Norwich bulletin., 1922-12-23
AFFARS OF OIL COMPANIES
 BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE,

Washington. Dec. 22.-Affairs of two oil companies, the Prairie Oil and Gas and the Standard Oil of New York, were delved into today by the senate otl investigating committee. with the re- Pective presidents of the two corpora tions, James E. O'Neil and H. c. Folger, as the principal witnesses
 Inquiry into the identity of the larger stockholders of the two concerns was pursued at length through questions by Gilbert F. Rowe, attorney for the con- mittee and brought from MT. O'Eeil that either interests owed 37 per cent of the stock of his company and from MT. Folger that four interests held ap- proxihnately S5 per cent of his corpora tion's stock
 MT. O'Neil gave the eight principal stockholders of the Prairie Oil and Gas company with the percentage of their holdings to the total outstanding stock as Edward S. Hardness, per cent Northern Finance corporation, four per cent; John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 12 per cent: A. NJ. HaTkne ess,-three per cent trustees of the Henry H. Houston es- tate, a little more than one per cent General Education Board, about eight Memorial. three per cent: and tho Rockefeller Institute of Medical Re- search four per cent.
 The larger stockholders of the Stand. ard Oil company of New York, with the percentage of their holdings as com pared to the entire outstanding stock were given by MT. Folger as John = Rockefeller, Jr, 25 per cent; A. NJ Hardness. about three per cent; Ed ward s. Hardness, three per cent and the Northern Finance corporation four per cent.
 Mir. O'Neil was questioned closely by the committee attorney and also by Chairman La Toilette as to the reason that prices for crude oil posted in the mid-continent field by the five leadfns buying companies had risen and falle- almost simultaneously durin 1921 and 1922 but declared that it could not be considered unusual and was a natura process. He asserted emphatically sev. eral times that the rise and fall of prices was not preceded by any con ferenceS between the competing com- panies.
 i The Prairie Oil and Gas company president declared in the course of hi: testimony that production of crude of m the United States had reached ifs peak and that within 10 years Amerl can ref1ners would be forced to get al least fifty per cent of their supply fro1 foreign countries.
 Cash dividends amounting to $s5. O5e,000 and stock dividends of foul | hundred per cent on a capitalization O. | $75.000 900 have been declared sine 1911 by the Standard Oil of New Yori according 10 a compilation presented Il the committee by MT. Folger who addsi that during the same period his com pany had paid $75,000.o00 in taxes Tn, ngures did not take account of tn. ] htock dividend of 200 per cent recent, declared and now being paid.
 Mir. Folger denied that the Magnoli: Petroleum company was subsidiary Q the Standard Oil of New, York, but il
 response to questions by Mir. Roe sail that the Standard Oil of New Yorl owned S25.o0O shares. out of the HOO, 900 shares of the Magnolia company, O
 sixty-eight per cent. He explained tha
 the stock was purchased by the Stand
 ard company from himself and the Ias
 John B. Archbold.