Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-20
GASOLINE AGAIN.

w dJ 10 lOi INV SANsAs
increase in the price of gasoline? This
is a question that Is agitating the
country at the present time and its
solution is not as simple as may ap-
pear at first thought. The average
person is inclined to place tle blame
on the refners, particularly the Stand
ard Oil company, but there are circum-
stances which indicate that the re-
sponsibility is not altogether at this
source. Protests against the increase
| in the price Of gasoline have come
largely from automobile dealers, who
accuse the refners of manipulating
prices, while the refners retort that
the automobile owners themselves are
/ to blame.
! John D. Archbold of the Standard
Oil company Of New Jersey, says that
the advance in the price Of gasoline is
caused by the large increase In con-
sumption of gasoline for motor We
! hicles and internal combustion engines
Of all descriptions, the exhaustion of
gasoline stocks and the marked in
crease in the price Of crude oil He
adds that the price of gasoline in the
future will depend upon the law Of
supply and demand and says that his
. company is doing everything in its
power along the line of scientific re-
search and practical endeavor to i'm
? prove the situation.
j. l. Buchanan, president of the
: Washington Oil company, says:
/ The price of gasoline is permanent
y " regulated, as the prices of other
t commodities, by the law of supply and
: demand, which, constant as the North
! Star, antedates, supersedes, and can
5 not be set aside by any government,
' legislative, corporate or individual
edict or enactment The temporarily
: diminished demand on account OF
diminished exports and otherwise. aft
| er the outbreak Of the present Euro
pean war, caused lower price for
petroleum, resulting in diminished pro-
duCtion, while the extraordinary de-
mand for automobiles and automobile
l trucks here and abroad, and perhaps
! the development of the aeroplane, have
' brought about a sudden and increased
, demand for gasoline.
TT Is estimated. I believe, that II
the United States we increased oul
number of automobiles 35 per cent il
the last year. The daily demand from
100000 automobiles in the United
q States alone, and steadily increasing
Q may account for much of the great anC
a increasing demand for gasoline, will
which the production of petroleum ant
4 natural gas has not yet caught up.
"The dissolution of the Standard OF
: company could have no bearing OF
i, this. The outlook depends on the in
f crease or decrease Of the production
a of petroleum and natural gas, and tn
: increase or decrease of the demand TO
4 gasoline, and upon nothing else"
a The federal trade commission, whicl
= has been investigating the advance Il
a the price of gasoline, has submitted
4 report which contains many figures
: but no solution. 1t suggested tina
r there might be manipulation by the re
s finers but said that further investiga
ton would be necessary to prove this.
The reflners offer a very plausibl
reason for at least a part OF the IN
crease when they cite the great IN
y crease in the number Of automobiles
IL but the burden is upon them to prov
l. that there has been no price manipu
, lation. They alone are profiting by tn
+ increase in the price Of gasoline an
"a It will take more than long discourse
70 on the law of supply and demand t
ar convince a great majority Of the peopl
- that their explanation of the case COY
70 ers all the ground.