Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1906-11-22
The War on the Standard.

st. Louis.-Petition filed in United
States circuit court asking for disso-
luton of Standard Oil trust and per-
petual Injunction restraining 20 con-
stituent companies from working with
or paying dividends to parent COM
pany.
New York.-Standard Oil shares
dropped Is points, making net loss of
$50 points since Roosevelt's war on
the trust began; total depreciation in
stock since president opened crusade.
$150, 000,0 900; this Notwithstanding
quarterly dividends of $40 per share.
Findlay, O.-Prosecuting attorney
directed by Attorney General Ellis to
keep grand jury in session; all Stand
ard Oil officials may be indicted; Of
ficials of Standard Oil company of
Ohio indicted agreed to surrender.
ST. Louis, Mo.-The suit to break
up the Standard Oil trust has been
filed in the United States circuit court
here. The petition asks:
That the court decree that the COM
bination and conspiracy are unlawful
under the Sherman antitrust act
That the Standard Oil company be
enjoined, restrained and prohibited
from exercising any control over its
allied corporations, or any of them,
by the election or appointment of di.
rectors or officers, or in any other
manner.
That the subsidiary corporations be
enjoined from declaring or paying any
dividends to the Standard Oil COM
pany of New Jersey.
That the defendants, and each and
| all of them, be enjoined from entering
into any contract, the purpose or eff
| feet of which is to restrain commerce
in petroleum and it's products OF to
monopolize the same.
The petition contains 1914 pages of
printed matter, or about 100000
words, and an additional "a pages of
exhibits, consisting of bylaws. and
minutes of Standard Oil meetings and
organizations, and a map showing the
retail prices of oil in every state and
territory of the union.
What the Petition Alleges.
1t is alleged in the petition that
| John D. Rockefeller and his associ
ates, the other individual defendants
| formed a conspiracy to monopoliZe
the commerce in petroleum and its
| products at an early date-about the
| year 1870-and that the same individ
uals have controlled the combination
during all these years, in all its forms
and now control it. 1t was, therefore
deemed wise to state in the petition
the complete history and growth o
this conspiracy.
| History of the Conspiracy.
The petition is logically divided int
| three periods. During the first on,
of these periods, from 1870 to 1882
y the combination assumed the form o
a simple onspiracy-that is to say
the defendants, with the Standard Oh
company of Ohio. acted together t.
suppress competition and control tn
oil business.
During the second period, from 1888
to 1899, the combination assumed tn
form of a trust agreement, whereof
about 40 separate corporations er
gagged in the same business, turne
over the management of their bus
ness to nine trustees, of which thes
individual defendants were the major
ity, so that these defendants COZ
trolled all of these corporations.
In March, 1892, the supreme cour
of Ohio declared this trust agreemen
void and ordered it's dissolution
Thereupon, on March 81, 1892, tn
trust certificate holders met in Ne7
DIRK and resolved to dissolve the trus
and appointed John D. Rockefellel
Henry NJ. Flagler. William Rockefe
Ter, John D. Archbold, Benjami
Brewster, Henry H. Rogers, Wesle
H. Tilford and o. B. Jennings a
liquidating trustees-the individus
defendants being majority of thes
trustees.
The manner of liquidation was nc
to sell the property and divide th
proceeds among the certificate hol,
ers, nor to return to each person II
dividually the property placed in til
trust, but all of the stocks in eac
of the companies were divided int
portions in proportion to the numbe
of trust certificate shares outstanding
so that Rockefeller and his associate
continued to control all these corpo
ations as before.
Birth of the Present Trust.
The petition then takes up the thir
period of the conspiracy, beginin
with the formation of the preser
trust.
In order to accomplish this, in Jal
uary, 1899, they increased the stoc