The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1920-06-29
OIL. MARKET QUOTATIONS.
Ruling Does Not Apply
TO the Usage

The Continent Oil q Gas as
sociatlon had arranged for II hearing
before the secretary OF the interior
for July l5 in the matter of the
abrogation OF the $500 acre rule. In
Yesterdays dispatches 1t appeared
that the secretary had already been
convinced that the rule had ceased
10 be useful with reference to the
lands OF the five civilized tribes and
entered an order on Saturday re-
voking the rule In so far as 1t ef-
fected those lands. Whether the
rule Is to be ahrogated also on Usage
and other Indian lands outside Of
the five civilized tribes. will either
be determined at the hearing in
washington on the 18th or will go
over until the secretary returns from
Alaska this fall. The association
wired the secretary yesterday urging
that the matter be fully disposed Of
on or before the 18th of July as
originally contemplated. At this
writing the secretary has not in
formed the association as to whether
or not the hearing will be held on
the 18th or postponed.
The SAME reasons which would
require an ahrogation of the rule
as to the five civilized tribes would
oage. In the latter nation as well
as elsewhere, the rule operates to
limit and seems to destroy a market
which the small producer would
otherwise have for the sale of his
oil producing properties. when the
large companies have attained their
full quota Of $500 acres, they Will
Aot be permitted TO bid either at
the sale of undcveloped leases nor
for developed oil properties on re-
stricted lands But said companies
are permitted to acquire unlimited
holdings on unrestricted lands--the
rule therefore operates as discrim-
ination against the small producer
whose sole Investment consists OF
leases on restricted Indian lands.
That a rule, although originally
designed to prevent a monopoly. is no
longer needed for that purpose, IL
becomes apparent when one con-
siders the fact that the larger COM
panies have been unable TO establ
a monopoly of oil holdings on lands
where there was no 4,S00 acre rule
and also from the fact that in the
ehtire United States the so called
Standard Oil company and It's
subsidiaries which are usually spok-
en- of as the large companies, have
only been able to acquire and hold
about IS per cent of the entire OF
production. This is the expressed
finding OF the federal trades com
mission in its report to congress or
the advance In prices of petroleum
products. The statement by the
federal trades commission on this
subject Is as follows:
The Standard Oil companies
alone, taking only those which are
generally recognized as such hac
a total production OF 69,529,0o0 bar
rels in 1919 or about IS per cent Of
the total marketed production o.
the United States. Excluding thu
California field, their production
for the fields east of Californi'
amounted to about 16 per cent o
the total marketed production from
those fields"
This rule which was first prom
ulgated by Secretary Hitchcock
has worked wonders in the way o
preventing a monopoly in times past
but has made oklahoma independ
ent, and built up a great industr,
ofTefining, but 1t would now appea
that II Is no longer necessity 4
continue it's enforcement.