West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1907-08-15
OUR washington LETTER
What Advantage Will Public Gain
from Standard Oil Fine?
RECIPROCITY JOKER IN TARIFF
Trust Protected from Competition from
Abroad Foreigner Gets Benefit
Of the Bargain Prices.


Prom oar Regular Correspondent
WAsHiNcroN, ID. G., Aug. IA
After the spectacular effect Of foing
the Standard oil trust nearly thirty
millions of dollars has subsidized /,
may be well TO investigate what adj.
vantage the public will gain even if
the trust eventually has To- pay the
full amount. John ID. Rockefeller
is reported to have said that "Judge
L1ndis will be dead a long while be
fore this fine is paid. In fact. many
things will happen before that"
But suppose the chief trust mag
nate is not good prophet and in
the course of year the circuit and
supreme courts decide that The enor-
nous fine is legal and must be paid.
Where will the money come from
but from the profits on oil, and is II
not quite probable that a cent or
two more a gallon will be charged
the public. so that the trusts stock
holders can still be paid their 20 per
cent dividend.
The object OF trust busting is to
reproduce competition which the
trusts have nearly eliminated. Com
petition brings down the price of
products to a natural level accord
ing to supply and demand, while
trusts through monopoly create an
artificial price. Fining trusts for
receiving rebates,as IN the Standard
Oil cases, will not reduce prices.
But if our trust busting Republican
friends really mean business they
can when congress meets very quick
iy produce competition in all trust
products by aboishing the tariff duty
which protects them.
The Republican leaders have been
constantly pointing out to those not
conversant with the tariff law that
all petroleum products are on the
free list. That is true. But at the
same time they know, or should
know, that there is a reciprocity
joker in the tariff pack, which they
all voted for. which effectually pro.
tects the Standard OIL trust from
competiuonfyom abroad. This pro-
vlso, which is part Of paragraph 626
which places petroleum, crude or
refined" on the free list, also stipu-
latcs that on petroleum or ITS prod.
ucts' produced in any foreign coun.
try" there shall be collected, when
such goods are imported, a duty
equal to the duty imposed by such
country.
As Russia snd other important
oil producing countries levy duties
on kerosene averaging about leo per
cent, it follows that the Standard OIL
Company IS one of our most highly
protected trusts. The customs off
clals hold that the rate of duty to be
assessed are not those levied by the
country from which the refined prod
ucis may be imported, but those
levied by the country which pro.
duces the petroleum from which the
imported products were made.
That the trust IS enormously pro.
tected by this tariff provision IS evi.
dent from the difference in price as
quoted in the New York Journal of
Commerce. Angus, S, the export
price in bulk being 5 cents a gallon,
while the local price for tank wagon
delivery was 10 cents a gallon. SO
under this bene6cent Republican
tariff the foreigner is buying his
Kerosene at bargain prices, or about
half what our trust ridden people
are forced TO pay through the collu-
sion Of the Republican leaders and
the trust monopolists.