The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-15
TRUST WORKS
 WITH ROADS Standard Pipe Lines on Right-of-W Way. KANSAS CITY INVESTIGATION Santa Fe Freight Agent Makes
 Admissions. Int erstate Commerce Commission Hear ing Charges Made by Independ- ent oil Producers of Charges
 of Rate Discrimina-
 tions.

Kansas City. Mo. March 14.-Half a dozen witnesses were still to be ex- amined when the interstate commerce commission resumed It's hearing here today into the charges of rate discrim- nation made by the Kansas Oil Pro- ducers Association.
 J. R. Koontz general freight agent of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the first witness, was ques- toned by Mir. Marchand, attorney for the commission.
 Are the pipe lines of the Standard oil Company upon the right-of-way of the Sante Fe Railway
 Yes, sir; they are for a distance east of Sugar Creek tKansas City) to point somewhere in Illinois. West of Sugar Creek the pipe line Is upon the right of way of the Southern Kan sas division"
 How did the Standard oil Company get this right-ofway?"
 T do not know"
 MT. Koontz was questioned about the meeting of the traffic managers of diff ferent railroads in St. Louis in June, 1904, at which the oil rate east from Kansas points was raised from 10c to 17c hundred pounds. He said he was at the meeting, but he did not know who called 1t.
 Mir Koontz said that MT. Bogardus, traffic manager of the Standard Oil Company, was at the meeting. No record of the proceedings of the meet ing was Kept, according to the wit ness.
 Mir. Koontz cross examined by Thomas R. Morrow. attorney for the Sante Fe Railroad. was asked:
 Are the freight rates established by sula To ryY"
 How do the railroads look upon them?"
 "As arbitrarily established without the railroads having been given q chance to be heard. It was an effort on the part of the Legislature to meet the scale in force in Texas with the dif- ference that while the Kansas rate IS the same as the Texas rate upon crude and fuel oil. 1t Is much lower than the Texas rate upon all products of pe- troleum, such as gasoline and kerosene.
 Why has there been no assault by the railroads on the Kansas rate?" Mir. Koontz was asked.
 Deference to Sentiment.
 Largely in deference to public sen- timent," replied the witness. The officials of the Santa Fe and I think or OlnGF hdHHdS TOduH NHluh lndA tnt Kansas rates would have been contest ed long before this but in view of the agitation and inflamed condition of the public mind. the policy or the railroads has been to submit quietly to the un- reasonable rates forced on them by the legislature of Kansas
 MT Koontz said that the raising of the rate at the St. Louis meeting was made necessary by trade conditions and the action was not taken to har- rass any one or at the behest of any one interest or another, or to benefit one interest to the detriment of any other.
 Marcus A. Low, general solicitor of the Rock Island Railway. asked MT. Koontz, "Was 1t to the advantage of the Standard oil Company that you raised the rates as you did in the St. Louis meeting?"
 'No, 1t was to their disadvantage. They had to pay a higher rate upon crude oil from Neodesha to St. Louis"
 Mfr. Prouty. of the commission, in- terrupted and said: But that was an independent refiner of Kansas, com plained."
 In aswer to a question. the witness then stated that the Standard Oil Com pany had asked him to advance the rate.
 In course of his examination Com mission Prouty asked of MT. Koontz. Why should more be charged for nov ing crude oil than coal?' and the wit ness answered that the oil tanks go back empty while the coal cars go back loaded with sand.
 Unable to Estimate Risks.
 MT. Koontz said that the risk in- volved in hauling fuel oil was an i'm portant factor but he was unable to xuyko ha via fA Ia promised to produce the figures later.
 Mir. Mennett, attorney for the oil producers association of Kansas. stated that the rate on coal Tn Kansas was 50 per cent less than the crude oil rate.
 c. A stannard. an oil producer of Emporia, Kansas, testified that no Kan saS oil could be sold out of that State by independent producers because the rate beyond Kansas prohibited it, but if the Kansas maximum freight rate was extended into other States, there would be a good market for all the oil Kansas could produce.
 G. w. Mayer, Standard oil manager at Kansas City, was recalled and de. nied positively that he had sent E Nj Wilyhoyt, formerly agent for tn, Standard at Topeka and now an inde. pendent oil refiner at Joplin auC Springfield, Mo, a check with which tC bribe railroad employees In order tC secure information regarding the shipment of oil by independent com panies.
 H. B. Scott, until recently a direc- tor of the Prairie oil and Gas Com pany. branch of the Standard Oil Company, but who is now in business for himself, hesitated fin answering several questions. This brought forth rebuke from Commissioner Cockrell who said sharply. Tt is useless for the Standard oil Company to attempt to conceal things, because we are going to get at the bottom of it's doings any way"
 A. H. Coffin. an oil refiner of Kan sas, testified that high rates pre- vented him shipping his product out of the State.
 This ended the testimony for the in- dependent oil producers.
 Parsons Concludes Testimony. D.