Middletown transcript., 1907-09-28
WASHINGTON 1

/ NTHILE the Departing Justice
" hnnts the Standar snpus to
its liar. the President il p.aHhing 10 hunt
1.-the Teddy bear in the cane breaks ef
Louisiana. The work. Of the federal at
torneys in unearthing the secrets Of the
Standard is bringing 10 light an appalling
chronicle of lawbreaking and appropria-
tion oil unearned profits, fiIched from the
pockets Of the American people by a
conscienceless corporation under the per-
sonal supervision of John d. Rockefeller,
who has been the chief winner In the
game Of graft versus decency and integ-
rity. According to the testimony thus
far ELECTED, the Standard Oil Company
owns assets valued at $3.50, ,000, 600 and
has made profit $500. 900, 600 in the past
twenty-four years, which is just one-third
of the corporations existence. John d.
Rockefeller, starting with nothing, now
owns $1O9, 9,000, 900, which yields him an
income Of $2l.25 every minute Of every
day in the year. And yet the President
has been severely condemned in certain
quarters for his declaration that some
tthing must be done to curb the influence
of Swollen fortunes" and redistribute
these ilgotten gains among the people
from whom they were filched, while
hitherto reputable Republicannewspapers
are advocating return to safe and sane
RepubIicanism and the Hon. Joseph Ben
son Foraker is condemning Roosevelt and
Taft because they are too "reactionary,n
and will not bend the knee to such cap
tains Of industry as John D. Rockefeller
and his ilk.
~
The testimony brought out in the STAN
dard Oil trials shows that never have its
officers hesitated to violate the law or
disregard the mandates of the highest
courts in the land. Forbidden to transact
business in Texas, by the Supreme Court
OF that State, they promptly organised
the Corsicana Refining Company, ficti.
tious corporation owned by the Standard
but advertised as its rival, and through
| its instrnmentality the Standard contin-
ued to crush its rivals and practice extor-
tion on the consumers with as great inn
punity as it did before the Court had
handed down its decree. Forbidden by
the Supreme Court to transact further
business in Ohio, the Standard proceeded
wholly to disregard the order of the
court and for seven years carried on its
nefarious business, debauching railway
officials, exacting rebates and destroying
competitors as before. Nor, unfortu-
nately. does there appear to be any way
in which the Government can recover for
the people the wealth Of which they have
been robbed.
~
When last winter, the President urged
Congress to consider the adyisability Of
retaining title to the few oil and coal
lands which the Government still owns,
leasing them on royalty basis, where by
the operator would derive fair profit for
his enterprise and services. while the
people enjoyed by means OF the royalties
the bulk of the profits which had been
given the nation in its stores of subter-
ranean wealth, he was condemned as
little short of an anarchist. And yet, had
this wise policy been pursued years ago
and the valuable lands from which the
Standard has pumped its untold gallons
of oil remained the property Of the gov
ernment, the United States would to-day
been $500, 100000 richer while $780,
OC0, ,OG0 intakes would have been saved to
the people from oil profits alone. to FAY
nothing Of the vast profits which could
have been made in the form of royalties
from the great coal fields, title to which
long since passed to the Coal Trust.
~
Speaking of the coal situation, Judge
BaIlinger, Commissioner Of the General
Land Office, told your correspondent on
his return from bis extended western
trip, that the high price of coal and the
shortage which inflicted great suffering on
the consumers Of the Northwest last year
were almost entirely dne to the holding
ont OF use by the owners of vast coal
properties, Of coal lands which should be
developed to supply the demand, which
could be mined at a fair profit too day, but
which the owners believe can be made to
pay extortionate profits il held out of use
for time. while they sell the products of
their other lands at constantly increasing
prices. TRUSTS and monopolies are the
bane OF the land" declared Secretary
Taft recently in conversation with friend
and the government prosecutions Of the
trusts have recently gone far TO prove the
truth Of the assertion, while tile monop-
oily Of the resources OF the under earth is
the most grievous of them all.
-
A recent poll OF the New England
states, made on intelligent lines, showed
total OF 289 votes for Secretary Taft for
President, as against l39 for Hughes. for
Fairbanks, for Knox and Is for Cannon,
while Mr.. Taft is also shown to be the
second choice Of 83 Republicans who
named the President as their first choice.
As the President will not accept another |
nomination, these Republicans will also
vote for TAFT, giving him total Of 372
votes out OF total OF 500 cast. The re-
turns are someW hat surprising to some of |
the politicians IN Washington who had |
supposed that in conservative New
England Governor Hughes would have
made better showing It snoteworthy
that this poll, in which votes were solic-
tied only from prominent Republicans,
including many ministers, was made by
newspaper which is an ardent advocate
Of the nomination Of Yice-President Fair.
banks.
~
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