New-York tribune., 1907-09-19
STANDARD CLEANS UP
A PROFIT OF 1,0OOs.
COUNSEL SAYS Dividend
is NOT LARGE.
Dir. Pratt Tells of Transfers of
Waters-Pierce- -Gouernment Gets
List of SeUenteen Com panies.

Some more impressive figures as to the profits
which accrue yearly TO the Standard Oil COM
pary of New Jersey from its business were
placed on the records at yesterdays hearing IN
the suit OF the government TO dissolve that cor
poration when Clarence G. Fay, acting
troller of the company. called upon tes-
tfy to the correctness OF the capitalization OF
some seventeen corporations in which the New
Jersey corporation owns a stock control. The
list furnished not a complete Of ths
subsidiary corporations Of Standard OIL. much
to the dissatisfaction OF Frank B. Kellogg, OF
St Paul. the governments attorney in charge
Of the suit. for he had specially requested at the
opening session on Monday that an authentic
and accurate tabulation OF the capital OF every
one of the Standards corporations be provided
The dividends paid out and the profits made
by the seventeen companies in the list were
shown for only two years. 1908 and 1906 but
the figures were considered significant by the
governments lawyers. Take the Standard Oil
Company Of Indiana, for instance. IL has
capital Of 81 100000 divided into 10000 shares
of the par value of 500. $3.50 Of these shares
being owned by the Standard Oil Company Of
New Jersey In 1905 II paid out in dividends
almost eight and one-haIf times it's capitalize
tion. or In plain figures SS.4e1.5oo. The same
year the company cleaned up profits Of sS753s-
40 Last year the Indiana corporation had
profits Of S1O.516.Os2 and its dividends agyre-
gated S4495.5OO. which IL Is thought. may shed
some light its ability TO pay the fine OF s29.-
100000 which was imposed on 10 for rebstinx by
Judge Iandis In Chicago.
Another good Garner in the Standard OIL
group Of corporations is the Atlantic Refining
Company. which on a capital Of s5.OooOO0 had
| in 1903 profits of s9.794 19O and paid out divi-
dends of SS.499s30 Last year the profits and
dividends were substantially smaller but still OF
fair size. The former totalIed 5,506. .237 which
enabled those in control 10 pay dividends Of
s2.249.955. Stockholders in Continental Oil, In
diana Pipe Line. Solar Refining Company (Which
bought out Benedict & Brady's Manhattan On,
| Company. Standard OIL of Kentucky and Stand
ard Oil OF New York. had no real cause for COM
plaint either last year or IN 1908. as will be
seen from the table furnished by the oil trust
officials.
ONE THOUSAND PER CENT PROFIT.
A clear 1000 per cent profit was made by
the Standard Oil Company of Indiana last year
A mere seventeen of the seventy-Odd companies
IN the oil Industry which controlled by the
STANDARD Oil Company Of New Jersey had profits
last year Of S57.349O32 and paid dividends
amounting TO S41 1863 625 In 1903 the profits OF
these companies totalled S63 635 95S and the
dividends amounted TO S47.s46.aS5-
Moritz RosenthaI of Chicago who with John
G. Milburn Of this city. is in charge OF the de-
fence took occasion tell the reporters yester-
day morning that Standard OIL profits were
really not excessive after all The profits and
dividends might appear big to the public, said
MI RosenthaI. but. taking into account the in
vestment in the business. they were no larger
than in an ordinary manufacturing business
Mr. RosenthaI also said plainly that his client
had nothing in its records its books that
II was trying 10 conceal
Despite this assurance Mr.. Kellogg and his
associates found II no easy task 10 get from the
three witnesses examined at the two sessions
yesterday the information which they were seek
inc in their endeavor 10 prove that the Standard
oil Company is a monopoly. and as such should
he dissolved Progress in finding out where
hooks and records might be found which would
show the formation of the Standard Oil COM
nany of New Jersey on January i. 1858, nom
the original oil trust. composed Of nineteen COM
nauies which had been dissolved as illegal oy
the State of Ohio in 1892. was not as great as
the governments attorneys had hoped 70 make.
but Mr. Kellogg had much better cause TO reei
s.t,s6ad with his days work than he did on
Monday
Resides getting the figures to the profits OF
the companies he succeeded IN getting into the
record a much more comprehensive idea OF ths
rnsnipulation Of the stock OF the Wsters-Flerce
oil COMPANY owned by the Standard Oil Com
nanv of New Jersey. He also threw some nghe
on the &c NJ Pratt investment. a more con-
venient.' alias for the Standards holding or
waters-Pierce stock and got half dozen or
more names of employees Of the Standard Oh
comnanv who may know something about rec
orfis of the corporation These will undoubtedly
no s1bponaed in Mr.. KeIogg's chase for the IN
formation he is after
OBJECTION TO EVIDENCE
FINALLY. when Mr.. kellogg had got on the
stand one of the men who signed the agree
r,snt IN 1852 by which the original trust was
formed out of the nineteen companies ne are"
forth from the Standard Oils attorneys an OBJ
seton 10 the admission OF any evidence con-
oor,,r, transactions of the defendants ante
.s.,i,,- tho enactment of the Sherman antitrust
law.
,rbfs ,a,. went into effect on July 2. 1890. Mr.
,,un,,-n also said he would enter objection to
Iocire, On the records any testimony concerning
.uorsactions in which his clients were concerned
,-ior ~ January l. 1899. II such objections are
s,,sta;ned bv the United States Circuit Court in
9, r o,,fs when Special Examiner Ferris submits
hts andinss Mr. kellogg and his associates viii
hove ~ confne their attempts TO the proof OF
r,oponoIv- in the oil business 20 what happened
.@ter the standard OIL Company became cor
,oration under the laws OF the State of New
Jersey.
rrha man who was one of the signers of the
original trust agreement in 1852 Wesley n
rg,Ford a director of the Standard Oil Company
of N-aur Jersey and its treasurer since its o.
a,iza,ion in 1899 He was also one OF ths
Iiouidating trustees appointed when the old trust
,r ohio was dissolved Mr. TiIford not long
-, -..;+,asS s.and as he was not called until