The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1906-05-11
GARF|ELD'S REPORT
SENT TO CONGRESS
PRESIDENT ACCOMPANIES 1T
wITH SPECIAL MESSAGE.
FREIGHT RATES AND OIL.
Statement Made That the Depart
ment of Justice Will Take w
the Question of Institute
ing Prosecutions.

~ VI
ing Prosecutions.
Washington. - President Roosevelt
has transmitted to congress the re-
port of James r. Garfield, COM
missioner of corporations, giving
the results of his investigation of
the subject of transportation and
freight rates in connection with
the oil industry. In his message
the president expresses the view that
the report is of capital Importance, be-
cause of the effort now being made to
secure such enlargement of the pow
ers of the interstate commerce COM
mission as will confer upon the COM
mission power in some measure ade-
quate to meet the clearly-demon-
strated needs of the situation. The
facts set forth in the report, he de-
clares, are for the most part not dis
puted. That the Standard Oil Co. has
benefited enormously up almost to
the present moment by secret rates,
many of which were clearly unlawful,
the president says the report clearly
shows, the benefit thereby secured
amounting to at least three-quarters
of a million a year. On this subject
he says:
sents the profit that the Standard Oil
&C. obtains at the expense of the rail-
roads, ,h but Of course the ultimate result
at the expense of the public. a very
striking result of the investigation has
been that shortly after the discovery of
these secret rates hv the COmmiSSinnpr
Of corporations, the major portion of
them We're promptly corrected by the
been done away with. This immediate
evil of the secret rates, is of course on
they were wrong, and yet were perse-
vered in until exposed; on the other hand,
a proof of the efficiency Of the work
that has been done by the bureau Of cor
porations.
The statement is added that the de-
partment of justice will take up the
question of instituting prosecutions in
at least certain of the cases, and the
hope is expressed that congress will
enact into law the bill of Senator
Knox to correct the Interpretation of
the immunity provision rendered in
Judge Humphreys decision. Con
t%inuing, the president says:
But in addition to these secret rates
the Standard Oil profits immensely by
open. rates. which are so arranged as to
give it an overwhelming. advantage over
its independent competitors. This is a
characteristic example of the numerous
eynaS IN wh Whic are the ,neS biz ssip %naer ana a s ne
railroad are left free to crush out all
individual initiative and all power of in
Of adequate and t~horough-going govern
mental control. Exactly similar condi-
tons obtain in a large part of the west
1t is not possible to put into figures, the
exact amount by. which the Standard
profits through the gross favoritism
with the open. rates.
The profit of course comes not merely
by by rt the SAY saying in co the rate itself elf as Sv cone spe
BY bsFH the p eomplete Control Of the market
profit on the whole consumption.
The president calls attention to that
feature of the report regarding the
hammer in which the law is evaded by
treating as state commerce what In
reality is merely a part of interstate
commerce. He says it is clearly
shown that this device is employed
on the New York Central railroad, as
we'll as on many other railroads, in
such fashion as to amount to thwart-
ing the purpose of the law, although
the forms of the law may be COM
piled with"
1t is unfortunately not true, he
says, that the Standard Oil Co. Is the
only corporation which has benefited
and is beneitting in wholly improper
fashion by an elaborate series OF rate
determinations. The Sugar Trust,
he adds, according to the results of
the investigation now in progress.
rarely, II ever, pays the lawful rate
for transportation. He declares that
in the effort to prevent the railroads
from uniting for improper purposes,
I'VE have very unwisely prohibite ]
them from uniting for proper pur-
poses; that is, for purposes of pro.
tecting themselves and the general
public as against the power Of the
great corporations"
He favors, as an element Of COM
petition, putting alcohol used in the
arts on the free list, and of keeping