Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-08-16
Findings Against Standard Oil

The Standard vi yum p@"f.
corporation operating under the
laws of New Jersey, with various
subsidiary companies througont
the United States, has sacrificed the
interests of the American consum'
err for the purpose of securing for
eign business, according to Herber-
Knox Smith, Commissioner OF Cor
,porations, in report just SUBMIT
ed to President Roosevelt, The
report deals with Standards dis
examinations in prices.
Commissioner Smith shows that
while the Standard Oil Company
was selling oil IN the United States
at an average price of 1913 cents, 1t
was selling it at 6 81 cents in Ger
many and 6 AZ cents in England.
The government report shows
that the same oil was sold in Della
ware at II cents gallon, in Mar
Wand and the District of Columbia
at 90 cents, while the price in Cot
orado was put up to 1872 gallon.
Prices were high where the trust
had a monopoly and low where it
had competitition. While oil was
selling in Baltimore at 05 cents a
gallon, it was selling in Richmond
at rs cents, in Washington at 80
cents, and in New York at 10 5
cents. At the same time Cipcin-
natl was getting oil at GA cents,
while Butte, Mont, had to pay 1876
cents.
Standard Oil has sacrificed the
interests Of the American consum-
er for the purpose of securing for,
eign business.
The obnoxious character of the
Standards price policy is every
where made clear.
1t has raised prices instead OF
lowering them; 1t has pocketed all
the advantages of it's economies in
stead of sharing them with the
public, and has added still further
monopoly profits by charging more
than smaller and less economical
concerns could sell it for if the
Standard allowed them the chance.
1t is probable that the Standard,
by reason Of It's undoubtedly great
efficiency, could, had it been con-
tent with reasonable profits, have
made prices to consumers lower
than would have been possible for
smaller concerns, and thus hay re
maintained it's great proportion
of the business by wholly fair and
legitimate means.
The Standard is, however, most
CONSPICUOUS example of a combina.
ton which maintains substantial
monopoly. not by superiority of
service and by charging reasonable
PRICES, bat by unfair methods, OF
destroying competition; a combina-
ton which then uses the power
TINS unfairly gained to Cypress the
public through wholly extortionate
prices.
Meeting competition abroad. it
has given the foreign consumer
enormously lower prices, and it has
used the profits made at home to
maintain its position abroad, so
that the American consumer has
been severely Disseminated
against.
A com bination which can COM
mand the profits that the figures
imply over large areas has there
fore obviously tremendous weap-
on when it enters an aggressive
price cutting against Independent
concerns.
, One of the most striking instanc-
es is in California, where the Stand.
ard carries oil from its great refine
~, near San Francisco, several
hundred miles by water and rail,
and sells it in southern California
for several cents less than is
charged for the same oil i'll San
Francisco.
There are wide differences in the
prices paid by the differ ent rail
roads for the same oils. The Penn.
>sylYania system paid less than one
half the invoice prices, and forty
one other roads paid the full price.