Milford chronicle., 1911-08-04
BREAKING Up
The OIL TRUST
Standard Announces Plan For
Obeying Courts Decree.
WON'T GO OUT OF BUSINESS

Securities Of Thirty-three Subsidiaries
to Be ParceIIed Among Stockholders
Of Record on Sept. 1.
Stockholders in the Standard Oil
Company of New Jersey received from
the secretary of the corporation a let
ter which indicates the plan by which
the company will conform itself to the
decree of the supreme court.
They are informed that by Dec 1
next they will have certificates Of
stock in thirty-three corporations that
at the time Of the decision were owned
by the Standard Oil company.
This does not mean, so NJ. F. Elliott,
chief counsel for the Standard Oil
company, pointed out, that the Stand
ard Oil Company of New Jersey will
go out of business on Dec. l. It will
persist as a manufacturer of petroleum
products and it will continue to run
the biggest oil refineries in the world.
Beside the stock which the Standard
of New Jersey owns in the thirty
three corporations of which it is or
dered to rid itself, it hal shares in
many other corporations. What will be
come of this stock Mr. Elliott did not
wish to say There appears to be moth
ing in the supreme court decree or in
that of the lower court however, which
prevents the Standard of New Jersey
from maintaining ownership, so said
Mr.. Elliott
The scheme by which the Standard
will dissolve connection with the
thirty-three companies which have
been regarded as subsidiaries has been
under consideration by the directors
for many months. It. was said that to
aPpOrtion the stock among the stock
holders in the major corporation was
the only way of meeting the letter of
the supreme courts decree. Mr. Elliott
added that the company proposes not
only to meet the letter of the order,
but the spirit also.
The distribution will be made to
stockholders of record Sept L
Under the terms in which exchange
is made of stock of the present com
pany for stock in the thirty-three sub
salaries, some of the odd lot holders
will have only fractional parts of a
share, and their dividend payments 4
win amount to but a few cents a share
quarterly. I
The unit of distribution will be five
shares of Standard Oil Company of !
New Jersey. On this basis a holder
of that amount will receive a full
share in each of the three constituent
properties, but a holder of less than I
FIVE shares will not receive a full
share in any one of the thirty-five sub !
sidiaries. The distribution, in some in
stances, will be as low as 1-10O part Of :
q share.
Obviously this will cause a great
deal Of confusion and dissatisfaction
among shareholders, who are to re :
GDRe such small portions Of stock and
such inanitesimal dividends. There are :
over 5000 holders of present Standard !
Oil stock. The majority of them aver =
age from to 100 shares. Z
The reorganization will involve the =
of 100000 different certif, Z
Gates, compared with 5000 now out :
standing.
A man owning a single share OF :
leDChI WHICH CUulu D5 UOukuL on =
he curb for 1863 will have after Dec. =
next a share in Standard Oil of New =
Jersey, worth at par s1OO; he will
AVE a tenth of a share in the Southern
Pipe Line company, $40; a trifie more
han a quarter of a share in the Ma
ional Transit company, S2545; three
wentieths of a share in the Standard
,n Company of New York, SIS; in
be Chesebrough Manufacturing com
any, which makes vaseIine, % cents
verth at par; in the Colonial Oil
ompany about rs cents worth at par;
D the South Penn Oil company for
Ieth Of a share, $3.50 Among the
wenty-six other corporations in which
e will have stock will be the Swan &
inch company, in which he will have
cents; the Washington Oil com.
any, in which, to be precise, he will
ave 37-2O5 cents worth.