The Washington herald., 1918-09-12
STANDARD OIL
LEADER BUSY
A. c. Bedford Now Over
taxed War Worker for
u. S., Says Holland.

No man who is now serving the
government In important capacity Is
working harder. dsvoting more time
and thought and subjecting himself
TO greater mental and physical
strain than Is A. c. Bedford, who
although chairman OF the board OF
the Standard Oil Company Of New
Jersey. nevertheless completely sub
ordinates this important response
bllity to the work which he is now
doing for the government
Mr.. Bedford was appointed chair
man OF the national Petroleum Ser
vice COMMITTEES and since that ap-
pointment he has been endeavoring
in every way possible not only TO
conserve the oil supply Of the
United States as a war measure but
also so far as possible to Increase
the production OF OIL
Must Eliminate Competition
In his ONCE at Broadway. widely
known as sthe headquarters OF the
Standard on Companies, Mr.. Bedford
has held meetings with oil producers
in which he has emphasized the ne
cesslty OF so acting as to eliminate
competition between the various ell
prod ucers so that there may be pro-
lection for the smaller producers and
In the place Of competition there may
be coordination and cooperation
which viii take in the entire oil pro-
ducing business OF the United States.
II traditions are accurate there was
q time when in this very room mea-
sures were under consideration where
10y successful competition could be
maintained and perhaps the smaller
industries be brought completely un-
der the control OF the great corpora
tons All that is ended Now the
very thing which several years ago
the government denounced as a yIo-
llrlon OF the statutes Is advocated
and practiced by the oil producers of
the United States under the leader
ship of Mr.. Bedford.
Some Of His Difficulties.
When Mr.. Bedford recently called
to his assistance a special committee
among the members of which are
Henry l. DOherty, II. F. Sinclair and
J. F. Guffey for the purpose Of work
ing out a plan. IL that were possible,
whereby congress could be persuaded
not TO overtax the oil industry, he
made il manifest that he regards this
as one Of the most serious Of the
face. For there was apprehension
that Congress might so frame the new
revenue law as greatly TO restrict oil
production and in considerable meas
Ure put an end to prospecting. But
We are already consuming enormous
amounts of oil due tC the exiEencies
Of the war. and if there be no new
and increased pI OduCtiOn this con-
sumption will he sure, in the course
OF a year or two. to use up our sur
plus OIL and 70 cause a deficit between
production and the demand for oil
Now Mr.. BedfOrd's committee re-
Iuctautly reports that unless there
be some change in the revenue law
the DrOspeCtOrs will be called in,
the digging of wells win be sus-
pended and there will follow a
greRt falling of in petroleum pro-
duetion. That's would be very un-
fortunate at this time for several
reason First. the needs of the gov
ernment for oil are very great not
oHIy for fuel purposes but also for
lubricIting and for the refining Of
oil so that an adequate amount Of
gasoline can be secured. The in
timatlOn is strong that even though
the American public abandon for a
time the use of automobiles for
pleasure purposes the saving in
gasoline would not be equal to the
falling OF in production unless the
government takes heed of the
emergency and does not exact a
drastic tax Secretary Lane has al
ready called the attention OF Con-
gross to the danger to certain
mining Industries which are en-
I
that is needed for war Industries
should the revenue law contain a
tar upon these Industries which
would inevitably curtail them.
What Secretary Lane recommends
Mr.. BcdfOrd's committee is likely
to recommend to Congress not for
the purpose Of securing great
profits for the oil producers but
with the intent to speed up pros
pecting as well as oil production.
especially in the great fields OF Ok
Iaboma, Kansas. Texas and Califor-
aia.
Few Alarming Figures.
Already Il has been possible to Sc
cure figures which show that the pro-
duction and storage Of oil for the
month OF June amounted to. These
figures show a decrease which must
have given Mr.. Bedford and his as
sOciates great concern. The falling
off ia not confined to any particular
district but seems to be general Pro-
iucers have found themselves con-
fronted with the greatly increasing
prices for materials and II has been
hard for them to secure experienced
field workers. Now If a heavy tax
be eXacted that will tend still fur