Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-05-05


The President
Commissioner Garfield salu'
1.-The general result of the lhVeStisd-
ton has been to disclose the existence
of numerous and Migrant dlscriiililia-
tons by the railroads in behal1 OF the
Standard Oil Company and It's alillaleu
corporations. With comparatively lie"
exceptions. mainly of otter large con-
Germs in California, the Standard mas
been the sole beneficiary OF such as
ordinations. In almost every sectloh
of the country that company has been
found to enjoy some unfair advantages
over its competitors, and some or these
discrmina tons affect enormous areas
DETERMINATIONS in the transporta-
ton of oil embrace a variety of forms,
the most important of which may be
c!asse6 under the following heads:
"1-Secret and semi secret rates.
DETERMINATIONS in the open ar
rangement of rates.
REPRESENTATIONS in classification
and rules Of shipment.
DETERMINATIONS in treatment Of
private tank cars
Many of the secret rates discovered
by the bureau of corporations have ap-
piled only on shipments of oil wholly
within single states. The Standard Oil
Company which controls refineries in l.
states, is obviously in position to
make extensive use of such Interstate
rates, or as they are ordinarily desig-
mated state rates.
For The purpose of more effectually
concoa ling the secret rates given to
the Standard Oil Company, railroads
in several important cases have used
peculiar methods Of billing and &C
counting.
In some cases. oil has been blind
Billed that is to say. the waybills
have been made out showing the kind
| of product transported and its weight,
but without showing as in the usual
custom, any freight rate or the amount
of freight charged. In such instances,
| the collection of freight is ordinarily
made, not by the local agent of the rail-
road. but through the central office,
by the presentation to the Standard of
a summary bill showing the amount Of
freight charged at secret rate.
Local agents often do not know what
the actual rates used on blind bills are.
An especially large number of secret
rates and rebates in the transportation
of oil was found in California. In all
more than so distinct violations of tar
IFS i'm Oil We're discovered in this
state the total concession to shippers
and cOnsignees under the rates as
comapred W it'll the publihed tariffs
may be safely estimated at about $780,
600 per year. of which amount about
IN a
The commissioner under the head of
possibility of further Determinations
says:
1T seems wholly possible that there
may exist a multitude of other dis
ordinations. effected by secret rates
or even by rebates. of great aggregate
importance, involved in the local dis
tribution of oil. especially in less than
carload lots. The Standard Oil Com
pany ships enormous quantities of oil
| in less than carload lots, and although
the distance involved in such cases
are usually comparatively short. the
amount of freight charged under the
high rates which prevail on such bust
ness under regular tariffs would be
very great and the possibilities of de-
parture from these charges extensive.
1T is perfectly clear that the dis
| tinction between the rebates and the
secret rate is merely one of account
ing"
Regarding discrimination in the open
arrangement of rates, Commissioner
Garfield declares:
Different methods are used in diff
ferent places and under different con-
ditiOnS but the net result is that from
Maine to California the general ar
rangement of open rates on petroleum
| oil is such as to give the Standard an
unreasonable advantage over its COM
| petitOrs.
The conclusion is unavoidable that
the Standard Oil Co. has had an M
portant voice in the construction of
such rates and this conclusion is sup
ported by specific evidence developed
by the inVeStiga ton"
In many cases he says, there are I'M
reasonable differences between the
rates on oil in carloads and in less
than carloads. No charges that dis
elimination is practiced in some in
stances in the treatment of private
| tank cars. On this point he says:
In most sections of the country all
refinerS operating tank cars of their
own receive equal treatment in re-
spect to the mileage allowance. on
the Pacific coast, however, most indie
pendent refiners receive but siXtenths
cent per mile and this OH the loaded
movement only. An exception is made
where the haul exceeds 500 miles in
which case three fourths cent per mile
is allowed on the excess mileage over
that distance but again on the loaded
movement only. The Union Tank Line
Company and the Waters Pierce Oil
CO..-also a Standard cOncern-are the
only oil companies operating tank cars
ON the lines of the Southern PACIFIC