The Springfield herald., 1908-01-31
Commissioner Smith VS.. The Standard Oil Co.


Chicago. They terminate at Dolton. from which
point entrance is made over the Belt Line
Whiting, where the oil freight originates. is not
on the lines of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois,
which receives its Whiting freight from the
Belt Line at Dolton. The former practice, now
discontinued in filing tariffs was to make
them read from point on the line of the fl
ing road, and 1t was also general to s:Ite on
the same sheet, that the tariff would apply to
other points, G. g., Whiting. The Chicago &
Eastern Illinois followed this practice in filing
its rate from Dolton. and making a note on
the sheet that is applied to Whiting. This was
in 1895 when this method OF filing tariffs was
in common use.
Now let us see in what way the Intending
shipper of oil could be misled and deceived by
the fact that the Chicago & Eastern Illinois
had not filed a rate reading from Whiting.
Commissioner Smith contends that conceal
ment is the only motive for such circuitous
arrangement" /. e.. that this method of filing
the rate was intended to mislead intending
competitors OF the Standard Oil Company.
Suppose such prospective oil refiner had ap-
piled to the Interstate Commerce Commission
for the rate from Chicago to East st. Louis
over the Chicago Eastern Illinois, he would
have been informed that the only rate filed
with the commission by this company was GA
cents from Dolton. and he would have been
further informed, If indeed he did not know
this already, that this rate applied throughout
Chicago territory. So that whether he wished
to locate his plant at Whiting, anywhere
else about Chicago under arrangement OF
long standing, and which applies to all the in
dustrial towns in the neighborhood of Chca-
go, he could have his freight delivered over
the Belt Line to the Chicago & Eastern Illi-
nois at Dolton and transported to East ST.
Louis at rate of GA cents. Where then is
the concealment which the Commissioner OF
Corporations makes so much Of? Any rate
from Dolton on the Eastern Illinois Chap
pel on the Alton, or Harvey the Illinois
Central, or Blue Island on the Rock Island
applies throughout Chicago territory to ship
ments from any other point in the district
So far from the Eastern Illinois filing its rate
from Dolton in order to deceive the shipper
1t Is the Commissioner of Corporations who
either betrays his gross ignorance of transpor
tation customs in Chicago territory relies
on the public ignorance of these customs to
deceive the public too apt to accept unques-
tioningly every statement made by Govern
ment official as necessarily true. although, as
in the present instance, careful examination
shows these statements to be false.
The final point made by President Mofett
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