Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-09
JUSTICE AND COAL OIL
Must Mix Eventually, Says Ida
TarbeII.
HER VIEW OF THE GREAT FINE
Says the Standard Has Mocked Moral
ity for Years.
END NOT YET, BUT COMING SOON
Thinks Rockefeller Relic Of the Mid
die Ages-Few Such Men
These Days.

Standard Oil Company in its old form Ia
over. 1t must either conform now to JUS
tice and fair dealing or it will fall utterly.
l don't mean that its day is over this year
or will be over next year, but it is as surely
ended as right is right"
Miss Ida NJ Tarbell in an interview last
night thus expressed her satisfaction at the
assessment Of the GOO fine on the oil
trust by Judge Lands. Miss Tarbell Is re-
garded as the greatest authority on the
workings of the oil trust Her History of
the Standard Oil Company first brought
home to the general public a realization Of
the trusts far-reachtng operations and
their true significance
Credit for the tremendous fine as cul-
mination of her labors Is not. however,
taken by Miss Tarbell. She regards 1t
rather as the climax Of warfare extend
ing over thirty-five years
After thirty-five years OF such practices
ase the Standard Oh Company has been
found guilty Of" said Miss Tarbell, ut is
entirely Just that. after conviction, the
maximum punishment should be imposed.
l am only sorry that the punishment can
not be something more than fine.
What have done has been for the sake
Of the public. 1t Is not that have been
vindictive, many people seem to believe.
On the contrary, l have q tremendous adj
miration for the Standard Oil Company and
for many of the men in it. In one way
they have done great public service, but
they have wiped out any possibility of
gratitude from the public for these services
by their Illegal methods of operation in
connection with their good work.
Its 35 Years of Evil Practice.
III the offenses of which they have just
been found guilty were they first. we might
say that the fine was excessive and be
ful OH ba cd Of irnn II
But it is only the last offense we know Of
in thirty-fve years. 1t was just thirty-five
years ago that the United States govern
ment had to investigate the Standard OH
Company for its illegal contracts with rail-
roads. The state of Pennsylvania arose in
Standards practices. Pennsylvania, Ohio
and New York in the seventies passed
laws to try to stop the trusts drawbacks
and rebates which 1t was receiving.
ut was very largely the Relating Of the
Standard Oil Company that led to the pas
sage OF the interstate commerce act in 1887.
In Ohio the Standard violated the laws
until the state ordered it to be disbanded.
Il do not believe that there is a single
year in the whole thirty-five in which some
state or the United States has not had some
suit on against the trust, and in the last
fifteen years a dozen states have been try
ing to pass laws to force 1t to decency and
fairness.
THE difficulty with the men in the Stand
ard Oil Company seems to be that they
have no sense that the public has any part
in the conduct Of corporations. They utter
ly lack the collective sense. 1t is Individual
ism gone mad-reduced to an absurdity.
1T is rather interesting to notice that
they put out now the same sort OF ag
grieved message to the public that they al
ways have given out when they have been
caught breaking laws They always point
to the great number Of men they employ.
to the large amount of money which they
- l,t@ 49,
sums spent in various charitable and edu-
cational undertakings with the Inference
that it is impossible for such good men to
be guilty of such offenses as those with
which they are charged.
1T seems never to occur to them that this
is something the public can see through.
and that nobody would sympathize with
them when they complain, even If they
They have had every chance to readjust
their business and conduct 1t as gentlemen
should, and all they have ever done. after a
public explosion, is to readjust 1t so they
could carry on their same old practices in
q new way
The Despicable Spy System.
1T is not merely taking illegal rates-the
misdemeanor of which they were convicted
in Chicago-that the public has against
them. Their methods Of competition are per-
fectly we'll known in all parts Of the coun-
try. There are hundreds Of towns in which
their citizens have seen these methods in
operation. They have spy system which
they apply to shipments Of independents
which would do credit to the robber barons
of the middle ages. .-..-
They have no pride in the quality Of
their product, but always give poor a
grade as they can work off on the public.
The OIL sold in the southwest at high prices
is of the very poorest quality, as 1t is every
where that the public has not been educated
up to the higher grades.
Commissioner Herbert Knox Smith
charges them with persistently underweigh-
ing and undermeasurng. That is one of the
oldest charges made against the Standard
but it has been one very difficult to prove
and l hope that Commissioner Smith will
be able to show good evidence on this
point.
Mr. Rockefeller never has taken any
public verdict against himself very serious
ly His comment on Judge Lands decision
that the judge would be dead a good
many years before the fine was paid-is
characteristic Of him. He always shows the
same confidence that he will be able to
prove himself stronger than the govern
ment.
think. with Mr.. Rockefeller, that 1t will be
some time before 1t will be paid If it is
collected the public will pay 1.-THE public
always pays under present conditions
are eventually going to bring the Standard
Oil Company down to doing strictly legal
business. l believe we are, but it Is going
to take a good many years yet Of hard
fighting.
MIR. Rockefeller is fanatic His great
strength lies in his power to concentrate
everything on one result and work to 1t
without the least deviation. He has been
doing that from the first, but he never has
grown morally or socially. They had such
| men in the middle ages. but there are not
many Of them nowadays"
GIFT From MRS SAGE