Gilpin observer., 1906-11-22
STANDARD OIL ON THE RACK
Department of Justic Begins Suit at
st. Louis to Kill Giant Trust.
The Petition Filed Asks That the Combination Be Declared naw.
fu and Restrained from Doing Business Of the Mo-
nopoy and How 1t Is Alleged to Restrain Trade
Its Enormous Profits.
The War on the Standard.

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 70 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 Roosevelts war on
the trust began; total depreciation in
stock since president opened crusade,
$150,000,000; 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
icials 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
oihoAAOh anu 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 ef-
feet Of which is to restrain commerce
in petroleum and its products or to
monopolize the same.
The petition contains 1874 pages Of
printed matter. or about 100000
words, and an additional 81 pages of
exhibits. consisting of bylaws and
minutes of Standard Oil meetings and
organizations. and 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 it's
products at an early date-about the
year 1s70-and that the same individ-
uals have controlled the combination
during all these years. in all it's forms,
and now control it. 1t was, therefore,
deemed wise to state in the petition
the complete history and growth of
this conspiracy.
History Of the Conspiracy.
The petition is logically divided into
three periods. During the first one
of these periods, from 1870 to 1882.
the combination assumed the form of
simple conspiracy-that is to say,
the defendants, with the Standard Oil
company of Ohio, acted together to
suppress competition and control the
oil business.
During the second period, from 1852
to 1899, the combination assumed the
form of a trust agreement, whereby
about 40 separate corporations en-
gagged in the same business. turned
over the management OF their busi-
ness to nine trustees. of which these
individual defendants were the major
fty, so that these defendants con-
trolled all of these corporations.
In March. 1892. the supreme court
OF Ohio declared this trust agreement
void and ordered its dissolution.
Thereupon. on March 81, 1892, the
trust certificate holders met in New
ork and resolved to dissolve the trust
and appointed John d. Rockefeller,
Henry M. Flagler, William Rockefel-
Ter, John ID. Archbold Benjamin
Brewster. Henry II. Rogers. Wesley
ii. Tilford and o. b. jennings as
liquidating trustees-the individual
defendants being a majority of these
trustees.
The manner OF liquidation was not
to sell the property and divide the
proceeds among the certificate hold
ers. nor to return to each person in
dividually the property placed in the
trust, but all of the stocks in each
OF the companies were divided into
portions in proportion to the number
OF trust certificate shares outstanding,
80 that Rockefeller and his associates
continued to control all these corpor.
atons as before.
Birth Of the Present Trust.
The petition then takes up the third
period OF the conspiracy. beginning
with the formation of the present
trust.
In order to accomplish this. in jan
uary, 1899, they Increased the stock