The Topeka state journal., 1906-05-04
FIRES BIC GUN.
President Roosevelt Sends Gar
field Report to Congress.
Calls Attention to Business
Methods of Standard.
s75O,OOO RAKE OFF.
Annually Secured From Rail-
roads by Rebate Plan.
Amount Taken From the People
Is Much Larger.
IT HAS BEEN STOPPED
But the Department of Justice
viii Prosecute.
Summary of the Corporation
Commissioners Findings.
II HAS BEEN STOPPED
But the Department of Justice
Will Prosecute.
Summary of the Corporation
Commissioners Findings.

COlN m ISSI0Hof = AAAuEH So
washington. May 4-President
Roosevelt today transmitted to con-
gress the report of James r. Garfield
commissioner of corporations, giving
the results of his investigation Of the
subject of transportation and freight
rates in connection with the oil in
dustrv. In his message the president
expresses the view that the report Is OF
capital importance because OF the ef-
fort now being made to secure such
enlargement of the powers of the in
terstate commerce commission as viii
confer upon the commission power in
some measure adequate to meet the
clearly demonstrated needs Of the sit
uation. That the standard Oil com
pany has benefited enormously up all
most to the present moment by secret
rates many of which were clearly un-
lawful. the president says the report
clearly shows the benefit thereby Sc
cured amounting to at least three
quarters Of a million year on this
subject he says.
This three-quarters Of a million
represents the profit that the Standard
Oil company obtains at the expense Of
the railroads; but Of course the ultl-
mate result is that it obtains much
larger profit at the expense Of the pub
lie. A very striking result of the iS-
vestgation has been that shortly after
the discovery Of these secret rates by
the commissioner of corporations, the
major portion of them we're promptly
corrected by the railroads so that
most of them have now been done
away with.
The statement Is added that the de-
partment of justice viii take up the
question Of instituting prosecutions in
at least certain Of the cases.
Continuing the president says.
But in addition to these secret
rates the Standard Oil profits inn
mensely by open rates which are so
arranged as TO give it an overwhelm-
ing advantage over its Independent
competitors.
1t is unfortunately not true. he says.
that the Standard Oil company is the
only corporation which has benefited
and is benefting in wholly improper
fashion by an elaborate series of rate
determinations. The sugar trust, he
adds. according to the results Of the in
Vestlgation now in progress rarely if
ever pays the lawful rate for trans
portauon
He favors. as an element Of COM
petition, putting alcohol used in the
arts on the free list and of keeping
the fee to oil and coal lands of the
Indian tribes or on the public domain
in the government the lands to be
leased only on such terms and for
such periods as viii enable the gov
ernment to entirely control them.
Garfeld's Report.
Commissioner Garfield saws.
The general result of the investiga-
tion has been to disclose the existence
of numerous ard fragrant dfscrirnina-
tions ~ the railroads in behalf of the
STANDARD Oil company and its affiliated
corporations. With comparatively few
HHf r9--H--
Germs in California the STANDARD has
been the sole beneficiary of such dis
examinations IN almost every section of
the country that company has been
found to enjoy some unfair advanta ges
over its competitors and some Of these
determinations affect enormous areas.
Determinations in the transnorta
tion Of oil embrace variety of forms.
the more important Of which may be
classsd under the following heads.
Secret and semi-secret rates.
DISCRIMINATION I'm the omen ar
Tangement of rates.
3-Discriminations in classification
and rules Of shipment
z-Discriminations i'm treatment of
private tank cars.
Many of the secret rates discovered
by the bureau Of corporations have an
piled only on shipments of oils wholly
within single states. The STANDARD OIL
company. which controls refneries in 20
states, is obviously in a position to make
extensive use Of such interstate rates
or as they are ordinarily designated
state rates.
For the A,urpose Of more ehectivel,-
conceaiing the secret rates given to tbe
Standard Oil company. railroads in sev
eral important cases have used peculiar
methods of billing and accounting.
Blind Bills
"In some cases oil has been blind
billed that is to say the way hius
have been made out showing the kind
OF product transports and its weight
but without showing as is the ls,ai
custom, any freight rate or the amount
Of the freight charges. In such IN
stances the collection of freight is or
dinar1y made not by the local agent
Of the railroad. but through the central
once by the presentation to the stand
ard Of summary bill showing re
amount of freight charges al the secret
rate Local agents often do NOT know
what the actual rates used on hind
bills are.
An especially large number of So
cret rates and rebates in the transpor-
tauon OF OIL was found in California
In all more than so distinct Violations
Of tar1Is on oil were discovered In this
state Lhe total concessions to SINNERS
and consignees under these rates as
compared with the published tariffs
may be safely estimated at about s200 =
300 ger year, Of which amount about
100000 went to the Standard.
The commissioners under the head of
possibility Of further discriminate
says
II seems wholly possible that there