, 1922-05-23

sands continue under Teapot. Shor,
of occuiar demonstration Of the &c.
tuai sands In place. the proof exists
that these sands are there. A slightly
less persuasive presumption tells US
that II the sands are there and the
oil Is there. II will be oil identical with
the oil in like sands In the neIghbor-
ing Salt Creek structure This means
a gasoline oil, wholly untitled for the
use OF the navy now being diminiah.
ed or dismsntled as the preliminary
bluff Of h poweas secretly betting
upon who can protest the most love
for the brotherhood OF man. and dis
mantle the least
Having arrived at n conviction
that naval oil should be stored by man
Instead by nature. the next logical
step vas to drill natures reservoir
inc produce the oil. That required
actual drilling by the United States.
or the letting Of n contract. There
are those who believe the United
States could drill its own lands with
its own drilling organization and thus
secure all the oil. That involves a
radical departure from previous prac-
tice, and need not be considered here.
Letting a contract was necessary.
Should that contract be let privately
without competition. or be ie. after
advertisement n upon inspection Of
competing bids based upon careful
specifications rendered bidders7 II
! would seem that IL the United States
departments are mot competent TO
carry in n drilling and developing
campaign. neither are they competent
to privately judge the best terms and
conditions upon which a private con-
tractor should do the work. The
United States statutes are filled with
provisions for competitive bidding in
buying and selling public property
and in constructing and developing
public works or resources. The rec
ords in tho federal courts criminal
dockets are filled with prosecutions
and some convictions of grafters and
thieving contractors who nave robbed
the public. usually because they pur-
chase or overawe government inspec-
tors of work by claim OF political IA
vor. The "cost-plus" craze we have
witnessed the past few years is dem
onstrating the wisdom of open bid
ding backed by proper bonds for per-
formance. The oil land leasing law
specifically requires competitive bid
ding for oil and gas lease acreage not
earned by prospecting discovery. That
law also authorizes competitive bid
dirg for purchase of government roy
aisy. but the authority is ignored or
defeated by manifest subterfuge.
Ccncede that the law of June 4,
1920. authorizes n letting of contract
to drill by private arrangement or by
public bidding. You believe in one or
the other method OF letting public
contract. Your duty as a citizen de-
mands that you give political express
sion to that belief. II your national
party brand is burned into your hide
too deep to change or pumpkin. you
can at least align yourself with those
within your own party who believe
as you do. 1t Is n safe bet that what
ever party you belong to. a big ma
jority thereof believe in open. com
petitive bidding. 1t is said in defense
of the private letting of so import
ant a contract that the contract In
wolves so great a sum-. SO many de-
tails. and such varied activity (dc-
velopment, sale of oil, resale, pipe
line, long life, etc.) that competitive
DiuulIiB ia iIlptatAit<aOAC. III 10
but another definition OF invisible gov
eminent in America and of imperial
government in the old world. It is
this argument, government is so COM
plicated that the average man Is not
fit to have a voice in his own govern
ment, hence his governors are hand
picked by the emperor. or by a Sc
,ect committee of b~ondholders setting
=
disperaging the ability OF Mr.. Sim
clair. by what process of reasoning
is he set up as h straw man hav-
ing all the necessary qualities which
could not be uncovered by competi-
tive bidding. with the usual right to
reject any and all bids. And II mag
nitude of the work and investment re-
quired preclude competitive bidding,
why give the contract to the Nam
moth on company, a newborn cor
poration possessing neither funds. ex-
perience, organization o pride OF
ancestry. In fact, its ~parentage is
in dispute; but inasmuch as this con-
tract could not have e let without
formal consent of the Standard OIL
group, as We hall demonstrate here
after, It should be evident to any rea-
eoning perSOn tnat tine A"aInlnoutn :
umbnical cord still beats in h con
sulting rooms of the rou of New
York Standard on banks. There is no
reason why the standard people
should not have this contract If Sin
clair is not a Standard agent or feed
er, then at least the Standard should
have had an opportunity to bid for
this contract If he is a Standard
figure head. then there exists reason
why the remaining thousands Of cap.
able oil operators should have been
invited to test this contract by op-
p~ortunity to bid for it. Sinclair's
most notable achievements in the past
have been to assemble Independent
producers and build pipelines. and
later see these pass into control of
the Standard.
keeping Crude OH Out Of the Open
Market.
This Teapot oil is not a character
fit for naval uses. So the Sinclair
contract provides tina the government
-~x,r @Fy - cold Ne NTfJNo-t-a-