Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-04-16

Il llItu III pdIk IOI EokIs 6t0NEs VA ~ AA1S
| decide entirely in favor OF the defend
| ant. Beyond this there is the possible
! ity hat the court, being doubtful,
might certify ~ the whole matter TO
the circuit court of appeals, without
a decision; hut this is extremely UNI
likely.
BRIEF TELLS HOW STANDARD
HAS VIOLATED THE LAW
st. Louis, Mo. April THE govern
ment's brief in the case OF the United
States against h Standard ON
Company OF New Jersey. sets forth the
history OF the company from its incep-
ton TO the present time. The declara-
ton Is made that the testimony shows
that the various defendants AVE from
the first pursued a system Of unfair
competition against their competitors.
whereby the Independent companies
selling and marketing petroleum have
either been driven out of business or
their business so restricted that the
Standard Oil company a practically
controlled the prices, and m~onopolized
the m in the products Of pc
troleum in the United States.
This system, II Is commended, has
taken the form OF price cutting In
various localities, while keeping up
high prices or raising them still higher
In other localities where no competi-
ton exists; OF paying rebates TO custo-
mers as a part of their system OF price
cutting: of obtaining secret informa~
ton as to competitive business, large
ly through bribing railway employees,
and using their secret information to
procure the countermanding OF orders
OF independent producers, and TO facif-
itate the price cutting policy; of the
use of socalled Independent companies,
+l1-& a.. nIay hn1d nItf hV fhA
Standard OH company as independent
which are engaged In price cutting,
while the STANDARD OIL company MAIN
tains the price through Its well known
companies and other abusive compel
tive methods against the competitors,
The Standard Oil company, the brief
alleges, is particularly able TO carry
on this predatory competition for the
reason hat IL does not sell Its product
at central markets or through ordin-
airy channels, as most other ordinary
manufacturers. II markets its products
to the retailer in every village and
community in the United States and
1t sells directly to the consumers. IL
does from SIS to 80 per cent of the
business OF the United States, leaving
about 10 to 15 per cent for all Its COM
petitors. II Is also held that the tes-
timony taken in the Standard Oil pros
e~cutions shows that that company
through a company In which 1t owns
a majority of the stock (the Galena
Signal OIL company also controls
about 97h per cen Of the lubrica-
ton of railroads throughout the United
States, and that 1t sells to most rail-
roads al enormous profits. This is evil
denced by the net earnings OF the
company, which In 1906 were about
112 per cent on the capital stock &C
tually paid In n about l06 per cent
on a liberal valuation OF the capital
used. It is also shown by the furth-
er fact that the prices to these
railroads are substantially double the
prices charged TO a few favored lines.
notably the Pennsylvania. For instance,
the brief says. h New York Central
railroad for 10 years has paid about
100 per cent per gallon moro than the
Pennsylvania. 1t Is also stated that
wherever the Standard cEk do so, IL
has made contracts whereby 1t has
either marketed a part or all OK the
product OF the Independent refineries
or has limited the output Of the
same.
It's Enormous Earnings.
One Of the evidences of the monop-
! oily of the defendants, 1t is charged, is
Its enormous earnings. These earn
ings are summarized a follows: The
| Standard OIL trust and the Standard
Oil on an investment OF $69,-
024,4S0 had earned up to the end OF
1906, 1898, 1873, 1888. Adding the esti-
mated profits OF 1907 and 1908, we have
substantially, the brief states, a billion
dollars earned by this company In q
| years with an original investment of
about SIS, 200, 900.
Further on the brief says:
1T has usually been claimed for
large corporations in this country that
they have increased business and de-
| creased the cost to the consumer, but
pany 1t has during the 10 or Is years
actually increased the price to the re-
taller, and this a good deal more thar
out the country. although the price of
facture and sale during these years has
increased very little. IL any"
The brief. which occupies nearly zoe
printed pages, covers with much detail
the history OF the company from It's
original organization to the present
time, and asserts that Its methods rave
asks the court in view OF the circum-
tracts under which the Standard OIL
poration.
Wickersham, attorney general; Frank
denio A. Severance, j. HARDWOOD
Graves. special assistants 10 the at
torney general.