Amador ledger., 1906-05-18
Washington
Letter.
(From Our Regular Correspondent.
Washington D. G. May 5, 1906.

Speaking of the psychological NOM
ent the report of the Bureau of Cor
poration on the Standard Oil Com
pany and the message of the president
transmitting the same to congI ess,
came at such moment if anything
ever did. just at the moment when
the two sides are lining up for vote
on that rate bill and when that
measure is fighting for its integrity
if not for its very lite, the report on
Standard Oil is veritabIe bomb in
the hands of the administration. The
report has been the sensation OF the
week in Washington, and commiss-
ioner Garfield has made the reputa-
tion of lifetime in rendering it.
Besides the cold, official statement
of the report, the most insistent
clamor of the papers and of the
magazines seems tame. For this is
official while the other is an un-
official arraignment. Accompanying
the report is the message of the presi~
dent saying that the report alone
would prove that the passage of an
effective rate bill is an absolute
necessity. But the president goes
farther He recommends the passage
of the free alcohol bill for the same
reason and the retention of the
government title to coal and oil lands
in the public domain, the latter
measure being as all opponents of the
administration will be sure to claim,
a long step in the direction of social
ism. But the report of the Burean of
Corporation is there to show that the
recommendation is much needed
one.
1he report on the Standard OIL
Company is lengthy document, bus
the commissioner of corporations
sums up his conclusions rather
briefly. They are somewhat as
follows:
The Investigation has disclosed the
existence of numerous fagrant dis
ordinations on the part of the rail
roads in favor of the Standard Oil
Company. With comparatively few
exceptions, such as the large oil con-
Germs in California, the Standard
has been the sole beneficiary OF snch
Determinations In almost every
section of the country that company
has been found to enjoy some unfair
advantages over its competitors and
some of the Determinations affect
enormous areas. Discrimination in
the transportation of oil embraces a
variety of forms some of the most
important of which may be said to
be.
Secret and semi-secret rebates.
Discrimination in the open arrange
ment of rates. Discrimination in the
treatment of private tank cars.
1t is stated that the railroad dis
ordinations discovered by the Bureau
of Corporations netted the Standard
a profit of s75O,OO0 a year on It's
freight business. This was bad
enough, but it was only drop in the
bucket compared to the enorm Gus
advantage that this discrimination
enabled the Standard to exercise IL
squeezing the last cent out of the
oII
report states that out of 5000, 00(
barrels of oil refined annually il
this country, the Standard handles
%, 100000. 1t Will thus be seen that
there are only few scattered locali
ties, and these as rule close to the
crude oil centers and with a market
in easy reach, that are what might bt
called competitive areas. ~ They
are very limited in extent. In al
the other great territories, competi
tion has been killed by the ruthles!
syst EN- of under selling, spying anC
railroad discrimination on which
the Standard has been built up, an(
which Its vast wealth enables it tt
practice. n the non competitiv,
areas the price of oil is from three Il
five cents higher than in the com
petitive areas. Since the fair prof
on a gallon of refined oil is half
cent, it is easy to see the vast re
venue that the company has beel
3 able to exact from the public.
The method of discrimination en-
umerated above are not the only one
that the report charges the compan