The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-17
REPLY OF STANDARD
OIL TRUST ANSWERS CRITICISM OF
 GARFIELD.
Claims That If Allegations Are True Every Railroad Must Be In Coll lusion--Use Fair Business
 RrinefnINa.

New York. May 1s.-The Standard Oil Company today issued to it's share holders a statement in reply to the special message recently sent to Con gross by President Roosevelt and the report on the country's oil industry by Commissioner Garfield of the bureau of corporations. which accompanied It.
 The statement is signed by c. M. Pratt. secretary and was issued by ar- der of the board of directors Is denies positively the charge that the Standard oil Company benefited by secret rates for the transportation of It's products.
 The statement in part sayst
 On May 4, the president of the United States submitted a special message to Congress transmitting report to him by Commissioner Garfield of the bureau of corporations in which. the commits sioner charges that this company has habitually received from the railroads and is now receiving secret rates and other unjust and illegal dfscrtminations.
 ''Preliminary disclaimers were at once made to Commissioner Garfteld's allegations, but we feel that you may naturally anticipate more elaborate and technical reply which we submit hereunder.
 'aThe large sums of money which Mir Garfield set down as one years savings to the Standard through the operation of certain freight rates sums which the President aggregates as $750, ,OO0-could cnly have been ar rived at by theOr!ZlnB.
 If the claim of Commissioner Gar field was true. that the Standard is favored by open rates, IL would involve not only collusion between the rail- but coIlusion by the railroads with each other It would also involve the consent of a railroad not reaching Whiting, Ind for example: 10 the ss. which would be injurious to business out of another point at which the con sGnting railroad was receiving traf- there is competing refinery in al most every section of the United States where the Standard has refinery ex- cept at Whiting. Ind.
 the Standard which will not be eqaully applicable to the Standards competit- ors. , - during a period of about fifteen years. over more than 100000 miles of rail- way the commissioner is not able to show that the Standard oil Company re- shipments. He has only been able to cali attention to a few instances in which the rate situation. in his opinion. required explanation. This explana- ton was freely given, and we believe would be satisfactory to any man ta- miliar with transportation problems
 If the commi ssioner had any doubts as to the regularity of these rates he might have brought them to the atten- ton of the Interstate Commerce Com mission when the question at issue could have been heard and determined In the absence of such determination. 1t is surely not within the limits Of fairness for the Bureau of Corpora. tlons to cast aspersions upon great corporation.
 The company owns and controls only very moderate percentage Of the crude production of the United states and with at least 125 rival re1neries in existence. 1t is a palpable absurdity to call 1t a monopoly, For the last quarter of a century more than 50 per cent of its output has been shipped to foreign countries If the company maintains a gratifying percentage Of the worlds commerce, 1t is because it keeps it's agreements and delivers prod ucts of reliable quality at reasonable prices. Whatever measure or pros perity 1t has enjoyed Is not traceable to illegal or reprehensible methods, but to its economic and elaborate indus trial organization, covering, as it does, every detail of transportation manu- facture and administration"