Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1906-11-29
The War on the Standard.

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States circuit court asking for disco
Nution Of Standard OIL trust and per-
petual injunction restraining 70 con-
stituent companies from working with |
or paying dividends to parent com
Dany.
New York.-Standard Oil shares |
cropped Is points, making net loss OF
$50 points since Roosevelts war on
the trust began; total depreciation in
stock since president opened crusade,
150,000,00O; this notwithstanding
quarterly dividends of $40 per share.
Findlay, O.-Prosecutng attorney
directed by Attorney General Ellis to
keep grand jury in session; all Stand
ard Oil officials may be indicted; Of
f1cials of Standard Oil company Of
Ohio indicted agreed to surrender.
st. Louis, Mo.-The suit to break
up the Standard Oil trust has been
6led in the United States circuit court
here The petition asks:
That the court decree that the COM
bination and conspiracy are unlawful
under the Sherman antitrust act.
That the Standard Oil company be
enjoined, restrained and prohibited
from exercising any control over Its
allied corporations, or any of them,
by the election or appointment Of d.
sectors or officers, or in any other
manner.
That the subsidiary corporations be
enjoined from declaring or paying any
dividends to the Standard Oil COM
Oany of New Jersey.
That the defendants, and each and
all of them, be enjoined from entering
unto any contract, the purpose or eff
feet of which is to restrain commerce
In petroleum and its products or to
monopolize the same.
The petition contains 1914 pages Of
printed matter or about 100000
words, and an additional 81 pages Of
exhibits, consisting Of bylaws and
minutes of Standard Oil meetings and
organizations, and a map showing the
retail prices of oil in every state and
territory of the union.
What the Petition Alleges.
II is alleged in the petition that
John d. Rockefeller and his associ.
ates, the other individual defendants,
formed a conspiracy to monopolize
the commerce in petroleum and its
products at an early date-about the
year 1S70-and that the same individ-
uals have controlled the combination
during all these years, in all its forms,
and now control it. 1t was, therefore,
deemed wise to state in the petition
the complete history and growth Of
this conspiracy.
History Of the Conspiracy.
The petition is logically divided into
three periods. During the first one
of these periods, from 1870 to 1882,
the combination assumed the form of
q simple conspiracy-that is to say,
the defendants, with the Standard Oil
company Of Ohio, acted together to
suppress competition and control the
oil business.
During the second period, from 1882
TO 1899, the combination assumed the
form of a trust agreement, whereby
about 40 separate corporations en-
gagged in the same business, turned
SNCA lIO management VI tlOAA buol
ness to nine trustees, of which these
individual defendants were the major
ity, so that these defendants con
trolled all of these corporations.
In March, 1892, the supreme court
Of Ohio declared this trust agreement
void and ordered its dissolution.
Thereupon, on March 81, 1892, the
trust certificate holders met in New
sork and resolved to dissolve the trus
and appointed John d. Rockefeller
Henry M. Flagler, William Rockefel
Her, John D. Archbold, BENJAMIN
Brewster, Henry H. Rogers, Wesle.
d. Tilford and o. B. Jennings a
IIquidating trustees-the individua
defendants. being a majority of thes
trustees.
The manner of liquidation was nc
20 sell the property and divide tn
proceeds among the certificate holC
ers, nor to return to each person II
dividually the property placed in tn
trust, but all of the stocks In eac
of the companies were divided int
portions in proportion to the humble
Of trust certificate shares outstanding
so that Rockefeller and his associate
continued to control all these corpo
atoms as before.
Birth Of the Present Trust.
The petition then takes up the thiT
period of the conspiracy, beginin
with the formation of the preseT
trust,
In order TO accomplish this, in Jal
nary. 1899. they increased the stoc