The Washington herald., 1919-05-06
DEMAND FOR OIL
WEALTH FACTOR
Holland Says Standard
Company S Colossal Re-
sources Are Easily
Explained.

journal was there realization of the
magnitude. not only of the Stand
ara Oil companies but also of the ap-
probation in the market price of their
securities The statistics demonstrate
ktnat the Standard Oil Companies as
q whole new command a market for
.neir securities which is In excess of
ss.Sso.ooo,eoo. Therefore the corpora
Tons which are identified by the
standard OIL name and which. before
the dissolution Of the original cor
poratiop was ordered by the United
states Supreme Court constituted the
Standard Oil Company, now, taken as
whole. represent the largest aggre-
cation of capital engaged in exploit
ing a leading American resource. OF
course, these figures represent the
price which the securities command
In the market
Measured by the market price OF
the capital stock the Standard Oil
wealth is equivalent to nearly one
half Of the aggregate amount which
the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr..
Glass. has asked the American peo-
PIE TO subscribe to the Victory loan.
Expioit Natural Resources.
There IS another American Industry
much younger I'm its career than the
Standard Oil. which it is now proper
to call a s2,OOO. 10000 industry. That
Is the United States Steel Corpora
tion. but the statement that il ranks
on equal terms with the Standard Oil
industry Is based upon the fact that
hts business in 1918 aggregated $500
zoo, 900. :
Both of these organizations are oc-
cupied in exploiting natural resources
OF the United States OF. kind which
are obtained from mines or wells. and
both of them. having obtained the
crude resources. convert them into n
vast variety of commodities which
find great markets not only i'm the
United States but throughout the rest
of the world. The Wall Street Jour
nails figures show that the market
value of the stock of the companies
which, made up the former Standard
Oil combination had increased by the
almost incredible amount of s. 2l600O0.-
coo since the Supreme Court ordered
the dissolution of the former COM
bination.
At first this apparently abnormal in
crease in the market value of the
securities might be regarded as due
wholly to the order of the Supreme
Court which commanded the disso-
luton of the original company. But
careful study of the situation, es-
Pecially@ thatP wdich hasF preyaiIeSfi
of the Supreme Court is responsible
only indirectly for the wonderful ap-
preciation in the market value of the
securities since dissolution was order
ed FIVE years ago.
II is the world demand for oil and
the various products which are OBJ
tained from il which in great meas
ure explains the increase in the mar
ket value of the securities. The va
rious CONSTITUENT c6tffarIes nac6
stimulated increased production of
! oil, and they have been associated
directly or indirectly with independ-
ent corporations which have devel-
oped new resources in the United
States since 1914. II is the under
standing that Standard Oil interests
are now associated with the Texas
and Pacific Coal and oil Company
although this association does not so
farther than partial interest. This
Texas Oil Company is the fortunate
possessor of suddenly developed and
accidentally discovered vast on re-
sources in northern central Texas
The executive heads of the various
constituent Standard Oil Companies
have encouraged production and have
done so because some apprehension
has prevailed lest the oil or petro-
leum resources OF the United States
may be exhausted within twenty
years. This is merely an apprehen-
sion. for there is no certainty that
our oil resources will be exhausted
by the midyear of the present CEN
fury. Yet at that present rate OF
consumption. exhaustion will come
hesfn MI
very large resources are discovered
and exploited.
what Caused the Growth
The same commercial conditions
which have created or which repre-
sent the enormous increase of the
worlds demand for oil and its va
rious products explain in considera-
ble measure the unprecedented ap-
probation in the market price since
1914 of the securities of the various
: constituent Standard Oil companies.
Today the civilized world Is depend
ent upon oil and its various products.
IT Is absolutely dependent upon oil
for fabrication. DIR. David Day. one
Of the best authorities in the United
states upon oil resources and pro-
duction. who is now occupied with
testing the value of the oil shale re-
sources of Colorado. said recently
that without lubricants modern in
dustrial life would come To an end
Almost all of the other products which
crude oil Is made to yield might il
there were necessity be abandoned,
because other commodities. crude per-
haps and very unsatisfactory. might
take their place.
As. for instance. substitutes for gas
oline. perhaps some of the products
of alcohol might be found. But oil
Is vital as a lubricant. Nothing can
take its place. Even IL the produc-
tion of castor oil is speeded up to
the highest that would not be ade-
quate for Iubridlting purposes
Walter Clark Teagle. president Of
the Standard dI Company of New
Jersey. said th\ other day that at
least 10 per cent of all the oil yearly
produced in the United States Is util-
, lied for lubricatAon purposes But
z there is wide and Sonstantly increas-
ing demand for all of the products
which science has seAured from crude
oil. The market for these products
is found in all but Snvage countries.
One of the former constituent Stand
ard Oil companies has invested s75,-
oO0.oO0 so that TIE marketing of Amer
lean oil and its products in the far
East may be facilitated
Then again, the Standard Oil Com
pany has caught American industry
valuable lessons whereby the cost of
production Is steadily decreased while
at the same time the standard of
wages remain high. while a wonder
fully perfected piece of machinery
such as this organization is has on