Evening star., 1922-05-29
Suggest That Increased Price
Gasoline Is UnWarranted,

A general protest has gone up
the rapid increase in the price of
gasoline. Almost without exception,
editors declare that there are evil
dences Of collusion among the pro-
ducers to milk" the consumers. and
are demanding that the congressional
and Department of Justice inquiries
be pushed to an early completion.
That there seems no excuse for the
increased price is argued by the
Wheeling Daily News. which recalls
years and the country has the great
est gasoline reserve In Its history.
The demand also is the heaviest in
many months, but what has become
Of the we'll known law OF supply ana
demand~ The fact that since De.
in Michigan cents gallon Is cause
for alarm to the entire motor indus
try, the Bay City Times-Tribune
points out. because retrospective buy
ers will 60 slowly in the face OF IN
creasing prices. because they know
gasoline is already so high that it
leaves them on the fence as to
whether to buy or not. Congress has
authorized an investigation OF the
gasoline situation. So far, so good,
but what ever comes out OF con-
gressional investigation except a gen.
erous coat of whitewashT The con-
gressional investigation, however, the
Richmond Times-Dispatch hopes,
may throw some light on the phe
nomenon of a group OF great competi-
tors in the oil industry deciding at
the same time to raise the price OF
their gasoline to exactly the same ex-
tent. The millions of gasoline con-
sumers in this country will be inter-
ested to know how this could De pos
sible without some interchange OF
ideas on the part of the competitors.
Suggestions that the object Of the
raise Is ito discourage sales with the
purpose of enlarging the reserve to
billion gallons" leads the Mobile Reg
lister to declare that ''if this is. SO
the gasoline using people are calied
upon to pay for the carrying out OF
a business policy which may or may
not be sound. and over which they
have no control. To ordinary OBJ
servers the affair seems to be SIM
ply the grabbing OF two or more ex-
ira cents per gallon by the companies
that conduct the sales OF the tuel
gas, In this very connection the
Nashville Banner argues that dur
ing the past year oil has been pro-
duced at a great reduction in cost,
and the refiners have been laying IN
enormous stocks Of oil and gasoline
at low prices. The trouble with ootn
senatorial and Department OF Justice
Investigations Is that they are two
often, merely matters of red tape"
The independent oil producers. the
Augusta Herald recalls. protested
that the leasing of navy oil lands to
the Standard Oil-Doheny-Sinclair In.
terests will have the direct result Of
depressing the price Of crude oil
without in any way relieving the peo-
pie of the onerous and ourdensome
high prices of refined products which
include gasoline"
when the Tremendous consumption
is considered" the st. Paul Dispatch
empha sizes, ian advance Of but cent
a gallon running to millions OF dol
lars becomes a matter OF great i'm
portance. The public wants nothing
that Is not fair The impression
too high. New methods have cheap
ened the refining process and In
creased the percentage OF pront. ana
the consumer has taken no benent.
part of the Inquiry might properly be
devoted to ,ascertaining how this
with the several ref1aers and whether
royalty costs are carried into higher
gasoline prices" The arguments OF
the oil companies to justify the ad-
vance, that the advancing prices are
economically necessary. are not 5orne @
out Oy In0 IacCSs tAo ~ :" y
believes, pointing out that tine IN
crease in CONSUMPTION OF gasonne TOE
the first quarter OF the year was oniy
per cent, and there Is ofhcfal testi-
mony to the fact that production
custs have been lowered. In some
parts Of the country sthere have been
four Increases in prices or auLomotive
fuel in the last six weeks. the sus-
picion that there Is q gentleman 9
agreement among the oil companies
has been suggested before. Tnere
seems to be suflcient cause Tor q
thorough inquiry at an early GATE as
to how far it extends"
Every community in the land is IN
terested in having the price Kept
right, in the view of the KALAMAZOO
Gazette, because gasoline has be-
come q vitality essentia! fuel. Any
unnecessary and un3usttned rise In
nrice must be opposed with all the
Force the government can command,
because such an increase viii serve
a another brake on the wheels OF
reyivinR industry. Eommerce. 70
very great extent. depends today on
the availability OF gasoltne: Hign
prices OF gasolins hits the 5oyrider.
| for which we neeo nave no .reGret,
bnt ii hits also the merchant, the
rr,annfactmfer and the farmer. and
upon none does II fall quite %, heav-
lily at this time Of year tnan the iat-
ter.n There is little hope Tor relief,
! in the opinion OF the sSpringneid (llt!
III cwnr. lat shall We. know ahout
| u +lv1r = n 'sNaii We have accomplished
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