Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1907-02-06
ON TRAIL Of OIL GO.
q = :. =. ~
Sharp Arraignnent Of stan=
dard People
.ji ILLEGAL METHODS ARE EXPOSED
--,-SS.St- - g sy-!7f.Ss - 2

Methods Of Company to- stiae Small
S Concerns Are Told by Interstate
Commerce Commission in Report
to Congress. -. NJ. ...l,.:.....-.-.s-..-. az !.
Washington, special.=-Ths inter. inter
state commerce commission has sent
5 Is congress q report Of tie ihvestiga5
tions, made by it under the Tillmah==
Gillespie resolution approved March {
last, concerning tie relations of a con; 6 4;
mon carriers BY rail to the produce
ton is andsdistfibntion ofsoiE Fhes S2e= &
port covers the distribution of petrol
cum and its-produets east OF the Ms; MIS-
sissippi river and, incidentally, the
Kansas and Texas fields. The report
81 points out generally the methods by
which the Standard Oil Company
ahas bnilt up and perpetuated ITS i
monopoly and the relationssof trans
portation agencies to that monopoly"
It IS asserted that, g the gruin, Of itss
compstitors has been aadistinct paE:t
Of the policy Of the Standard oil
Company in the past, Systematically
and persistently pursued Consid:
erablee of the ground covered has
been gone into fully in the.report on
oil and its distribution, made; public
by the bureau Of corporations.
Railroads Not Interested.
ssNo Instance the report says, Els
found where any railroad company.
]. has been interested in oil lands or IN
petroleum production and. only one
instance is Shown where officials of u
railway company were interested. IN
the production and .sale.of oil. This
relates tc certain officials Of the Bal
timore and Ohio Southwestern rail
road having owned stock Of the Ar
gand Refining company, which was on
their recommendation afterwards sold
to the Standard Oil Company, and
S the lubricating contract which the
road transferred to-. the Galena OH
Company. Standard company.
The STANDARD Oil Company large
ly monopolizes; the :handling of PEE
troleum from: the mouth Of the well
until it is s / to the retailer, and
sometimes to the consumer, and nn-
der ordinary circumstances its mar
gin. of. profits -Fery-large. Estimates
6 made in the report show a profit ON
. refined oil from the Sugar Creek re-
fnery: at Kansas City,,of from 5stog g
cents Per, gallon. A much higher
profit is indicated for gasoline. The
sale of refined oil from the large
Standard refinery at Whiting: is cor
respondingly profitable
Not Result of Economy.s 80
"The evidence shows little basis
for the, contention that the enormous
dividends. of the Standard Oil Com
pany are the legitimate result of its
economies. Except for it's pipe lines,
the Standard has but little legitimate
advantage over the independent re-
anei.
"The Standard buys advertising
space in many newspapers which it
fills, not with advertisements, but
with reading matter prepared by
agents kept for that purpose and
paid for at advertising rates, as or
dinary news. The assumption is that
this literature furnishes many of the
ideas touching the great benefits con-
ferred. upon. the, public by the STAN
dard Oil Company.
Competitors Driven Out. :.
THE assertion,is. made that.its;s the
practice of the Standard, wherever
q competitor erects "a storage tank to
which the oil is transferred from the
tank car, to reduce the price soil in
that locality to such "a point as to
make thee..business improbable. Ito
such competitor, while prices were
maintained in other localities. There
was much complaint that Sths rail-
roads allowed the Standard to erect
its tanks at convenient points on the
railroad right of way and declined to
accord this privilege to Independent
refners. The commission says it is
satisfied that such discrimination has
been very generally practiced in the
past.
:. Standard Severely: Arraigned.
The report severely arraigns the
Standards methods Of competition;
On this point it says in part:
The Standard has repeatedly af-1
ter becoming the owner Of compet-
ing company, continued to operate it
under the old name, carrying the
idea to the public that the company
was still Independent and competing
with the Standard. 1T. has used .sneh
purchase or independently organized
companies to; kill off competitors-by
such companies reducing prices. The
0peration.aof such fake independent
concerns has been one of its most ef-
fective means Of destroying compe-
tition. The Standard had habitually
reduced the price against its compel
itor III particular locality, while
maintaining its prices at other places.
When .conpetition was destroyed It
restored or advanced former prices.
The Standard has sold different
grades of oil at different prices from
the same barrel: tt has paid : EN-
ployes of independent oil companies
for information as to the business of