Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-05-05
ROGERS REPLIES TOCARFIELD
Standard Oil Magnate Denies All Charges
Of Illegal Practices or Methods,
BUSINESS DONE ON LEGITIMATE LINES
he says Charges Made by the
COmmissiOner OF Corporations
Are UntruthfuI End
Unjust.


Of Commissioner Garfield. Messrs. H. II.
Rogers and John D. Arohbold Of the stand
ard OH company said that their examina-
ton Of the message and report had ncces-
sarily been a hurried one and that they
I should at later date make full answer
to their shareholders. Meanwhile they
made the following statement to the As
/ ISOLATED Press:
| In the presidents effort to secure the
| passage of bill enlarging the powers OF
the Interstate Commerce commission and
! Just and equitable railway rates, we have
precisely the same interest that any good
/ citizen has. No more and no less. Re
ment Of the railways or his structures upon
! any acts of the Interstate Commerce COM
noncarn yben beSe bnr,ever be op Connojs
| sioner Garfield attacks the Standard OIL
! company and uses its methods of doing
/ business as object lessons for the purpose
| of promoting his views we protest. II may
| be frankly stated at the outset that the
standard OH company has at all times
/ within the limits OF fairness and with due
regard for the law, sought to secure the
most advantageous freight and routes pos
| sible. There will be no denial of this fact
on our part. The question is whether we
have at any point violated the law or the
propreties.
All Charges Are Denied.
| The present inquiry grew out Of reso-
luton adopted by congress a year ago on
motion OF MFR. Campbell of Kansas instruct
| Ing the secretary OF commerce and labor
on in this country. We welcomed the in
vestigation. When Commissioners Garfield
in the discharge Of his duty visited our
Office he and his experts were given free
access to our books and the fullest oppor-
tunity to ascertain the manner In which
our business was conducted Frank dis
closures Of all Of our methods were made
and every criticism offered by him was
met with candid and painstaking answer.
So conscious were we OF our rectitude
that we repeatedly opportuned Mr.. Garfield
! to make public the conditions existing IN
Kansas and he refused. But we proposed
ourselves TO answer some of the unfavor-
able criticism, but refrained upon Mr. Gar
fields advice and upon his assurance that
1t turned out that so far as Kansas was
concerned, the state authorities abandoned
tion that the Standard OIL company has
been or is now knowingly engaged In
practices which are unlawful Is alike un-
truthful and unjust.
National Advantages Claimed.
He next calls attention to the fact that
the Standard Oil rehneries are located al
ce1ters of distribution, while the inde-
pendent refneries are usually In the crude
oil fields. This fact II horne steadily ir
mind will answer many Of the criticismi
which he later INDUCES in He charge.
natural advantages following II were OBJ
tained by means of unfair competiye meth
not 20 into q history OF explanation o.
these alleged methods at all. He seys th'
development of the pipe system by IN
e. special agreement with the railway corn
panies. What he can mean - past oul
comprehension. AZ matter & OF fact ", !,
the face Of violent hostility of the rail
: roads which naturally were opposed Z
n the introduction Of such means OF trans
. portation At enormous cost and in thu
face of steadfast railroad opposition, at al
early date the Sta STANDARD on H. ISon2H,n;; Snn2
crude petroleum. The first line wss ex
tended from the western Pennsylvania 7
: Bergen Point, on the Atlantic coast Tht
: | freight from the railway companies whlcl
fact they did not view with complacency.
Alleges Rates Are Legal.
He says the Standard OH company ha
- is now receiving ''secret' rates and othe
unjust and illegal determinations. II
haTag tF or pn beTe nun NAV be othe
= secret rates which the bureau has not dis
}, | covered"
& are alleged to be violations Of the inter
o state commerce law. the plain answer
r that II Mr.. Garheld's statement Is corree
n commission to have taken action an
d brought not alone the Standard Oil com
RanSS S put tne tSis rS"y tbey nave never dom
Violations of the law In this respect d
Il not fall within the jurisdiction of the bu
10 reau OF corporations and any statemeI
- on the part OF Mr.. Garfield respecting thi
i subject is gratuitious and valueless
J. Again, he has no control whatever owe
state rates, which by the law are pl
under the Jurisdiction OF the state author
n ties and over which neither the burea
n OF commerce nor the Interstate Commerc
n Commission has any control. But all {
- this aside. there have been no secret rat'
- OF unlawful determinations In the intere'
,e case OF the rate from whiting to East s
:. Louis, ILL.,, upon which he lays so muc
stress. While discussing II at great lengI
f. plains Il all by the statement that Within
n, was a suburb of Chicago within q
a fTeiEbt orsdaS rsteS from wv Whiting had 4
~ many years been the same as those tro
s Chicago.
years and had applied to all kinds of me
Y chandise and to say that a rate had bee
used thus freely and openly for that periC
l. testify unfair Moreover our oil refinery
the only one at Whiting or within oi
hundred miles Of i; so that the so-caii, All,
worked any harm 70 any competitor shi
ping oil from Whiting or it's vicinity.
p Advantage of Pipe Lines.
he Mr. Garfield's clai mthat by the use
or low state rates the Standard OIL compal
al gained on unfair advantage is equally u
:. fortunate. At great expense we construct
IL pipe lines from the Pennsylvania and Oh
is oil fields and from the Kansas = ana lndi n
petitors did not do the same thing shall
ne he said that anyone Is unfair who does n
nd give them the advantage of this enterpri
a | of ours? IL is quite true that having o
- | oil at Whiting and desiring to transpC
?" il TO points in the interior of Illinois,
used the state rates. To say that M
G | in Ohio who had never expended a doll
- | for a pipe line to Whiting should be al
nc to transport his oil to an inland town
by Illinois over an all-rail line at the saI
ay rates we enjoyed by reason Of our pi
M lines must appear absurd to any one.
= 1T Is asserted over and over again
no the report that the Standard OIL compa
hi profited by secret and unlawful freie
ST rates In the same connection II is
- mitted In the report that all Of these RAJ
He are covered by tariffs filed with the Int
ar. state Commerce commission precisely
iii the law provides and therefore connot
ali / either secret" or unlawful"
- ''The commissioner uses the curic
lrs phrase at one point in his report that
en though a tariff rate has been hled with
int 0nterstate) commission In compliance W
Il the terms OF the law, none but the favoI
is shipper may know OF its existence" AS
Interstate law explicitly provides that eve
on | tariff OF rates 50 hled must be posted
-,,a | every freight station open 10 the inspect
, OF every shipper, Il is hard TO conceive
the the commissioners temerity In maxi
hi such an utterance.
Is Home Competition.
aid .''rhe statement that the Standard
a. cornpany has largely By unfair and unla
in fui methods crushed out home competit
ent is fully answered by the fact that no
ere competition has always existed. Is stead
10 MOI At lea ~