The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-06
F STANDARD OIL
 LOSES, WHAT THEN2 Dissolution of the Trust Is Not
 All That Is Desired SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE Fully Fifty Companies Compose the Standard, and These Must Be
 Separated If the Govern
 ment Wins Its Suit.
SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE


 company of New Jersey Cthe oil trusD has been introducing witnesses for the de- fense. Most of these witnesses were mid dlemen, underlings and hirelings without authority. While men under salary were testifying the greatest of trusts made light of the governments suit which de- mands the dissolution of the present trust and such injunetions as will forever pre- vent its legal re-establishment.
 Some three weeks ago they admitted the seriousness of the governments suit by calling as witnesses for the defense John D. Rockefeller. John D. Archbold, James A. Moffett, II. N. Tilford and William Rockefeller. The average holder of Standard oil shares had paid little atten- tion to the governments action up to that time. When Rockefeller richest man in America, went on the grill of cross-ex- animation. the small shareholders began to take notice
 Suppose we lose?' was the question that came to No. 26 Broadway by letter, telephone and telegraph.
 'The supreme court of the United States will finally decide" was the an- swer.
 But suppose we lose before the su- preme court?" demanded the sharehold- CTS.
 If Standard Loses.
 There are but two answers to this. If the Standard loses it must dissolve or have its business entirely tied up by in junction.
 If Standard oil wins this blanket suit 1t has carta blancha updar praSenf Nau Jersey charter to do as 1t pleases in any state in the union.
 There are in the Standard oil company of New Jersey at least 50 companies which must be separated if the govern ment wins its suit. The Standard oil has control of these either by stock own ership or through operation. If the government wins its suit two methods of compliance are open to the oil | trust
 1 l. The Standard Oil company of New 1 Jersey can liquidate sell all of the stocks | it controls and pay its shareholders in real money.
 ?. The Standard oil company of New l Jersey can pro rata distribute all of it's assets in these 50 individual companies. What, then, becomes of the holder of one share of Standard oil which today sold on the market at $665 for each $1OO | share?
 To talk to the big men of Standard Oil | one would gather that the small stock holder would be completely wiped out and ruined. Those who tell the legal story would have it that the big men of Stand. | ard Oil-Rockefeller, Rogers, Archboid, Tilfc~d, Moffett--must care for the small est stockholders, even as they care for themselves.
 Objection Raised.
 
 distribution of the assets: That the hold CT of one or two shares would receive fractional certificates so small that he could not borrow upon them and that he would have difficulty in disposing of them. This gives the preference to the scheme to retire all of the stock and pay off the stockholders in money. Once before the Standard oil trust was forced to dissolve and no one was hurt by the dissolution. That dissolution was ordered by the state court of Ohio, and really affected but one company, the Standard Oil of Ohio.
 New Jersey, the home of the new step father of the trust, has begun no action and this gives different situation. The big holders of Standard Oil did dis tribute the stock of the Standard oil com pany of Ohio when ordered to do so by the courts. That is, the big holders took their individual shares. After the dis tribution of the Standard Oil of Ohio stock, no more dividends on that partic- ular security were declared. Anything earned, and the earning percentage was large, was attached to one of the other or small companies. This scheme will hardly work in the present case, as the federal government which brings the suit. has full Jurisdiction in every state. More Than Dissolution. rt,a yovarn m ant's natfti0n Sl<s for more than the mere dissolution of the Standard Oil trust. It demands injunctions which will prevent the company from carrying. on any interstate business until the com pany has been properly dissolved. The government aks for a still more sweeping injunction--that the big men of the oil trust be forever enjoined from pooling their interets, from voting their stock in concert in order to secure the hold control. This, the government de- clares, gives the small stockholder and the independent dealer of small capital a chance for their rights.
 ''What becomes of the holder of one share of Standard oil stock?" asked re- porter today of one of the government experts.
 "He has the best chance in the world,' was the reply. Docs he not realize that the big stockholder like MT. Rockefeller or MT. Archbold cannot take measures to protect himself that does not apply to the small stockholders?'
 Further Explanation.
 The governments explanation went further. If the United States wins fits suit the small producer is to be protected. AS long as the trust exists, the govern ment experts declare, just so long can Standard oil hold the absolute monopoly charged against it. Under the present system, it is declared, one particular com- for year or two if, by cuttin gprices, 1t can put an opponent out of business The game, so the record shows, has been worked in California, Kansas, Texas and other states. Once the stocks have been distributed and the fifty-odd companies put under separate arrangements, no one of them can afford to lose money or de- crease dividends that another may profit through the killing off of opposition.
 A vital fact in this possible dissolution is the real value of the Standard Oil trust It Is capitalized at $9S,3 900, and each $100 share of stock Is selling on the local market at between se6O and $67O share. One government prosecutor declared to- day that 1t would not surprise him to find that the Standard oil properties carried on the trusts books at $4000O0,00o were really worth a billion dollars.
 Attack In Ohio.
 When the Standard oil was brought to book in Ohio the attack was likened to a flea bite by MT. Rockefeller and oth- CTS of his associates. The reason 1t showed such disregard was because it | was brought by the state and not by the |!