Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-06
ALARMS THE RUST
Proceeding Brought to Cause
Its Dissolution.
SMALL CONCERN AT FINE
Immense Sum May Never Be Col
lected.
MIR. ROCKEFELLER INDIFFERENT
Importance of Action Against the Chi
cago and Alton Road-Coming
Report on Discrimination.

| 80 muCn stress mas OeeN lslO on the I'M
position of fine OF s29, 5000 on the Stand
ard OIL Company by Judge Lands that the
| main case Of the government against the
| big corporation. for which tremendous prep
| aration has been made. and Is yet being
| made. has been lost sight Of. AS matter
| of fact the real issue against the Standard
! company was not involved in the case be-
I fore Judge Lands. The Standard cares lit
| tie ABOUT the levyinG of q fine, because 1t
| will probably be years before it can be col
| lected, and there is considerable doubt
| whether It Will ever be collected at all. The
| remark of John d. Rockefeller that Judge
Lands and many others would probably
be dead before the fine was collected
| is believed by many officials to be no idle
! talk on the part of the oil king. He knows
| his ground.
| The Standard Oil Company of Indiana is
| subsidiary corporation of the Standard
| Oil Company of New Jersey, the real and
! only" Standard Oil 1t was the Indiana
| concern that Judge Lands imposed the
| heavy fine upon. This concern has capt.
| tai stock of 81 10000 and available assets
| of about slo.GU.Oo1. How 100000 will
! pay $29.240t0O is not known, although a
| number of government officials express tho
| opinion that eventually the Standard Of
| New Jersey Will have to pay the fine. AS
| the New Jersey corporation has sufficient
| assets for several fines of that amount the
| collection would not be difficult as a last
| resort
Suit to Dissolve the Trust.
The payment Of the fine. however, should
that have to be done, will cut little figure
with the Standard company, as it would
| bring about dissolution of the great
trust. 1t is a dissolution, through a re-
Ownership or otherwise, that the Depart
ment of Justice is lighting for. In St. Louis
| a case against the parent Standard Oil is
| pending which menaces the very existence
| of the gigantic concern 1t is a proceeding
| brought by the government under the Sher-
! man antitrust act to dissolve the trust If
| the government should succeed in its con-
| tentions the company will be placed in a
| most serious predicament. This is the case
| that has caused genuine alarm among the
! Standard Oil officials. for. If the govern
| ment should succeed, the Standard Oil Com
| pany will be forced to relinuuish its monop-
oily of the oil industry of the country.
| 1t is a somewhat carefully guarded secret
| that the government has not revealed it's
| case against the Standard Oil in the ST.
| Louis case. For months the Department of
| Justice and bureau of corporations have
| been following every piece of available In
| formation g TO the business of the Stand
| ard Oil. The facts just made public by the
| bureau of corporations amounted to COM
| paratively little of the total number on
| hand. The publication Of the facts was d.
rected by President Roosevelt, who knows
| what portions have been kept back for
| by the government. This great mass of in
| formation will be placed in the hands of
| the legal department of the government at
the proper time and Will be made use of
in the st. Louis case.
| Case Against the Alton.
Government officials who have studied
the situation regard Judge Lands action
| in ordering proceedings to be brought
| against the Chicago and Alton railroad
| people, in connection with the rebates
! granted by that road to the Standard Oil
| Company of Indiana as even more seri-
| Gus than the assessing of the s29,240 900
| fine against the Standard. Under the law
| the road granting rebates is equally guilty
| with the concern accepting them Sub
| stantially the same evidence on which
| the Standard was convicted will be used
| against the railroad, and the result ap-
| pears to be foregone. The imposition of
similar fine on the Chicago and Alton
would mean receiver for that road
| should the court of last resort sustain the
| lower court and order the fine paid A
question that is assuming deep interest
| is whether Edward II. Hartman, whose
| manipulations of the stock of the Chicago
| and Alton has been shown by the inter
state commerce commission, will be drawn
| into the case to be instituted against the
road. Will It be shown that 1t his per-
| sonal orders that caused the Chicago and
| Alton to grant the rebates?
| All OF the evidence brought out by the
! interstate commerce commission, in addi-
| ton TO that disclosed by the trial Of the
| Standard. will be used in the Chicago and
| Alton case. During his vacation Attorney
| General Bonaparte is studying the evil
dence taken by the interstate commerce
| reach will not be revealed until next fall
| after he has had opportunity to thoroughly
| discuss the matter with President Roose-
welt.
Report on Determinations.
| The bureau of corporations is not yet
| through with the Standard Oil Company.
| Another report price determinations in
| the sale Of oil bySthe Standard will be out
| IN the near future. and that will conclude
| the publication of data gathered by the
| bureau for two or three months at least.
| Price Determinations have been charged
| as the basis of the Standards system of
keeping control Of the market. that is the
| charging of low prices wherever severe
| competition exists. and making up for loss
| if any, in localities in which there is little
| or competition.
| After that bulletin has been issued the
| bureau will take a rest for a while. Sew
| eral of the leading men who have been en-
gagged on the work have gone away on
near future Next fall the bureau will
| turn its attention to the mdcontlnental
and the California fields. in neither OF which
! is the Standard important a factor as
| whole as in the Pennsylvania field About
! % per cent of all the oil refined for illu-
| minatns purposes Is from the Pennsylva-
MIA field, the oil from other fields yielding
only a small percentage of Illuminating oil
and being used largely for fuel purposes.
Recently Published Report.
| The report OF the bureau of corpora-
! tons which was made public Yesterday
| is causing some comment. That report
as sent to newspapers bore the follow
ing notice of release:
CONFIDENTIAL. The following report of
the commissioner of corporations On the
petroleum industry must be held until
| released. which will probably be for
! morning papers of Monday, August s.
1907