The Washington herald., 1907-09-24

New York. Sept. 23.-Seventy-seven per
cent Of the export oil produced by the
/ Tidewater Oil Company and transported
10 its refinery through the pipes Of the
Tidewater Pipe Line Company. Limited,
an allied corporation. is sold abroad by
the Standard oil Company. OF the per
! centage of these allied companies total
production Of Illuminating oil which is
sold in domestic markets. 81 per cent is
sold by consignment through the stand
ard Oil Company
| That both Of these arrangements exist
through contract which has just been re-
newed for the next ten years, and that
the Standard OIL Company OF New Jersey
owns 81 per cent Of the total stock in the
ITidewater companies. was brought out IN
/ the examination to-day Of Robert D.
Benson, an officer Of both Tidewater CON
Germs before Referee Ferris. presiding
/ over the inquiry into the Standard being
conducted TO obtain evidence for the pros
Iecution started in the United States Cir
cult Court At st. Louis.
Benson testified thlt the Tidewater re-
hnery was supplied with crude oil to the
extent Of its fun capacity by the Stand
ard company. through pipe lines owned
/ by that corporation. The Standard gets
az the oil belonging to the Tidewater
companies through its interest in the
Associated Producers Company which
lcann0t be transported directly 90 the re-
fnery Of the Tidewater oil Company BY
inference the testimony of this witness
I established the fact, sought by the gov
ernmeut pr5secuJor. that if the Tide
water concern did not allow the Stand
ard TO export its OF, no crude oil could
be obtained by them for refining. and they
would be driven out Of business.
Sealed Minutes Give Light.
Ia The examination which Was made
+ into the relations between the standard
+ Oil Company. first OF Ohio aud later OF
New Jersey. and the TidewaJer com
paiies, which in the early SOS we're the
sharpest competitors Of the Standard
trust. Charles 3. Morrison. who is as
sisting Prosecutor Frank Kellogg In the
examination Of the Standard officials. or
dered 10 be opened minutes or a meeting
Of some of the managers Of the Tide
water Pipe Line Company which had
remained sealed since ISS3. These min
utes which were spread on record. gave
| for the first time the proceedings Of the
Standard faction in the Tidewater com
pauy. which. by a meeting held in Titus
VILE Pa. January It. 1883. tried 10 throw
the then independent competition of the
/ Standard oil trust Of Ohio over TO Rocke-
feller's system. AT a meeting Of the
bona fide managers on The following day
these minutes had been declared void,
and ordered sealed up for all time.
The Investigation into the fight waged
between the Standard oil trust Of Ohio
and the Tidewater Pipe Line Company.
Limited, of Pennsylvania, opened with
recital by Benjamin Franklin Warren.
OF Brooklyn. the civil engineer IN charge
OF laying out the original pipe line be-
tween the Bradford o.. fields of Penn
sylvania and the sea. of the difficulties
thrown in the path Of the projects exc
cuted by interests which he could not
positively identify. but which came
/ through railroads which We're IL that
time transporting standard oil products.
/ He remembered the occasion IN January.
lSS3. when q minority OF the stockh0ld-
ers OF the Tidewater companies had tried
/ to elect officers over the heads of the
majority and he had received orders 10
barricade the doors of the Philadelphia
offices TO prevent the pseudo officers
from taking charge
secrets Kept Twenty-four Years.
Under objection by the Standard Oh
Company's attorneys, who. claimed that
the transactions detailed antedated the
passage of the Sherman antitrust act.
upon which the present Indictment
against the Standard OH Company Of
New Jersey is based. Benson was called
TO give the fun details of the meeting
Of certain stockholders of the Tidewater
in Titusville With a knife ne pried
apart the brass clips that bound the
minutes OF that meeting together. and the
records Of the inquiry revealed the secrets
that had been concealed for twenty-four
years.
The nine insUrgent stockholders whom
Mr. Benson called the trump parlia-
ment." had elected a board Of mana
gers. with the majority Of which
stocks afterward transferred TO the
Standard Company hay. Franklin B.
4 Goweu. then president of the Reading
Railroad. and James H. Keene were on
the board chosen, but according 10 the
! evidence shown by the minute book,
Gowen and Keene. who were already on
the board Of managers, and d. b. Ben
son. a third member, hurriedly met IN
Philadelphia the next day. refused to
recognize the new board, and discharged
E. b. Stewart. comptroller Of the COM
pany and one of the members Of the
''rump parliament"
Assistant Prosecutor Morrison put into
the record the judgment of J. C. Pear
son Church, of the Court Of Common
Pleas at Meadville Pa. upon a suit that
was lodged with him 10 enjoin the new
board from taking possession Of its Of
fees Judge Church. according 20 the
judgment. characterized the meetings OF
the insurgents, which had been held
without the publication OF a general
Co-sg,v.J -. no.. . goFw.--- -