The independent., 1907-01-31

this was not done at the instance Of
the Standard, the significant fact re-
mains in this and many other cases
called 10 the commissions attention,
that the rate was not changed until ii
came 10 be for the interest of the
Standard that il should be changed,
and IL was changed as that company
naturally would desire"
Ruin Of Competitors.
in discussing the assertion con-
tanned IN the report that "the ruin Of
its competitors has been d disfinct
part Of the policy Of the STANDARD Oh
company" the commission SAYS one
method has been the organization Of
d perfect system Of espionage over the
shipments Of its competitors resulting
IL knowledge as 10 the destination Of
every can Of oil leaving the refinery
Of an independent The Standard agent
al the destination, says the report,
is held responsible IL the independent
oil is sold.
II does not appear" says the re-
port, that the railroad companies
have directed the furnishing of this
information, or that the practice has
been sanctioned by superior officials
Of the roads but il does appear that
such information is Systematically OBJ
tained from railroad employees. The
testimony shows that the Standard al
one time. il il does not now, devoted
a fund 10 the purpose Of obtaining
this information. II has frequently
happened, when the supply Of inde-
pendent oil in a particular territory
was low and a shipment was pecul-
iafly necessary, that the shipment has
q f1sv eygrA 81 Inf
tion also appears to have been given
the Union tank line q creature Of the
Standard. concerning the whereabouts
Of It's cars, while such information was
not furnished 10 other owners Of tank
cars and some discrimination in tank
Cal mileage In favor Of the tank line lis
shown for one railroad"
II Is asserted that il ~is the practice
Of the Standard. whenever a conpeti-
tor erects q storage tank to which the
oil Is transferred from the tank car,
10 reduce the price Of oil in that To-
cality 10 such a point as TO make the
business Improbable 10 such COM
petltor, while prices were maintained
in other localities There was much
complaint that the railroads allowed
the Standard TO erect its tanks al
convenient points on the right Of way
lA1sA sAf1NA8A3rA w dNlD}I lf1lE plA8gAEEE
70 independent refiners. The commits
zion says IL is satisfied that such dis
elimination has been very generally
practiced in the past
The report shows that "at present
every considerable railroad in the
United States lis buying Of the Galena
Oh company, one Of the Standard
companies. most Of its lubricating and
signal oils, the prices paid for lubri- |
eating oil. which is Of three grades. 4
being substantially the same 10 the
various roads. The contracts generally
contain q guaranty TO the road that
the cost of lubrication shall not ex-
ceed a certain sum per mile Or engine
mile. and provide for oil inspectors
appointed By the oil company TO su-
pergise the use of the oil. The Ga
lena company is rarely called upon to
pay anything under the guaranty, and /
the prices obtained by the oil COM
pany are extrayagantly high. Oils Of /
the same grade could be bought in the /
open market for about one-half the 4
Galena company's prices"
Its Methods of petition.