The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-11-16

claiming to represent more than one seV- enth of the entire population or the coun- try. the American Society of Equity the recently formed natioral farmers unlon' today became affiliated in limited degree with the American Federation of Labor now m convention here.
 Practically the entire afternoon session was devoted to the proposition Of ahiliat- ing with the society of equity commit tees recommended a plan whereby mem hars of tne federation and it's affiliated
 
 s'In June last by direction of the pres'- dent Messrs l<ellog and MorIlson were appointed by me, special assistant attor- ney-generals to act with assistant 10 the Attorney-G General Purdy, to make an in- vestiga.ion of the violations of the stand ard oil company of New Jersey, to the business of refining, transporting, dlstrl- outing and selling oil throughout the United states; to ascertain all the iacts and report whether or not in their opinion there has been a Violation of the sherman antitrust law, by the Standard oil com nanv of New Jersey. or tine persons or oornorations associated with or managing il, The counsel have completed that autN' and the report of their investigation mas received careful eonsido ration by the ires- ident and his cabinet
 Control 90 Per Cent of Oil.
 srhe information available to the de- nartment tends to show that the various corporations the limited partnerships un- der the control, the manner nereinalter stated of the Standard oil company or New Jersey. produce, transport ana SCH
 ,F Ina nets. transported and sold in the Ontied States for domestic, and about the same nroportion of refined oil exported from the United States; that this snare or me business has been procured by course of action which. beginning in ls'o' mas continued under the direction of the same persons in the main, down to the present time: that these persons now surViNihs arc John D. Rockefeller, William Rocke- feler. Henry H. Rogers Henry NJ. Flag- Ter John A Archbold, Oliver H. fayue and Charles M. Pratt; that the uesish throughout of the persons haVihg col- trol of the enterprise has been 10 sup press competition in the produc'ioii' transportation and sale of refned oli' and to obtain as far as possible monopoly therein: that between 1870 and 1882 the design was effected through agreements made between many persons ana corpoI- ations engaged in this business; that I'll 1882 the business aimed at was made more certain by vesting in nine trustees qn- cluding five of the above named persohs) sufficient stock in the thrty-nlne cor porations concerned, to enable the trus- tees to control their operations In such a way that competition between them was suppressed: that this plan was acted upon until 1t was declared unlawful py the supreme court of Onio Ill an action against the Standard Oil company of nf said gOfDOra tlOllS III lSJZ, that during the seven years following, inc same individual defendants as maJor- ity of the iquidating trustees, were pre- tending to liquidate the trust, but as matter of fact were managing all or 1he corporations in the same way. and eX- ercising the same control over them; that the individual defendants in 1899 increased the stuck of the Standard Oil company of New Jersey from S10 000, 900 to S110,0OoOOo; that said company was then producing and selling corporation, and they added to it's corporate powers the power or pur- chasing stock in other companies ana practically all of the powers exercises bv inc trustees under the unlawlu. trust a greement of 1882; that the Standard oil company of New Jersey, then taking the place of the trustees. acquired all or the stock of the corporations heretofore held and controlled by the trusts, paying therefor by the issue of its own snares III exchange, that lHS pftoiuehe VI 'iiO of trustees became the president or the Standard Oil company of New Jersey and the business of the trust then assumed the direction of the business of the stan dard Oil company of New Jersey, and ever since continued it; that the pur- rose and effect of the use of the Stan dard Oil company of New Jersey as a holding company was precisely the same as the purpose and effect of the appoint ment of the trustees hereinbefore re- ferred to- namely to suppress competi- ton between the corporations and limited partnerships. whose stock was first held by the trusts and then by the Standard oil company of New Jersey; that by the foregoing methods, aided by the estab- | lishment of railroad rates for transporta- | tion which discriminated in favor Of the | corporati lions whose stock was held by | the holding company, that company has been enabled to obtain in large sections | of the country monopoly of the sale of refined oil with the result that the prices | to the consumer within the territory | where the monopoly prevails are very much higher than within the territory | where competition to some extent still | exists.
 Believes They Require Action. | .It is believed that these facts. to- | sether with others contained in the re- | nort of the special counsel, justify and ! require action by the United States in l the courts Accordingly, a petition Tn l equity under the provisions of the Sher- | man antitrust act. has this day been l filed against the Standard Oil company