The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-09-12
GASOLINE RULING
DUE TO EMERGENCY
Official of Fuel Administra-
ton Explains Need of
Curtailment
SITUATION SUDDEN
AND UNEXPECTED
But it Has Been Met and Relief is Ex-
pected Soon-Producers Fear Pro
posed Tax in New Revenue Bill NAV
Lead to Shortage of Auto Essence.

posed Tax in New Revenue Bill May
Lead to Shortage of Auto Essence.
NEW YORK, Sept. IA subsidiary
official Of the fuel administration makes
the statement that sudden and unex-
pected emergency, and not a general
condition, led the fuel administration
to request that all the people in the
United States east of the Mississippi
river refrain from using motor vehicles
for pleasure for an indefinite numbar. off
Sundays. For good and sa,iiieientlseaSons,
he added, it could not be stated what
The emergency was or what caused il.
hutlt was pet.-4n- meeting i, however,
reserve stocks Of gasoline in the terri.
tory east of the Mississippi were great
~ reduced. They had to be replenished
| m tire shortest possible time and that is
why motorless Sundays were asked for.
Tho Indications were that there Would
not be need of many more of them
The country 5 reserve stock of gaso.
line. according to oil producers, is in
about the same condition as last wear.
with a slight increase in production.
About 40000.000 barrels of crude oil
are produced in this country in wear
and, approximately, - per cent of this
! amount is turned into gasoline. or in the
ncighborhood of 5l.0OO.000 barrels. If
was stated on high authority that the
nation was eating into it's stocks of
crude oil ut the rate of about &C. 600
! barrels day
| Under the new revenue bill, the oil
| producers must pay war profits tax
! or an excess profits tax, whichever will
! yield the more revenue. to tho govern
| ment. The war profits section provides
that, II the apings of an oil producing
company are more than 10 per cent on
the capital, as compared with the busi-
ness of 1911, 1912 and 1913. the COM.
pany must pay to the government q tax
| of 50 per cent on the increased earn.
| ings over the three years taken as the
! standard. Under the excess profits
I clanse, earnings of per cent on the
1 capital are exempt After that the
oil producers must pay 35 per cent an
\ all"tGrnings between 8 per cent ana Is
\ per cent, 80 per cent on earnings above
| per cent and between Is per cent and
20 per cent and so per cent on all above
! : per cent and in excess of 20
| per cent Out of what earnings that
may be left a tax of II per cent will
be levied on the dividends paid and IS
per cent on earnings put back into the
business
Such taxation. the oil producers saw,
viii tend to discourage prospecting for
new oil fields and, unless new oil fields
are discovered, there is gong to bc an
oil. femme Henry L.. Doherty, chairman
of the taxation committee of the ma
ltional petroleum war service com nit
tee, in discussing the taxes that he oil
| producing companies will have to paw.
said:
. We tried the best we knew how to
show the WAYS and means committee
of the house that the scheme Of taxing
| the oil companies was q mistake, but it
| IS quite evident that we made no i'm
! preston Now all we want is to let the
people of the country know just what
the situation Is and then. If there is not
/ enough oil. one of these days, to supply
i the demand, no one can say that the oil
/ producers did not warn the country aud
| the authorities at Washington.
/ II. +. Sinclair, president of The Sin
clair Oil and Refining company. speak
ing of the resolution introduced nv
United States Senator Lodge in the, Sen
ate on Monday, providing for an,in4es.
legation of the gasoline industry, saia
that. any, statement to the. effect that
the real reason for the gasolineless
Sundays was thai oil producers had
cried a gasoline shortage to the fuel
administration in order 10 prevent tho
price of gasoline going down, was Ger
man propaganda stuff
There is, at present, - said Mr. Sim
clair, "a large supply of gasoline, if we
consider merely the iolal number of
gallons; but TO maintain a large supply
is as essential as to maintaia America $
bank reserves.