Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-07-20
U. S. INQUIRY OR WAR
PRICES TO TUMBLE?
ON RATES CAUSE GAS
SPECULATION RIFE AS TO JUST
WHAT HAS CAUSED SUDDEN
DROP OF 2 CENTS ON MOTOR
FUEL.

Chicago, July 20.-Gasoline, elixir
of outdoor life for some 100000
families In America. became com
mercial rebel yesterday and gave a
thrill To motorists by dropping two
cents u gallon In price. in the face
OF steady increase over the last six
months.
From all available sources il be-
came apparent that the fuel market
docile enough In the past under the
hands of the big oil interests, mas
declared vacation. cracked the bub-
BILE of price imitation. at its peak.
and has reverted TO the old law OF
supply and demand as its future bas-
Is.
Market authorities of Chicago We're
! plainly puzzled over the underlying
y causes OF recent gasoline price activi-
= ties. but they agreed generally that,
i while the automobile demand CON
D tinues to Increase with the steady
production and sales of new cars,
there is little possibility of a further
drop in price.
Standard Oil officials denied the ru-
mors of additional price declines. but
made II plain that they are ready To
cut prices IL competitors care to start
battle.
Several definite items We're cited
- Yesterday as contributing to the price
drop. 1t was limited that not the
least of them lies in the governments
investigation of the gasoline market
. and the sudden drop this in the mar
ket on crude oil
81 can see nothing very mysterious
LSin the situation said Col. X. w.
Stewart chairman of the Standard
Oil board "Our company has made
TWO price cuts recently. The first
came the first of the month and rep
resented the saving in transporta-
ton costs, due to the railroads re-
duction in freight rates. This gaso-
line price reduction was regulated at
all points in the country to give
= users the advantage of the exact
amount save in freight at that point
1.-THE second cut came today. 1t
brought gasoline down cents a gal
lon, reducing the service station
price to 90 cents and the tank wagon
price to q cents throughout the mid
die west. 1t simply reflects the mar
ket reduction in crude oil, which
dropped 25 cents on Saturday
and rs cents Tuesday. We do not
expect the price to go lower unless
our competitors care to cut their
prices.
The anticipated cut in freight rates
! first effected the gasoline market in
June, according to market observers.
Then jobbers stopped buying .empor-
arily to wait for the freight advan-
tages and stocks began piling up at
distributing points. Following the
cut, it is said, buying was not resum-
ed as rapidly as expected, and the
market remained sluggish, resulting
in the continued piling up of stocks.
The Standard and Sinclaid compan-
les are said to hold the great MAORI
ty of national storage stocks.
The government investigation is at
tempting to solve why gasoline prices
should be advanced in the months up
to July, when the greatest reserve
Nastocks in history were on hand, and
consumption apparently had been be-
hind production, with the output
growing. No official reason for this
situation has yet been announced by
the investigators, who attacked the
problem after motor organizations all
= over the country charged a price con-
spiracy and demanded official action
The one explanation so far publish
ed pointed out that there is now lit
tie or no demand for the by-prdoucts
of crude oil and that this waste has
kept the crude oil market climbing,
and consequently advanced the gaso-
line market.