The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-21

legged illegal acts of which the Standard oil
official said that other large shippers in the
territory had been guilty. Considering the
fact that these shippers included the packers
and elevator men of Chicago, the action of
the grand jury in calling upon President
Moffett to furnish evidence of their wrong
doing may be interpreted a demand for
elaboration of the obvious; but the fact
that a rate-book containing these freight
rates for other shippers was offered in evil
dence during the trial and ruled out by
Judge Lands was kept out of sight. Presi-
dent Moffett would not. of course, accept the
invitation of the grand jury. although he
might have been pardoned if he had referred
them to various official Investigations by the
interstate commerce commission and other
departments of the government
We come back therefore to the conclusion
of the whole matter, which is that the Stan
dard Oil company of Indiana was fined an
amount equal 10 seven or eight times the
value of its entire property, because its traf-
fic department did not verify the statement
of the Alton rate clerk that the scent conf
modify rate on oil had been properly filed
with the interstate commerce commission.
There is no evidence, and none was intro
duced at the trial, that any shipper of oil
from Chicago territory had been interfered
with by the 1S-cent rate, nor that the failure
of the Alton to f.e its scent rate had result
ed in any discrimination against any inde-
pendent Shipper-we must take this on the
word OF the commissioner of corporations
and Of Judge lands. Neither is it denied
even by Mr.. Smith that the independent"
shipper of oil. whom ne pictures as being
driven out of business by this discrimination
of the Alton could have shipped all the oil
he desired to ship from Whiting via BOLTON
over the lines of the Chicago Eastern I'LL
nois to East st. LOUIS. In short, President
ATOffetts defense is still good, and we pre-
dict viii be so declared by the higher court.
The Standard oil company has been
charged with all manner of crimes and mis-
demeanors. Beginning with the famous Rice
of Marietta, passing down to that apostle OF
popular liberties Henry Demarest Lloyd.
with his Wealth Against the Commonwealth,
descending by easy stages to Miss Tar
bells offensive personalities. we finally reach
the neither depths Of unfair and baseless mis-
representation in the report of the commits
sioner of corporations. The Standard has
been charged with every form of commercial
piracy and with most of the crimes on the
corporation calendar. After long years Of
strenuous attack, under the leadership of the
president of the UEited States, the corpora
tioa is at last dragged to the bar of justice
TO answer for its misdoings. The whole
strength of the government is directed
against it. and at last, we told. the Stan
daTd Oil company is to nay the penalty of
its crimes, and it is finally convicted of hav-
ing failed to verify the statement of a rate
clerk and is forthwith fined d prodigious
sum, measured by the car Under the old
criminal law the theft of property worth
more than a shilling was punishable by
death. Under the Interpretation of the in
terstate commerce law by Theodore Roose-
Yelt and Judge Kenesaw Lands, a technical
error of a traffic official is made the excuse
: for the ooufiscatlon OF vast amount Of
property.