The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-05-18
COLOSSAL ROBBERS
The Standard Oil Combines. Which He
Says Has Enriched Itself by Crimes.
Commissioner 0arfield's Proof
Of MOnopoIy's Guilt the
Rasis NJ CharVas.
Basis Of Charges.

monopoly, charging 1t and tho railroads
Of the country with all manner OF Of.
lenses against the Interstate CONNER
oe and Anti. II ,bate laws. The charges
against this vicious monopoly were
timed psycholoaioslly with the ap.
preaching vote in the Senate on the
railr' ad rate bill, the Presidents pet
measure, which he is determined shall
go on the Federal statute books. Bat
this belated laying bare of the haRrant
and persistent violation Of the law by
the r ,ckefeller monopoly is two years
behind tho times.
In 1904 the same charges against
the On combine were made by Con
gresham William Randolph Hearst
In all his newspapers, and in Decem
Der OF last year he proposed q remedy
In the shape Of a bill to increase the
powers Of the Interstate Commerce
Commi ssion and to create an Inter
state Con merce Court. which would
have made impossible q continuation
Of such defiance Of the Unite6 States
laws.
The bill served IS q model for the
Esch-Townsend bill, and was killed by
the Administration. For years thu
Govcrnm Mt has paid no attention to
the repeated accusattons against the
Standard Oh Company, whose crimes
are calmly enumerated by the Preti.
dent aud Commissioner CART I'D to.
day.
Despite the snperlati veness OF the
depu clt,ory &C ,ctives used by the
President and Cum missioner Garfield,
which accuse tho Standard Oil monop
oily Of divers and sundry tfYanseA
against Federal laws, the Department
Of Justice, In almost the same b cath,
announces that 1T will try to prosecute
ONLY under the Anti-R ,bate law, OF
whicl the maximum penalty for con-
viction Is Cn'y q fine of q sum. Which
at moet would be- considered paltry by
the millionaire d fendants.
In other words, sh uld all the
Standard OIL om?lals, all the railroad
chiefs of the country be convicted,
they would merely have 10 scratc
their pens across the bottom Of che cks
for sums inhnitesimal as compared
with the profits secured from the lie
gal and secret rates and rebates,
and go on committing the same
crimes against the la ws Of the land
Then, by putting the sore VIZ under
The price-llst anew AID lacking q cent
or two or to the rate for oil, the IL u 81
would get all its money back With
enormous interest.
Commissioner Glrisld's investiga
lions unearthed undeniable prof OF
the guilt Of the OIL Trust and the
raj ,roads, and his specific charges
formed the basis for the Presidents
message and recommendations to Con.
gross.
He WINGED no woods and used no
e~mssculated phrases Ia denounclng
the Standard Oil Company as o VIC
tous business organ zation, reared upon
the loot from illegal methods OF doing
business.
He accused the Cm 3ials OF the com
pany of criminal methods and strip
ped the fabric Of their boasted organ.
ization bare; sho we'd 1t to be q mass
OF corruption; a comblnatinn defiant
OF every law OF the land, and even OF
decent business amenities; a heartles,
and wynton destroyer Of competitors
and a menanca to the c,uutry.
Thr revelations in the report OF
Commissions Garfield are almost as
founding. They expose, 80 fur az the
Standard Oil Company is concerned,
exactly the same methods that vii.
liam IL. Hearst has uncovered In the
coal roads trust and the alliance be-
tween the Sugar Trust and the great
railroads. 1t Is significant to note
that Commissioner Garield's exposure
Eliminates the situation with exam
pies of precisely the same kinds OF
rebates, refunds and other illegal fay
or as the coal cases and the Sugar cases
have developed.
In other words, 1t tends to prove
what Congressman Hearst and many
writer's and investigators have con
tended for 3 long time-that the
Standard created the system and per-
fected 1t and the coal roads and the
sugar Trust and the other trusts are
only imitotors and followers OF the
mos gigantic trust of them all.
Seldom has organized capital been
so ru6hlessly pilloried. O1mmiSs!on-
Garfield presents an array of facts
and figures that would convince the
most skepptical and he does 1t with a
clearness that q child could under
He nos only convicts the Oh Trust
Of Migrant and persistent violations
Of the law, but accuses It's Officials of
deliberate lying. He says that at
the beginning OF the investigation the
officials OF the STANDARD on said tho
company had not obtained and was
then not obtaining secret rebates
from the railroads. He then procce6s
show that the company has hab.
ltually received and is still receiving
such rebatef, and he cites case after
case In proof.
Probably nc more opportune time
you'd have been elected by the Presi-
lent TO send tho report to Congress
'ust as the Senate Is about to begin
Young on the railroad rate bill. The
believes the fectf revealed
)y COMMISSIONER Garfield constitute
ne best argument yet presented that
ynly effeotiv VI remedy for secret
chatting and open preferential ratings
5 through government regulation,
'lCh only such restrictions as are nee
'esSafy under the Constitution.
one or the most Significant featu req
h report 10 that when the atton.
Ion OF the railroads vas called TO
ortatn specific Instances of rebat,np
by Mr.. CART Id, uhey dis.