Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-07-24

iHc way tHt Ioou Dill stands now,
the oil fraternity is placed In the same
category as the food gamblers and the
coal robbers
Ihere is but one way to defeat the
proposed regulation. and that Is in the
conference committee of the house
and senate which will meet Wednes-
day to consider the food bill which
mas passed both houses. but which is
yet subject to conference to iron out
the differences between the two houses
The proposed regulation is not only
10 be carried on by commission
whlch VIII be composed of people who
know nothing about the oil business
but who Will have lopsided law
which guarantees to the farmer n
minimum price of SO for his wheat
but which not only guarantees the
producer of oil nothing, but does not
even confer upon the president power
to purchase crude oil
section nine of the bill does author
l2e the president 20 purchase. store
10 provide storage facilities and to
sell Tor cash for reasonable prices
Iuel' wheat, flour. meal. beans and
potatoes" but the senate, N its wiz.
dom. thot there was no danger OF the
OH producer getting too little for his
oil. so II merely drafted the law SO
that the president could buy, store
ana sell refined products known as
fuel"
30 far as the producer was con-
cerned. II was sufficient that the con.
troll exercised over him should be
the indirect control attained by the
regulation OF ref i1e1 products.
However, for fear the producer
might nevertheless wax fat. the bill
provides that the government may
take over oil and gas wells and oil
and gas pipe lines whenever II wants
to during the war.
The Independent refincr Is likewise
placed In n most peculiar predictment
py the bill. The government will take
upon itself the regulation of the salc
or his refined products IL IL wants
to. hut has left itself powcrless to
say anything about the crude.
The first result of the bill, IL 1t IL
passed, will he to decrease produce
tion, and the next result will be to
shoot up premiums to the smaller
str tIuggling refiners without yielding
any real relief to the producer.
IL congress should pass Il law regu-
latiDg flour, but not saying one W )rd
about wheat, 1t would &c commonly
said that congress had gone crazy.
But that is what 1t viii d. 10 the oil
industry. for It proposes TO regulate
fuel OIL gasoline and Kerosene" and
the senate bill is silent concerning
crude oil.
1t is hard TO tell who Is hit the
hardest, the Independent reiiners or
the producers, but the facts are that
the bill hits the oil industry harder
than 1t hits either the producer or
the ref!ncr. 1t is a legislative con-
tirmation OF charge absolutely un-
true: namely, that the oil industry
should be classed with the food ma
nipulators and the coal robbers.
The oil industry is the one conspicu-
GUS industry In which robber prices
are not being charged, and yet con-
gress proposes to go after 1t. as though
the comparatively low prices of oil
products had been produced by
gang of robbers.
II will, of course, be thought In
Oklahoma that oil men will at least
be able to get steel. iron. casing and
supplies for a reasonable price.
But such Is not the case. The steel
people, the cotton people and tho
copper people, tho aluminium peo-
Pile, and lot OF other people have had
their products stricken from the bill.
SO the government will not be able
to take over n steel mill and run 1t
even If 1t robs the oil industry but
1t will be able to tako over and run
an oil well II it wants to. This re-
markable condition has come about
because the oil industry has been
asleep.
Practically nobody has been here
obJecting.
The oil committee is apparently so
afraid of the cars that not one men,
Der has gone before the committee
which had the bill in charge. II the
producers and refiners of oklahoma
know what they are about they will
burn up the telegraph wires to WASH
ington in the next 4S hours.
The bill is In conference. Only q
superhuman effort will remedy it.