Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-02-01
Commissioner Smith VS. The Standard Oil Go.
From tie Rah5pqy Woyl& January ;, 1905

Chicago They terminate at Doltou. from which
point entrance Is made over the Belt Line Whit
ing where the oil freight originates is not on
the lines Of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois,
which receives its Whiting freight from the Belt
Line Al Dolton The former practice, now dis
continued, N filing tariffs was to make them
read from point on tic line OF the fling road,
and il was also general to state on the same
sheet that the tariff would apply to other points,
e z, Whiting The Chicago and Eastern Illinois
followed this practice in filing It's rate from Dol
ton and making a note on the sheet that is ap-
Piled TO Whiting. This was in 1895 when this
method of sling tariffs was in common use
Now let ms see in what way the intending
shipper OF oil could be mised and deceived by
the fact that the Chicago and Eastern Illinois
had not filed a rate reading from Whiting.
Commissioner Smith contends that "conccalment
is the only motive for such circuitous arrange
ment" j. e. that this method of filing the rate
was intended 10 mislead intending competitors
OF the Standard Oil Company. Suppose such a
prospective oil reiner had applied TO the Inter
state Commerce Commission for the rate from
Chicago TO Eas, ST. Louis over the Chicago and
Eastern Illinois. he would have been informed
that the only rate fled with the commission by
he would have been further informed II indeed
he did not know this already, that this rate ap-
Piled throughout Chicago territory. so that
whether he wished TO locate his plant at Whit
ing. or anywhere else about Chicago, under IN
arrangement of long standing, and which applies
10 all the industrial towns in the neighborhood
of Chicago, he could have his freight delivered
over the Belt Line to the Chicago and Eastern
Illinois at Dolton and transported to East St.
Louis al a rate of Oh cents Where then IS the
concealment which the Commissioner OF Corpo-
rations makes much OF! Any rate-trom
Dolton ON the Eastern Illinois or Chappell on
the Alton or Harvey on the Illinois Central, or
Blue Island on the Rock Island, applies through
out Chicago territory to shipments from Whit
ing. as to shipments from any other point in the
district So lar from the Eastern Illinois filing
lis rate from Doton in order TO deceive the
shipper. il is the Commissioner of Corporations
who either betrays his gross ignorance of trans
portaton customs in Chicago territory or relies
on the public ignorance Of these customs TO
deceive the public too apt to accept unquestion-
iugly every statement made by a Government
official as necessarily true, although, in the
present instance, careful examination shows
these statements TO be false.
The final point made by President Moffett that
other commodities of character similar TO oil
were carried at much lower rates than IS cents,
the Commissioner of Corporations discusses only
with the remark that the reasonableness OF
this rate is not in question. The question IS
whether this rate constituted discrimination
as against other shippers of OIL and he also
makes much of the failure of President Moffett
TO produce before the grand jury evidence OF the
alleged illegal acts OF which the Standard Oil
official said that other large shippers III the ter