Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-05

BY Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, May 4.-President
Roosevelt today transmitted to congress
the report of James R. GARFIELD, com
missioner of corporations. giving the
results of his investigation Of the sub
ject of transportation and freight rates
in connection with the oil industry
In his message the president ex-
pressed the view that the report Is OF
capital Importance because of the eff
fort now being made to secure such en-
largement of the powers Of the inter
state commerce commission as VIII
confer upon the commission power in
some measure adequate to meet the
clearly demonstrated needs of the
situation.
The facts set forth in the report, ne
declares. are for the most part not dis
puted. That the Standard Oil company
has benefited enormously almost to the
present moment by secret rates, many
Of which were clearly unlawful, the
president says the report clearly shows
the benefit thereby secured amounting
to at least three-quarters of a million a
year.
On this subject he says:
"This quarters Of a million rep
resents the profits that the Standard
Oil company obtains at the expense of
the railroads. but of course the ulti-
mate result is that 1t obtains much
larger profit at the expense of the pub
lie. :.
"a very striking result of the investi-
cation has been that shortly after the
discovery of these secret rates by the
commissioner of corporations the ma
jor portion of them were promptly cor
rected by the railroads so that most Oh
them have now been done away with.
This immediate correction, partial or
complete, of the evil of secret rates, Is
of course on the one hand an acknowl-
edgment that they were wrong and yet
were persevered in until exposed, and
on the other hand a proof of the effi-
cheney of the work that has been done
by the bureau of corporations"
Standard Has Big Advantage
The statement is added that the de-
partment of justice will take up the
question of instituting prosecutions in
at least certain of the cases. and the
hope is expressed that congress will en-
act into law the bill of Senator Knox to
correct the Interpretation of the I'M
munity provision rendered in Judge
Humphreys decision. Continuing the
president says:
"But in addition to these secret rates
the Standard Oil profits Immediately
by open rates, which are so arranged
as to give it an overwhelming advan-
tage over it's independent competitors.
"This is a characteristic example OF
the numerous evils which are inevitable
under a system in which the big ship
per and the railroad are left free to
crush out all individual initiative and
all power of independent action because
of the absence of adequate and thor
ough-goipg governmental control.
Similar Conditions Elsewhere
Exactly similar conditions obtain in
a large part of the west and south
west"
1t is not possible, he says, to put
into figures the exact amount by which
the Standard profits through the gross
favoritism shown it by the railroads in
connection with the open rates.
"The profit, of course, comes not
merely by the saving i'm the rate itself
as compared with its competitors, but
by the hlgner prices III lS aDle 10 chdlse
and by the complete control OF the
markets which II secures, thereby get
ting the profits ON the whole con-
sumption"
The president calls attention to that
feature of the report regarding the
manner In which the law is evaded by
treating as state commerce what in
reality is merely a part OF the inter-
state commerce. He says II Is clearly
shown "that this device is employed
on the New York Central railroad as
well as on many other railroads In
such fashion as to amount to thwart-