The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-01-31
OIL TRUST STEALS
FACTS, RUINS RIVALS,
SAYS COMMISSION
interstate Commerce Body
Tells Congress Perpetual Mo-
nopoIy Is Created.
RAILROADS OUT OF IT
Companies and Officials, as Such, Are
Declared Not Interested in Oil
Lands-Remedies for the
Conditions Suggested.
RAILROADS OUT OF 1T

Washington, d. C., Jan. 3o.-Ihe In
9erstate Commerce commission sent to
congress a report of the Investigations
made by il under the Tillman-Gillespie
resolution concerning the relations of
common carriers by rail to the pro-
duction and distribution of oil. The re-
port covers the distribution of petrol
cum and its products east of the Mis-
siSsipDi river, and, incidentally, the
Kansas and Texas fields. The report
points out generally the methods by
which the Standard Oil company has
built up and perpetuated it's monopoly"
1t is asserted that the ruin Of its
competitors has been a distinct part of
She policy of the Standard Oil company
in the past, Systematically and persis-
tently pursued"
mo instance" the report a "is
found where any railway ompan has
been interested in oil lands or in petrol
cum production, and only one instance
Is shown where officials OF a railway
company We're interested in the pro-
huction and sale of oil. This relates to
certain officials of the Baltimore and
Ohio Southwestern railroad having
owned stock of the ArganG Refnin
company, which was IN their recon-
i~nendation afterwards sold to the
Standard Oil and the lubricit-
ing contract which the road transferred
TO the Galena Oil company, a Stand
ard company.
The Standard Oil impair largely
monopolizes the handling of petroleum
from the mouth of the we'll until it is
sold to the ~retailer, and sometimes to
the consumer, and under ordinary cir
-rumstances it margin OF profit is very
large. made in the report
show a profit on refined oil from the
Sugar Creek refinery at Kansas City
3f from 5 to s cents per gallon. A much
higher profit is indicated for gasoline.
The sale of refined oil from the large
Standard refinery at Whiting is. CORE
ipondingly profitable.
Little Legitimate ADVANTAGE.
THE evidence shows little basis for
She contention hat the enormous divi-
lends of the Standard Oil company are
Except for its pipe lines, the Standard
Mas but little legitimate advantage over
The Independent refiner.
The Standard buys advertising space
m many newspapers which it fills, not
with advertisements, but With reading
matter prepared by agents kept for
that purpose and paid for at advertising
Gates. as ordinary news. The assump-
ton is that this literature furnishes
Naany of the ideas touching the great
benefits conferred upon the public by
the Standard Oil company.
Possession of the pipe lines nables
ehe Standard absolutely to control the
price of crude petroleum and the price
WHICH .lS III Il ave- 10
.cality shall pay. 1t can raise the price
in one locality and obtain it's own oil
from another and reverse the process
when it desires to do so. Whoever con-
srols the avenues of transportation OF
the raw material or of the refined pro.
duct can speedily drive his competitors
out of existence, and the production
and distribution of petroleum is no ex
ception to the rule"
Enjoyed Secret Rates.
TIL pipe line system of the Standafd
che report contends, is not a natural
but rather an artificial advantage. L
is argued that the reason why Ions
pipe lines competing with those o
the Standard have not been provided
Is found in obstacles in the way of sucl
undertakings, having been opposed b.
she railroads, whose right-of-way hat
generally stood as q Chinese wal
against all attempts to extend pip
lines. Ordinarily, it is said, he Stand
ard has not received rebates in recen
years, so far as has been discovered
but it has nevertheless enjoyed secre
rates, possessing all the elements o
Illegal rates, and the advantages so OBJ
tanned over independent shippers haV
Neen of very great value to that com
pam Numerous instances of discllm
,latton in favor of the Standard re
sulting from the published railwa
Yates We're found, avs the report.
In discussion the assertion contine
in the repor that the ruin of its con-
p~etitors has been G. distinct part of tn
policy of the Standard Oil company,
the commission says one method ha
been the organization OF a perfect sy:
TEN of espionage over the shipment
of it's competitors, resulting in know
edge as to the destination of every ca
Of oil leaving the refinery of on inde
pendent. The Standard agent at III
destination, says the repor is held re
~srcnsible if the independent oil is sol;
ut does not appear, says the n
port. that the railroad companies HAY
directed the furnishing of this informf
ton, or that the practice has been SAM
toned by superior officials OF the road
but it does appear that such inform;
ton is Systematically obtained fro
railroad employees
Killing by Price Reduction.
1t is asserted that it is the practi'
of the Standard, whenever a competit'
erects a storage tank to which the {
is transferred from the tank car,
Teduc the price of oil in that locals
to such a point as to make the buslne
unprofitable to such competitor, VIII
prices were maintained in other loca
tiles. There was much complaint TIL
the railroads allowed the Standard
erect its tanks at convenient points
the right-of-way and declined to acco
this privilege to independent refinel
HI commission says it is satisfied tn
such discrimination has been very ge
orally practiced III the past.
The report shows that 'at prese
every considerable railroad in t
United States is buying from the G
lena Oil mpan one of the Standa
companies. NEST of its lubricating al
signal oils, the prices paid for Tub
eating oil, which is of these grades.
Ing substantially the same to the Y
rious roads.
Methods Severely Arraianed.
The report severely arraigns t
Standards methods of competitit
saying:
1.-THE STANDARD has repeatedly. aft
becoming the owner OF a corlpetil
continued TO operate it unt
the old name, carrying the idea to I
public that the company was still int
pendent and competing with the star
ard. 1t has used such purchased
independently organized compan
to xii left competitors by such co