The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-02-15
now STANDARD OIL CO.
HAS MADE. MILLIONS
Few Realize Extent to Which the
Tariff Has Robbed the
American People
Has Reached a. Point So Out
rageous That Honest Repub-
leans Enter a Protest.


Gustav Fisherman, Of Wisconsin, a
dyed-in- the-wool Republican,, show
how the. American people nave been
hoodwinked by Republican politicians.
First, we will quote what he has to
say on the watered stock aggregation
that is the power behind the throne"
intrying to disrupt organized labor in
Duluth, we refer Of course to
The Steel Trust.
The speaker paid his compliments
to it in the following words and fig
ures: when the steel trust, with
an actual investment of $50 millions,
and capitalized at one billion 600 mil
lions earns profit Of 1870 millions in
when that industry ought to stand on
it's own feet; no more protection is
needed to help it along
Standard Oil Company.
The speaker said that the oil trust
profits have been so enormous that
they can hardly be expressed in fig
ures taught in our common schools.
The profits of this company in eight
years amounted to $490,315,000, or an
amount equivalent to Sc for every
man, woman and child living in our
country"
Tariff and Profit.
'Now," continued the speaker,
some will say, what has this profit
to do with tariff, as petroleum and it's
products are on the free list p"
Many of us In our campaign
speeches have made this assertion. It
came in handy when we wished proof
that there was no connection between
tariff and trusts.
We have said that the Standard Oil
| company, the greatest and greediest
trust in the world, had no objection.
I made this statement myself be-
fore making thorough study of the
tariff law.
| It served its purpose and silenced
! those who were attacking the tariff.
! But while petroleum is by section 2
of the tariff law, placed on the free
! list there is cunning little proviso
in paragraph 626 Of said section, that
| gives the petroleum of the Standard
OIL company greater protection than
! almost any other article appearing in
the Dingley tariff.
The Only Competitor.
The only competitor Of any account
! in the petroleum business is Russia,
| which country has such vast resources
that not alone is it able to supply all
demands at home, but it has a. great
surplus to ship outside
| With the nigh. prices of oil in the
United States, the Russian producers
| Of petroleum would be pleased to- sell
us part Of their product, and sell 1t at
| a less price than it is sold for by the
great monopoly in this country, but
there stands that little joker in our
! tariff laws, charging the same duty as
is charged the American oil in Rus
| sia-in some cases 100 and even 200
| per cent.
I presume Russia is charging such
| a high import duty because it knows
that if it were not for this, the Stand
ard Oil company would first ruin all
the Russian oil industries by Offering
| oil at cost if necessary, and after
wards charging extravagant prices to
the Russian consumer.
Hoodw;nking the People.
In 1908 when the average price Of
American Oil in the United States was
| 1913 cents per gallon the New York
export price was SO cents per. gallon,
| and the American oil was sold in
London for 81 cents per gallon, or
"a cents per gallon less than the
United States oil monopoly was fur
nishing it for in Chicago, Philadel-
pnfa, or any other American city In
other words, our oil monopoly was
selling it's product cheaper to foreign
ers than to American citizens, even
after adding the expense Of transport
tation across the ocean.
! In 1905 the price of oil in America
came down to 9 is cents per gallon
and the price in London to SIS cents
per gallon.
Thus American oil was sold in Lon
don 34-10 cents per gallon less than
in American cities
By means of this little joker prov1so
in the tariff laws the company has
been able to keep out all foreign inn
portations, and leave our home people
at the mercy of the greatest monopoly
in the world.
/ This the company was enabled to
do an account Of that little joker in
our tariff laws, virtually keeping out
all foreign products and leaving our
home people at the mercy of the
greatest monopoly in the world.
That clever little joker in the Ding
ley tariff law has brought to the
Golfers Of the great oil monopoly mil
lions and millions Of dollars.
From tables in my possession 1 am
enabled to- tell you quite accurately
how much this little proviso, which in
some clever manner crept into the
tariff law, mas been worth to the
STANDARD Oil company. .~
J The entire production Of mineral oil
in the United States during the ten