The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-10-10
OIL
PROSECUTION
Trial Begins at Finley,
Ohio.
CASE IS PRESENTED TO JURY
County Prosecutor David Outlines
Cause Of Action.
Declares That RockefeIIer, Flasler,
Rogers, ct ais. Have systemati-
calIy Evaded the Law for
Over Fourteen Years.
CASE IS PRESENTED TO JURY

Findlay, Oct. 9.-The Standard Oil
Company of Ohio was put on trial
here today charged with conspiracy
against trade in violation of the state
antitrust laws.
The penalty prescribed is a fine Of
from $50 to $1,000 or from six to
twelve months Imprisonment.
John p. Rockefeller was originally
a patty to the suit. but was ganted
separate trial. the date of which will
depend on the success of the State
Department proceedings. 1t Is said Mr.
Rockefeller will not be a witness and
will not attend the trial which will
be before Judge Banker and a jury.
A jury was secured in the first
hour and fifty minutes of the trial and
recess taken until this afternoon.
The things that the state expects
to prove against the Standard Oil
Company of Ohio was ma lie the sub
ject of a lengthy address t. the jury
by County Prosecutor Dayid.
The evidence the STATE would ad-
duce. he said, would be principally
documentary. Mr.. David gave the ju
~ a detailed explanation Of the VAL
the information against the defendant.
settingfort the ground of action. He
followed this with history of the
Standard Oil trust" from it's organi-
cation in 1882 down to the present
time.
The object of the trust" was to
control the oil business and ninety
per cent. of the capira1, skill and
property engaged in INC oil business
in the United States was gathered In
to the trust" which Was controlled
by nine trustees. This arrangement
continued for ten yeas during which
time ineteen companies subsidiary to
the trust but CONTROLLED by 1t were
organized.
In 1892 the total capitalization of
the companies was $t02.133.700, with a
surplus Of $40, o0o. 900. The suit OF At
torney-General Wilson of Ohio, in 1892,
charging that the trust agreement ere
ated a monopoly, was next explained
by Mr.. David The Valentine act was
not then in existence and the action
was brought under the common law.
The Supreme Court OF the State found
the Standard OIL Trust to be monopo-
listic and against public policy and or
dered the trust dissolved
Mr.. David here asserted that 1t is
expected in this trial to prove that the
Board of Trustees of the local COM
panies he had named never did and
never intended to comply with that or
der of the court. although technically
thy may have observed the same In
the letter.
At a meeting Of the Board of Stock
holders Of the trust. called to dissolve
the trust in compliance with the order
of the court, arrangements were made
for winding up the affairs of the trust
and liquidating trustees were chosen.
being the same as he old trustees,
which he again Eamed.
Seven years later. in 1899. he said.
John D. Rockefeller and the same
trustees were still controlling the poll
cies and business of the Standard OIL
Trust.
The contempt proceedings instituted
against the trust in 1898 by Attorney
General Monett of Ohio, but which the
Supreme Court Of the State dismissed
were here explained to the jury. 1t
was during the tendency Of these pro-
ceedings, he said. that another form
was given the organization.
The Standard Oil Company of New
Jersey was organized as a holding
company" with capital stock of $110,-
000, 900 and increased corporate power
which included the right to buy, hold
and vote the stock of the other corpor-
alton. John u. Rockefeller. he said
was the largest stock owner and was
President of the corporation.
Between the years 1899 and 1901, Mr..
David said, the New Jersey organiza-
ton issued $9S.000,0O0 of capital stock
and purchased nearly all of the stock
of the subsidiary companies in the
trust. including the Ohio companies
heretofore named.
And from that date until the pres
ent time the same directors have dom
{ra cd SfatA
voted all the stocks of all the COM
panies. elected the officers and con-
trolled the policy of the same for the
same effect and purposes as they did
while they were in the original trust
formed in 1882. :"
Mr.. David then stated that F. O.
Blrstow. a director in the New Jersey
Company. is president of the Standard
Oil Company of Ohio: that H. II. Rog-
ers, a director in the New Jersey cor
poration, is president of the Buckeye
Pipe Line Company; that John Arch
bold. director in the New Jersey cor
poration. is president OF the Ohio oil
Company and the Solar Refining Com
pany
AS to the business methods of the
local companies. he said. the Standard
Oil Company Of ohio. the Solar Refn-
ing COMPANY, Refined OIL, the Ohio OIL
Company. was "A producer of crude pc
trnl"um ana is also at this time en-
gagged in building a pipe line from the
Illinois oil fields to conncct with the
Indiana Pipe Company; that the Buck
eye OIL Company is a gathering and
transportation company
Mr. David said the state would show
that all these refnerios needed crude
oil to refine. they never competed in
its purchase. and while they had oil
to sell. they never competed in its
sale in Hancock County.
The State in this case" concluded
Mr.. David. claims that notwithstand-
ing the numerous makeshifts and
changes made by these men from 1852
until the dat" Of the filing of the in
formation in this case. John o Rookie
Teller, William Rockefeller, Henry NJ
Flagler. John y. ArChbold. II H. Roc
ers. have continuously. purposely and
uhlawfully maintained and operated a
trust. monopoly or combination and
that the Standard oil Company Of
ONO is member of that trust or mo-
hopoiy or combination and YOU We're
called here today and sworn to try
the issue between the State of Ohio
ana the Standard Oil Company and to
ma In your verdict whether or not
the Standard Oil Company organized