The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-19

brought about in my State by the un- lawful and arbitrary acts of the stand ard Oil Company. When oil was dis covered in Kansas its development Was undertaken by the farmers who owned tho land. They sank their own wells and whenever one was shot an 9aSefIt of the Standard Oil Company was on hand to pat the farmer on the back and tell him to go ahead. They fur nished the money in advance. took the oil at a dollar barrel, and shipped t 70 Kansas City, thus encouraging pro duction and stimulating the digging Of wells throughout the whole field.
 '"Then came the Standard oil Com panys pipe line. The owners equi. ped their wells, made the necessary connections at their own expense, and prepared to ship their oil, with visions Of fortunes at the promised rate of, S1 a barrel. Tank cars disappeared. the pipe line became indispensable, and then the price dropped and kept on dropping until 1t reached 47 cents a barrel
 New Game for Kansas.
 '"This may have been an old game through Pennsylvania, but it was new one for Kansas. The people had been encouraged to spend their m Jney sinking wells and developing the ter rltory. When the development had reached its limit the Standard oil Com pany put down the price, and as there was no other pipe line and no other refinery there was no market for the product.
 At this stage of the transaction" continued the Kansas statesman, "a bill was introduced into the Legis1a- ture providing for a State refinery as the only way for making a market for crude oil. While this bill was pend ing, and in order to prevent its pas sage, the Standard oil Company re- sorted to tactics which were disrepu- table and illegal. Because farmers and people dependent upon them as- serted their ordinary rights and asked relief from the Legislature they were boycotted and blacklisted by the Stand ard Oil Company
 MT. Rockefellers men have issued an edict forbidding their agents pur- chasing any oil in Kansas. This has resulted in throwing out of employ ment not less than 10000 men. Lessees of fully 4.500 wells will be ruined financially unless something is done to curb the monopoly. Flowing wells are going to waste, oil Is running over the country. and pumping wells. of course. have abandoned operations. Towns WHICH ldEB6ly lnCTGdSGu III DOpuldLlOn as a result of the discovery of oil have by a mere edict of the Standard Oil Company been reduced to a condition of commercial prostration and the peo- pie are being thrown upon the streets without employment or capital" Pipe Line Feature Cited. How do you propose to get the Standard oil Company, which is not D common carrier, under control of Fed | eraI lawsT
 Its pipe line runs from the Kansas
 fields into Kansas City. This of itself | constitutes interstate commerce, and the action of the Standard oil Com pany seems to be clearly one which brings 1t within the scope of the 1 sherman antitrust law. These things | have alleged can easily De proved. | They are notorious in my State. The Standard oil Company Is pretty big | concern. but the people of Kansas and the country at large propose to find out whether this company can resort to illegal methods to crush out its competitors and control the price of 1 its raw material without being pun ished in the Federal courts. ''The resolution which I introduced and which was passed by the House l today Is designed merely to provide 1 for a proper investigation by author ized agents of the government with Q view to prosecution of the Standard Oil Company as a corporation and It's officers and agents as individuals if
 the facts and practices 1 have refer red to are sufficiently established"
 Representative Campbell will call al
 the White House tomorrow for the pur- pose of interesting President Roosevelt
 and inducing him to send special or. ders to Secretary Metcalf and Commis-
 sioner Garfield to expedite the investi-
 gation in every possible way in view
 of the serious condition of affairs out
 in Kansas as a result of the nefarious operations of the Standard oil Com l pany,