Amador ledger., 1906-06-01

| closed numerous and flagrant viola
tlons of the law and Determinations
by the railroads in favor of the Stand
ard OIL Company" He says that the
Standard Oil Company, despite the
denial of its officials, has been given
absolutely unassailable and mono
polistio control of the oil market.
He points out some of the discrimina-
tions as follows: Secret and semi
secret rates, discrimination in the
open arrangement of rates, discrimina
tion in classification and rules of
shipment and the discrimination in
the treatment of private tank cars.
He says that unfairness obviously is
not necessary when the Standard ships
at the higher and the independent at
the lower rate. A sam pie of this is
in the shipment of oil in bulk and in
barrels. The tank cars used by the
Standard where they do not use pipe
lines, are returned to them free of
charge. The smaller producer who
has to ship his oil in barrels because
he does not own tank cars, is charged
the same freight on the barrels as on
the oil, which amounts to nearly %
per cent discrimination against him,
and he is forced to pay the same
freight on the return of his barrels if
he is not able to sell them at the end
of the run, so that the discrimination
in freight charges really amounts to
80 per cent on this count alone. The
reply of the Standard officials is that
the small producer should own his
own tank cars, as the Standard does.
But if he does, he very soon finds
that the railroads have ways of land
ing his cars in San Francisco when
he wants them in New York.
Mr. Garfield reiterates his assertion
that the discrimination in freight
rates means a saving to the Standard
of hundreds of thousands of dollars
annually. He declares that to effect
lively conceal the lower rates they
have given to the Standard, the rail-
roads have used peculiar methods of
billing and accounting. He says that
shipments have been falsely waybilled
at the published rates and freight
charges collected at the lower rates.
Rates have been made for the express
purpose of letting the Standard into
certain markets and for keeping COM
petitors out. Ii, Mr. Garfield adds, the
law prohibits the obtaining of GER
tain advantage by a specific device
and the same result is obtained in a
different way, then the law is faulty
and its justice is sham.
Altogether the commissioner shows
himself no mean hand at toying with
the muck rake, but he shows that, as
commissioner Clements put it IN the
| Interstate commerce hearing, that
''if the Standard is muck, there is
no good reason why it should not be
raked.'' In fact Mr. Garfield comes
out as the Ida Tar bell of the admin
istration and it is probable that the
railroad and Standard Oil officials
will keep quiet after this blast for
fear worse thing befall them.
Much more than usual interest has
attached to the meeting here this
week of the National Association for
the study and prevention of tuber-
culosis. This association resulted
from the appointment of the COM
mission by the president to inquire
into the subject and the meeting this
week brought together some of the
greatest medical men from all over
the country interested in the pre-
vention of the diseases. 1t was a sub
ject that knows no iimintatlon OF
color, creed or cline, and the pro-
ceedings of the association we're inter
esting in detail. The most important
conclusion reached, however, was that
the check of consumption in this
country could be the result only of a
campaign of education that would
reach every person in the land. 1t
was stated that consumption is neither
hereditary nor contagious, though it
can be and is conveyed from the
patient to the rest of the community
if he does not follow certain lines,
and destroy the sputa that carries the
contagion broadcast. The association
decided to enlist the aid OF the
school teachers throughout the land
and get them to help teaching both
scholars and parents what tuberculosis
really is, how it may be conveyed
and how it is to be avoided. The
association has a large amount OF
literature on the subject that is ready
to distribute on application.