The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-01-31
Commissioner Smith VS.. The Standard Oil Go.
From tie RailsOay Hond January ,, 1905.

Mr. Herber; Knox Smith, whose zeal in the
cause of economic reform has been in no wise
abated by the panic which he and his kind did
so much to bring on, is out with an answer to
President Moffett OF the Standard Oil Com
pany OF ladiana The publication Of this an
swer, 1t 10 Officially given out was delayed sew
eral weeks. "fCr business reasons because 1t
was not deemed advisable to further excite
the public mind, which was profoundly dis
turbed by the crisis. Now that the storm
clouds have rolled by, however the Commits
sioner rushes again into the fray.
Our readers remember that the chief points
in the defence OF the Standard Oh Company. as
presented by President Moffctt. were % that
the date of six cents on oil from Whiting TO
East st. Louis has been issued to the Standard
Oil Company az the lawful rate by employees
OF the Alton, 60 that the lS.cent rate on file
with thelnterstate Commerce Commission was
a class and not a commodity rate never being
intended to apply to oil. 90 that oil was
shipped In large quantities between Whiting
and East St Louis over the Chicago & East.
ern Illinois at ca cents per hundred pounds,
which has been filed with the Interstate Com.
merce Commission as the lawful rate, and a.
that the 1S.cent rate on oil was entirely out OF
proportion to lawful rates on other commodi.
ties between these points of similar char
acter, and OF greater value, such. for example,
as linsccd oil the lawful rate on which was
eight cents President Moffett also stated that
thousands of tons of freight had been sent by
other shippers between these points under
substantially the same conditions as governed
the shipments Of the Standard OIL Company
This defence OF the Standard Oil Company
was widely quoted and has undoubtedly exert
ed powerful influence upon the public mind,
Naturally the Administration, which has
stakcd the success of its campaign against
the trusts" upon the result OF its attack upon
this company. endeavors to Offset this inilu.
ence and hen % the new deliverance Of Com.
missioner Smith.
We need hardly to point out that his rebut
tai argument is extremely weak, although as
strong, no doubt as the circumstances would
warrant He answers the points made by Prcs
dent Moffctt substantially as follows: - The
Standard OIL Company hadatraflic department
and should have known that the six.cent rate
had not been filed. (2l no answer. (3l the Chi
cago G. Eastern Illinois rate was a secret rate
because It read, not from Whiting, but from
Bolton which is described rs "a village OF
about 800 population just outside Of Chicago
Its only claim to note is that Il has been for
many years the point Of origin for this and
similar secret rates" The Commissioner ad
mits in describing this rate that there was O
note attached stating that the rate could also
be used from Whiting.
The press has quite generally hailed this
statement Of the Commissioner Of Corpora
tions as n conclusive rcfutaton of what Is cyl
IDENTITY recognized as the strongest rcbutta
urgumont advanced by the Standard
In fact il is as weak and Inc0nciusive as III,
remainder OF his argument The lines of tn,
Chicago & Eastern Illinois 90 not run into