The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-04-10
HELPS the OIL TRUST.
INDEPENDENTS SAY DRAWBACK
WILL GIVE COMBINE MILLIONS
Bill to Be Rushed Through House To
Adopt Special Rule Monday And to
Pass Tariff Bill And Send 1t To
The Senate Next Week.

the Standard" is the cry raised in the
house today by Representative E. b.
Vreeland, Of New York, and 90 other
members whose districts have inde-
pendent oil interests.
1t is the drawback clause fthe
Payne bill upon which they have
opeAed fire. This provides that any
person importing foreign material
may be repaid SO per cent. Of the
duty paid upon furnishing proof that
an equivalent amount Of like material
has been exported from the United
States in the shape of manufactured
product. This provision was drawn
to take the place of the complicated
drawback clause in the Dingley act,
which requires that the identical ma
terial upon which the drawback is al
lowed must be proved to have been
exported in the form Of finished pro-
duct.
: The first persons to raise a cry
against the Payne bill drawback were
the Northwestern grain-growing in
terests, which asserted that it would
permit the millers to control the price
of wheat. The ways and means COM
mittee agreed to amend the bill to
prevent such an outcome.
Now the independent oil producers
and refiners all over the country are
writing and telegraphing to their rep
resentatives in congress that they are
threatened. They point out that the
Standard Oil Company, which exports
annually millions Of barrels of refined
petroleum. will be enabled by the
drawback clause, II it becomes law,
to recover 80 per cent Of all duties on
imported crude petroleum.
- For this reason the letter presented
to the committee by Mr.. Vreeland re-
quests that crude petroleum and it's
products be exempted from the draw
back provision. The members sign
ing the protest already have declared
to the committee their desire that the
countervailing tax on oil should be
maintained to protect the independ-
ents from the competition of the new
Standard Oil Company refineries in
Mexico. 1t is stated. however, that if
the drawback clause remains un-
changed the protection Of the coun-
tervailing tax will be valueless. as the
Standard could bring crude oil from
Mexico to its refineries on the At
lantic seaboard to mix with American
oils more cheaply than it could bring
crude oil from the Texas coast, where
that company now obtains crude oil
from the Texas and Oklahoma fields.
The letter also states that the draw
back feature of the Dingley and Payne
bills is intended for the use of manu-
facturers who are obliged to buy a
portion of their raw material abroad
for the purpose Of enabling them to
compete, but II is contended that no
reason exists why the Standard and
other refining companies need buy
crude petroleum outside the United
States when there are no less than
1OO,0O0,000 barrels now in storage
in the United States.
Among those who, with Represent
ative Vreeland, signed the letter were
Representatives woodward and Hub
bard. Of West Virginia; Mcclure and
Creager, Of Oklahoma; Mendell, Of
Wyoming; Campbell and Scott Of
Kansas; Cole and Joyce, of Ohio:
Burchfield. Campbell, Barclay, Tener
and Wheeler. of Pennsylvania; 'Fos-
ter. of Illinois: Dies, of Texas, and
Cooper, Of Wisconsin.
Members Of the ways and means
committee said they had never
thought of the drawback provision
operating in this manner. They re-
Trained from giving any indication as
to whether they would amend the
provision in order to protect the in
dependent oil operators as they had
protected the wheat growers. They
seem inclined to stand by the oil
trust
The legislative situation i'm the
house is now quite to the liking of
the Republican leaders and the ad-
ministration. Upon programme
which permit no changes aside from
those recommended by the ways and
means committee except amendments
designed to give a vote on the ques-
ton of free hides and free lumber
there has been united Il majority of
more than 1876 votes. This is enough
l. Il Al