The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-05-05
THE PRESIDENT
ON OIL INDUSTRY
Continued from First pace,

Continued from First PaGs)
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York City tends to show that the sugar
trust rarely if ever pays the lawful rate
Tor transportation, and is thus improper
~, and probably unlawfully favored at
the expense of it's competitors and of
the general public.
The argument is sometimes advanced
against comforting upon some govern
mental body the power OF supervision
and control over interstate commerce.
that to do so tends to weaken individual
initiative. Investigations such as this
conelusively disprove any such a1lega-
ton. On the contrary. the proper play
for individual initiative can only be Sc
cured by such governmental supervision
as will curb those monopolies which crush
out all individual initiative. The rail
road itself cannot without such govern
ment aid protect the interests of its own
stockholders as against one of these great
corporations loosely known as trusts.
In the effort to prevent the railroads
from uniting for improper purposes We
have very unwisey prohibited them from
uniting for proper purposes: that is. for
purposes of protection to themselves and
to the general public against the power
of the great corporations. They should
certainly be given power thus to unite ON
conditions laid down by Congress. such
conditions to include the specific approval
of the interstate commerce commission of
any agreement to which the railroads
may come. In addition to this the gov
eminent must interfere through it's agents
to deprive the railroad of the ability to
make to the big corporations the conces-
sions which otherwise it is powerless to
refuse.
The government should have power by
4fu T.. - -
OF the railways-that is, the examiners
under the direction of the interstate COM
merce commission should be able to ex-
anime as thoroughly into the affairs Of
the railroad as bank examiners now ex-
anime into the affairs of banks.
Law Suit Invalid.
1t Is impossible to work material i'm
provement in conditions such as above
described merely through the instrument
tality of a law suit A law suit is often
necessary method. What is needed is the
comforting upon the commission of ample
affirmative power, so conferred as to make
its decisions take effect at once. subject
only to such action by the court as is
demanded by the constitution. The courts
have the power to. and will undoubtedly.
interfere If the action OF the commits
sion should become in effect confiscatory
of the property of an individual or cor
poration. or IL the commission should
undertake to do anything beyond the au-
thority conferred upon 1t by the law I'M
der which 1t Is acting. / am well aware
that within the limits thus set the COM
mission may at times be guilty of in
Justice: but far grosser and far more fire.
quent injustice. and injustice of a much
more injurious kind, now results and must
always result from the failure to give
~ ,fuot mia
promptly and effectively within these
broad limits.
Though not bearing upon the question
of railroad rates, there are two measures
consideration of which Is imperatively
suggested by the submission of this. re-
port. The Standard OIL company has,
largely by unfair or unlawful methods,
crushed out home competition. 1t is high
~ desirable that an element of compeu-
ton should be introduced by the passage
of some such law as that which has al
ready passed the House, putting alcohol
used in the arts and manufactures upon
the free list Furthermore, the time has
come when no oil or coal lands held by
the government, either upon the public
domain proper or in territory owned by
the Indian tribes, should be alenated. The
fee to such lands should be kept in the
United States government whether or not
the profits arising from it are to be given
to any Indian tribe, and the lands should
be leased only on such terms and for such
periods as will enable the government to
keep entire control thereof.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House, May 4, 1906
The Report.
Department of Commerce and Labor Blu
reau of Corporations, Washington. May
2. 1905.
Sir:-I have the honor to submit the
part OF the report on the oil industry
which has to do with the subject of
transportation and freight rates.
House resolution No. 49, passed Feb
ruary 10, 1905. directed particular atten-
ton to the condition of the Kansas oil
field. The study of the oil industry which
had heretofore been made by the bureau
showed that a special report upon the
conditions In the Kansas field would not
be advisable. A report on any special
field would Of necessity be unfair to both
the producers and the refiners, for the
reason that the purely local conditions do
not by any means determine the price of
either crude oil or its products or afford
a proper basis for understanding the con-
ditions of the industry. Therefore, a gen
eral and very extensive investigation has
been conducted, covering the following
subjects:
1.-The crude oil production of the Unit
ed States and its relation to the worlds
supply the prices and methods Of pur-
chase.
2. The use development and control Of
pipe lines.
s. Refining of Oil; the control of refin-
cries; the cost of refining and marketing;
the prices of petroleum products.
nj nWperahin nd raIa-
ton of the companies engaged in the pro-
duction. manufacture and distribution OF
oil.
5. The competitive methods used in the
production and sale of oil.
g. Transportation and freight rates.
l. Foreign trade and conditions and
their relation to the domestic industry.
I have personally visited nearly all Of