The New York herald., 1921-07-07
OIL men CLASH OYER
MERITS OF TARIFF
Producers Director Sees Sal
yatiOn i'm It-Den0unced by
Mid-COntinent Chief.

Guy Stevens, director of the Associa-
ton of Producers Of Petroleum in Mex
leo, said in a formal statement yester-
day that the provision of the Fordney
tariff bill imposing an import tax OF
tbirty-five cents barrel on crude pc
troIeum and twenty-five cents barrel
OF; fuel oil will IL enacted into law tend
TO make serious inroads into existing
supplies Of American petroleum.
Commerce industry and national de-
fence each depends upon an adequate
supply of petroleum products he said
''To meet these needs our domestic re-
serves should be conserved by every
possible means and Americans should be
encouraged to acquire foreign production
for our present and future uses at
home"
Mr.. Stevens said that the purpose of
4he PROPOSED tax, as expressed by the
advocates OF tariff duties on petroleum
products. is to exclude foreign oil from
the United States and increase the price
OF crude petroleum produced In this
country.
"a few figures" he added, will serve
to throw light upon the situation Ac-
cording to United States Government
estimates only one-sixth of the petro-
Ieum reserves of the world are In the
United States five-sixths are In foreign
countries. At present two-thirds OF the
current needs of the world for petroleum
and petroleum products are being sup
piled out of this one-sixth of the total
petroleum reserve supply. This means,
according to Government statistics, that
our American reserves will be virtually
IN, fjftapn
years, and the result Of this will be
that the other nations of the world.
which are to-day keeping relatively In
tact their fiye-sixths of the world supply
and are supplying their current needs
from our reserves, will upon the eX-
haustion Of our reserves have practi-
cal monopoly of the petroleum supply
of the world. A further direct result OF
such duties will be to divert to foreign
countries. at the expense of American
consumers and labor, an important part
Of the refining activities of American
companies"
The statement said that. while there
was no provision in the bill for tax
on gasolene and kerosene by name. the
| fact of tax upon the raw material
wo uld surely be reelected in these refined
! products.
William N. Davis, president OF the
Mid Continent Oil and Gas Association.
with Headquarters at Tulsa, Okla, and
| membership Of 2,6O0 in Kansas, Okla
| homa, Arkansas. Louisiana and Texas.
| said yesterday that as the flood of i'm
ported Mexican petroleum. produced at
| a mere fraction of the cost of domestic
production. is destroying the industry in
| the United States. the first duty of Con-
gress is to protect the home industry.
| He added:
Much greater consideration Is due to
| the many thousands of citizens engaged
In producing oil at home than to the
ten or dozen corporations of great
capital operating in Mexico which have
created utter Generalization in this
country to their own great ultimate
profit.
THE market value of the crude oil
produced IN the United States has
shrunk since the latter part of January
over s2,000,000 day, an annual loss to
producers of approximately $1,000 0o0, 600.
These concerns are storing millions
Of barrels Of domestic petroleum. which
has been displaced in the market by the
cheap imported oil. at very low prices
which they themselves fix, and during
the period Of Generalization they will
purchase for a fraction of their real
worth many Of the independent produc-
| Ing properties In the united states De-
cause of the financial necessities OF their
present owners. In the end they will be
more securely than ever intrenched in
the dominating control Of the entire oil
industry.
THE import duty on oil and 25 cents
barrel on fuel oil provided for In the
tariff bill recently reported by the Ways
and Means Committee of Congress is
inadequate. but 1t is step in the right
direction; and even at those rates the
United States Treasury will be enriched
by about $50, 100000 year. 1t is to
be hoped that before the bill Is finally
passed these rates will be materially in
creased"