The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-04
Daily Wall Street Gossip
BI HOLLAND.

New York May 3.-(Special. )-There may be an indirect reply to statement recently made by Sir Mackey Edgar in London, in which he spoke approvingly of the worldwide search for oil proper ties by Walter Clark Teagle and A. E. Bedford of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and by Henry Doherty. in the announcement that the Standard Oil Company will use considerable part of the fresh capital it has secured through the sale of 800, ,00o000 Gf pre- ferred stock in making searches through out the world for the purpose of secur- ing new supplies of petroleum. Presi- dent Teagle and his associates and MT. Doherty are not tn eonly American lead CTS in the American oly industry who are causing researches to be made here and there with intent to secure if poss- ble supplies of petroleum. It is the un- derstanding here that the Texas Com pany is expending a considerable part of it's newly acquired capital in paying the expenses of experts who have been sent here and there in search of oil. So also the Sinclair company is in like name occupied and it is understood that their experts have secured satisfactory re- suits in the West Indies and perhaps in South America.
 Sir Mackey however, intimates that the American searchers for fresh petro- leum fields are likely to find that sub- stantially all of the promising oil fields of the world are now under the Ientrol Of English capital In other words, the irtimation is that Great Britain has been awake while the United States has slept. ard, notwithstanding the exigencies of the war; she has been able to secure control in almost every oil field in the world. A list of the fields controlled by Great Britain would contain the names of countries of the far east, of Egypt, of Venezuela the Dutch East Indies, the Strait Settlements and even in the Phil ippines.
 WEIR WE NEGLIGENT?
 While commenting upon the recent statement of Sir Mackey, some of the leaders in the American oil industries frankly admit that he was not inaccu- rate when he said that the United States has been recklessly improvident so far as it's oil resources are concerned. and that if a proper policy of conservation had been adopted this country would have oil resources sufficient to last more than century, no matter how great the demand.
 While this accusation, the oil leaders say, is true of the past, it is no longer true excepting that Congress seems not yet to have awakened to the necessity Of greater conservation or our OH re- sources. For years Great Britain has gradually secured many of the best oil fields of South America. English capi- tai is already contemplating the con- structon of transportation system in Bolivia, which when completed will open up the enormous resources of petroleum in southeastern Bolivia. The opportu- nifty did come to capital in the United States few years ago to build rail- fhpSe Bolivian oil fields and A concession would have been granted for the exploiting of them had it been cer- tain that tn railroad could have been built.
 But it was impossible to persuad American capital to the adventure. Ho- race Greedy Knowles, was was formerly United States minister to Bolivia. did