The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-09-27
COST OIL KING S100,O00,OO0
Rockefeller's Losses Owing to Attacks
on Trust.

New York Especially Records of
the stockholders of the Standard Oil
Company of New Jersey laid bare
here at the hearing of the govern
ment's suit for the dissolution of the
alleged oil combine disclosed the fact
that John D. Rockefeller owns 247,-
692 shares, or nearly five times as
much stock as any other individual
shareholder, and that he and his as
sociates who signed the trust agree
ment in 1882 still control a major
ity of the Standard Oil stock. Meas
ured by the present market price OF
$440 share, the holdings of Mr..
Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Com
pany have value of $109, 100000.
The stockholders record of August
II, 1907, shows that the University
of Chicago is the owner of 5000
shares of Standard Oil stock.
The depreciation in the price OF
Standard Oil stock within the past
10 years, about the time the agita-
ton against the company began, has
been more than $500 a share. Since
the legal proceedings against the
Standard Oil Company of New Jer-
sey were instituted the stock has
steadily declined until it is now
around $40. This represents loss
of over $1O0,00O,000 on the holdings
of John D. Rockefeller. The shrink
age in the market value of the
stock also affects the University of
Chicago to the extent of about ST.
100000.
Control Worldwide Trade.
Through Wesley H. Tilford, treas
urer of the Standard oil Company,
the governments attorney, Frank
B. Kellogg, was able to obtain evil
dence of an understanding or verbal
agreement that had been made be-
tween the Standard and independent
refineries doing business near Cleve-
land and Pittsburg. This agreement,
which was entered into in the latter
part Of 1902, provided that these
companies should sell their entire
output of oil refined for export
to the Standards export depart
ment in return for which the
Standard was to sell the COM
panies certain amount of crude
oil each day. Mr.. Tilford said that
previous to the making of the agree
ment the supply of crude oil to these
companies had been reduced.
Mr.. Kellogg then developed from
the witness that the export business
was chiefly handled by the Standard
Oil Company of New York, and that
in buying oil for export purposes it
paid the market price to the indie
pendent refineries. Mr.. Kellogg
asked if the Standard Oil did not de-
termine the market price, and Mr..
Tilford replied that it did.
Profits Near A Billion.
Some interesting facts concerning
the conduct of the marketing of the
Standards product were developed
when it was testified by Mr.. Tilford
that a committee controlled the do
nestle trade. Mr.. Tilford stated
that the United States was appor-
toned in districts and that the sell
ing companies assigned to those dis
tricts confined their operations to
the territory assigned to them.
The accountants for the govern
ment now at work preparing data
will be ready to report next week.
Their report, it is declared, will en-
able the government to develop in
the hearing that since the inception
of the Standard Oil Trust in 1892,
up to the present time, the total
profits of the oil combine have been
between $S00,000,0 900 and $780,
100000