubled. The railroad COM
panies will admit this, and they will
not attempt to show that the increase
Of the rates was right. The town of
Emporia is one of the market places
for the Webster Independent Refined
oil. The Standard has cut the price at
Emporia in the effort to drive out this
competition.
The actual conditions at Emporia
last year when the Humboldt inde-
pendent refinery started in to sell its
oil there and today are these: Stan
dard price wholesale 15c; retail 18c.
Humboldt oil began at IL cents. retail
dropping to IA. Today Humboldt
price 10 cents. retail IL. Standard
has now cut to " cents wholesale.
The freight rate to Emporia from
Humboldt on oil was IA cents a few
months ago; now it has been adj
vanced to 10 cents per hundred
pounds. Meanwhile. the Emporia con-
sumner is saving money on his oil.
The argument against the establish
ment of a refinery under the auspices
Of state. through convict labor. is
that the Standard win reduce the
u II
find it Improbable to produce it. One
opponent of the state refinery says
that the Standard is likely to cut the
price three-fourths and charge only
about one-fourth of the present figure.
Well, what if it does? Nearly every
body consumes oil and the consumer
would then get the benefit. Perhaps
If the state Will make arrangements
to start a refinery and show that it
Is in earnest it need not spend a dollar
for while to save thousands to the
oil consumers. This might be hard on
the oil interests for time, but they
could scarcely be worse than today
under present conditions.
The position of Governor Hoch
taken within the last few days in a
statement issued by him is RESPONSE
Die for the severe criticism made of
him in the charge that he has flop |
ped" In this statement the governor
speaks of establishing a small expert
mental refinery, rather than action to /,
throttle the monster as set forth in |
ais earlier position.
The recent statement of the COVER
lor in part follows:
Il have had in mind a plan for the state |
% establish an experimental refinery to |
see whether 1t could refine oil at profit. |
[ figured that it would perhaps be wise for
he state to spend 5000 or $4,000 on an |
experimental plant, but l have never sug- |
sested to anyone that we should build a |
zig commercial refinery right on the jump. |
f it were demonstrated by a small exper- /
mental refinery that money could be made |
n the enterprise with a square deal in |
reight rates and other things, then pri- !
rate capital might seek investment in in |
dependent refineries. If private capital |
we're afraid to tackle the proposition, and !
here were no other way out, then the |
tate could go into the business on a big /
cale. But the experiment should be /
made first"
Pointer.
At country store where I stopped at /