The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-06-03

ed that the defendants had conspired
sfto restrain the trade n commerce
in petroleum, commonly called crude
| OIL in refined oil and in b other
~products of petroleum among the sew
| eral states and territories of the Unit
| ed States and the District of Columbia.
| and with foreign nations, and to mon
opoEze the said commerce"
John D.. Rockefeller, William Rookie
| Teller and Henry M. Flagler were nam
| ed as the originators of the alleged
| conspiracy. The bill claimed that be-
tween 1870 and 1882 Henry H. Rog-
ers, John D. Archbold, oliver H.
Payne, and Charles M. Pratt joined the
| conspiracy which eliminated with the
organization of the New Jersey cor
~poration in 1899.
Three periods of development are
| alleged in the complaint. The first,
that preceding 1882, was marked, it is
asserted, by the activities of the indi-
( vidual defendants in connection with
the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, in
acquiring interests in DR. entering a
| greements with, various competing
firms. corporations and individuals
| engaged in the oil business.
From 1882 to 1889 the complaint re-
cited, the affairs of the various con-
| Germs and individuals were under the
management of nine trustees by a
trust agreement" alleged to be lin
restraint of trade and commerce and
in violation of law
Since 1899, it was alleged, the de-
PENDANTS nave acted through the
Standard Oil Company of New Jer-
sey as a holding corporation, which
| company acquired the majority of the
stock in various corporations and man.
aged them in violation of law"
1t was charged also that in their al
| legged efforts to monopolize the oil
business, the defendants had solicited
| n received rebates on shipments not
only of their own products but also
| on those of competitors and later ac-
| which were merged into the National
Transit Company.
| From the inception of the case,
quired control of various pipe lines
Frank B. Kellog, of ST. Paul, and
Charles B. Morrison, Chicago, have ap-
| peared on behalf of the Government
as special assistants to the attorney
| general of the United States. John C.
| Milburn, New York; Moritz Rosen-
thai, Chicago, I'M John G.. johnson,
Philadelphia, have headed the defend
ants long list of attorneys.
The judges who have considered the
case are: Walter H. Sanborn, ST. Paul;
Elmer B. Adams, st. Louis; Willis A.
V~anDevanter, Cheyenne, Wyoming;
and William G. Hook, Leavenworth,
| Kansas
Service was had on the defendants
in December, 1906, and the first legal
battle came in the following month
when the defense tried unsuccessful
ly to have the service evoke on all
concerns say the Waters-Pierce Oil
Company of Missouri, because, it was
| claimed, it was the only defendant res
ident in the judicial district in which
the suit was filed. This contention
was o~verruled, and the company's n
| swer of siXty-SiX printed pages was
filed April 8, 1907. Thirty-seven ex-
ceptions TO the governments petition
were included in this document. Ar
gument on these too place at St.
Paul May "a, 1907. The fou judges
over-ruled all the exceptions, and July
Is, 1907 an additional anSwer was fill
ed covering the points to which h
defense had at first declined to plead.
The nswer admitted certain con-
tentions regarding stock ownership
and organization and that the seven
individual defendants were members
of the company, but generally denied
the main allegations of the govern
ment's petition, especially those charg-
ing conspiracy to control trade, crush
competition, receive rebates and mon
opolize the oil business.
The taking of testimony was en-
trusted TO Franklin Ferriss, St. Louis,
who was appointed special Master in
Chancery in June, 1907.
The broad ~generalities of the COM
plant and answer ~presauged a consid-
cradle latitude in the statements of
witnesses which was born out when
the hearings began September 1, 1907
in New York.
From then until the final testimony
was given in Chicago on January %,
1909, 444 persons answered questions
before Judge Ferriss. The result was
a record of $4,000 printed pages of tes-
timony and exhibits which was filed
in St. Louis on Marcn %, 1909.
Hearings were held in Cleveland and
Washington also. The bulk OF the tes-
timony given by the defense was given
in New York.
The hearings reached their climax
when the defense called to the stand
Charles NJ. Pratt, John d. Rockefeller
and John d. Archbold. Exhibits were