The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-04-28
COST Of GASOLINE
Higher THANEVER
Price Of Gasoline Has Increased
Seven and 0ne-Half Cents
s.. -... In Year

Anent the nationwide agitation a.
gainst the high price Of gasoline and
the inquiry started by the federal gov.
erumont. and pressed in congress, to
get at the bottom Of the industry, with
a view to learning wheiner or not the
prevailing price is justified or gross
extortion, the price, Of gasoline in Ho-
nolulu has increased within a year sew
en- and one;half cents gallon {, o. b.
retailing garage. Yesterday the price
was eighteen and one.half cents a gal
lon; a year, ago on April "a, It was
eleven cents o gallon. And dealers say
that the proportionate increase in con-
sumption is heavier. In this connec-
| ton large local dealer in automo-
biles said yesterday, ,.-..,
Zone of the automobile firms recently
announced that IL was preparing TO pro-
| duee 5000 cars a month, OF maximum
Of 100, 900 a year. Most Of these ears
/ the company expects to dispose Of in
this country. The automobile industry
is expanding steadily, and each car
i that is put into use emphasizes the
tneed for a dependable fuel oil market,
/, The senators from Oklahoma urged q
particular Investigation in the fields Of
their own state. The federal trade
] commission took up the subject, and is
/ now gathering Information. b A great
mass of data 10 already in hand.
''The federal trade commission re-
port will be awaited with much interest
and with some anxiety on the part Of
certain concerns, for IL has been more
he. !. I'll
tions were manipulating the market,
/ thus adding TO the pressure which the
natural increase in demand has caused.
Probably the greatest hope for d
permanent low level of cost Of motor
fuel is that new methods of producing
fuel oil may be discovered. Doctor Ritz
mans process is said to have en-.
abled manufacturers to double their
capacity, Then, it is pointed out, this
Country has neglected subsidiary
sources for gasoline. The United States
geological survey believes that shale
deposits should be made to yield a large
quantity of oil, from which disable
grades may be extracted. In the past
little attention has been paid to shale,
but the increase in price Of oils. in gen
eral has turned scientific. inquiry into
new directions. 1t is notable that the
oil shale industry of Scotland has for
years been one of great Importance,
There are vast possibilities in, the fields
of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
"Our information leads us to tho
conclusion that the oil refners are not
likely, under any excuse, whatever, TO
make further advances in the price,
1t is pretty generally understood, that
the market will be, downward instead
of upward. AS to these sensational re.
ports, it III becomes government Off.
cials to predict forty cent gasoline with
such facts as are now available in gov,
erhment reports. The automobile In,
dust:y looks to- the government and its
experts for relief from every gasoline
difficulty. We object to the statement
that the war is responsible for the
price, because the government figures
prove that the export of all mineral oil
in 1915 was only FIVE per cent more
than in 1914; and 50 far as gasoline h
concerned, these figures sh Nv only 1l2,
OlO,O'0 gallons exported in 1915
against 49,, 00O, 900 in 1914. There wls
some increase, it is true, in export CT
naThtha and light products other IL
gasoline, these being lG9,0000JO gal
Ions in 1918, compared with 100000
, in 1914. -,
"The present h Oh price of gasolin,
has already had the effect of stimulat
, ing the production of oil. New well'
are being drilled and new processes OF
treatment are Icing installed by re
incrs which greatly increase the out
put of gasoline per gallon of crude
Also mechanical improvements in tht
automobile which will give more p1we
to gallon of gasoline and make lowe
grades available are suTe to result.
= con men t. II us that there is plent,
# oil to be had, provided thee is shf
ficient inducement to producers to drill
WI lis and take it out of the ground
! That induce mont certainly exists now
and we shall soon be hearing of tn
result. There is now before congress
hill to authorize the opening of govei n
m NJ oil lands under a leasing system
and hundred of oil operators are wait
ing to get into that field as soon as tn
. bars are lifted