The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-05-05

beginning of this Investigation the OIL
Gals Of the Standard Oil company stat
ed that that company had not OBJ
tanned in recent years and was not now
obtaining any rebate or other transpor-
tation discrimination as against COM
petitors. They invited the most careful
investigation of the subject.
Upon the request of it's attorney, all
the essential facts discovered by this
bureau were presented to the company
at the close of the investigation, and
an exhaustive statement relating there
to was made by It's chief traffic officer.
There was no denial OF the facts found,
but explanations in particular situa-
lions were offered, and it was urged
that the facts did not show any viola
ton by the Standard of the letter or.
spirit of the interstate commerce law A
most careful review of the facts and
the explanations leads to the following
conclusions:
The Standard Oil company has habit
ually received from the railroads, and
is now receiving, secret rates and other
unjust and Illegal determinations.
During 1904 the Standard saved about
three-quarters of a million dollars
through the secret rates discovered by
the bureau, and of course there may
be other secret rates which the bureau
has not discovered. This amount rep
resents the difference between the open
rates and the rates actually paid, Many
pf NM NJ n,Iy IN
violation Of the interstate commerce
law, and others, whether technically il
legal or not, had the same effect upon
competitors. On some state business
secret rates were applied by means of
rebates,
These determinations have been so
long continued so secret, so ingenious
ly applied to new conditions of trade
and SO large in amount as to make it
certain that they were due to concerted
action by the Standard and the rail-
roads.
The Standard Oil company is receiv-
ing unjust determinations in open
rates.
The published rates from the leading
Standard shipping points are relatively
much lower than rates from the ship
ping points of it's competitors. The a0-
vantage to the Standard over its COM
petitors from such open determinations
is enormous; probably as important as
that obtained through the secret rates,
If an unfair discrimination be obtain
ed by one shipper through a device
which in itself is seemingly not pro-
hibited by law, that fact shows that
the law is defective and should be
strengthened; it does not show that the
discrimination is proper or just
The following are q few of the most
important determinations and the
methods by which they are obtained:
Q) For about ten years the New Eng
land territory has been in control of the
Standard Oil company by reason of the
refusal of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford road and of the Boston
and Maine road, on all but few divi-
sions, to prorate-i. e., to join in
through rates-on oil shipped from west
of the Hudson river, and by means of
the adjustment of published rates
The Standard is entitled to the ad-
vantage Of it's water shipping points in
reaching New England, but that ad-
vantage was greatly and unfairly in
creased when the railroads, by refusing
to prorate, virtually kept independent
refiners from using all rail routes. The
refusal to prorate increased the rail
rates from the west from to 10 cents
per hundred pounds. These railroads do
prorate on all other commodities; their
refusal to do so in the case of oil
amounted to imposing a substantial tax
on all consumers in the region they
cover, and is also heavy discrimina-
ton against the smaller refiners
(2) The Standard Oil company has
been able to absolutely control for
many years the sale of oil in the north
eastern part of New York and in a por-
ton of Vermont by means of secret
rates from it's refineries at Clean and
Rochester.
The Pennsylvania railroad has given
the Standard a rate of cents a barrel
from clean, N Y, to Rochester, while
the independent refineries situated in
territory adjacent to clean We're given
rate of 3S cents a barrel. BY means
of this cent rate, in combination with
rate from Rochester to Norwood N.
Y, virtually secret and very low rate
from Norwood, N. Y, to Burlington,
and secret local rates therefrom, the
Standard has been able to supply CEN
trail and northern Vermont with oil at
a rate of from Is to 81 cents per hun
dred pounds, whereas no independent
refiner could reach that territory from
western Pennsylvania save by rate
varying from SO to so cents per hundred
pounds.
The saving to the Standard during
1904 by the secret rate from Olean to
Rochester alone was $115,000. This and
other less important rates from Clean
were unknown to the Independent refin-
ers, and were not published on the
ground that they were wholly state
rates; yet in fact they were used for
oil consigned to points beyond the
state boundary of New York. Further
more all the shipments from Clean on
these secret rates were blind billed.
e., the rates were not shown on the
waybills.
(S) The Standard Oil company has
maintained absolute control of almost
the whole section of the country south
of the Ohio river and east of the Mis-
sissippi by means of recret rates and
open determinations in rates from
Whiting, Ind.
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