Evening star., 1923-03-05
Standard Entirely Dominates
Oil Industry, Committee Finds
Methods More Subtle Than Formerly
Used by Ne,o Jersey Company, Senate
Probers Charge--Predict 81 Gasoline.

directors are typical and an indica-
| tion of the lavish and wasteful man
ner in which their, business is con-
Quoted when the public pays every
thing and is consulted about moth
ing"
Taking up the subject of prices Of
crude OIL the report declared 1t to be
obvious" that the Sinclair Crude Oil
Purchasing Company, which Is half
| owned by the Standard of Indiana.
and the Prairie Oil and Gas Company.
a Standard concern, absolutely fixed
the prices of crude oil in the mid
| continent field from January, 1920, to
| last November. 1t was further said to
be obvious from figures presented
that not the law Of supply and de-
| mand. but arbitrary manipulation.
| brought about the price changes in
question" The effect of these price
, changes. the report continued, were
disastrous alike for the small inde-
pendent producer and ref1ner. and for
the public as we'll"
The investigation conducted by the
| committee. the report said. estab-
liShed these facts respecting the re-
tail prices of gasoline and kerosene:
First. the Standard companies nix
these prices throughout the country,
and such prices in contiguous terri
tory between the different Standard
to 3 cents gallon for gasoline.
Pipe Lines Held Private.
Second, the companies of the
! Standard group cooperate with each
other where such cooperation seems
, desirable or necessary in order To
meet the competition Of independents
! Third While there is some cor
! reSpondence between the cost OF
crude and the prices of refined prod
ucts. the price of the refined product
| is far more apt to be kept abreast
/ of the changes in the price of crude
oil on a rising market than II is on d
| falling market"
With respect to pipe lines the re
! port said that while they were de-
clared by law to be common carriers
many years ago no steps have peen
taken to make them common car
! rierS in fact"
! Criticism is expressed by the report
| in closing in the leasing by the De-
| partment of Interior of oil reserves,
| the assertion being made that the
! re4erves should have been held IN
sacred trust for the benefit of the
whole people"
REPORT CALLED UNFAIR.
Robert w. Stewart. chairman of the
board of directors Of the Standard
Oil Company of Indiana. said in a
statement issued here yesterday that,
IN his opinion. the report of the La
Toilette oil-investigatinG committee
was unfair to his company and to the
oil industry generally.
'The hearings by Senator La FOL
lette's committee were eX parte IN
character. We were simply interro-
gated by the committee and its at
torney along lines that they chose.
and were not permitted to bring for
ward and submit our case for the
consideration of the committee or the
public.
only. but the report is unjust in many
particulars so far as my company is
concerned. The Standard Oil Com
pany of Indiana is an Independent
corporation, and it neither owes nor
acknowledges allegiance to any other
corporation or organization. 1t has
no understanding or arrangement of
any kind or character with any other
of the so-called Standard Oil COM
panies. 1t stands squarely on its own
bottom. and we are trying to do a
big job in a big way, and to serve
fairly the public with which we deal.
The charge that the Indiana Com
pany has a monopoly or dominates
the oil business in the territory in
which it operates is manifestly dis
proved by the facts and mere SUPER
f1cial examination of these. facts will
show it. Our competitors have prac-
the mid-continent field which is
largely our source of supply and
clearly has as great an opportunity
to procure crude for refining purposes
as we have. These competitors in the
same territory have as many bulk
sales stations as we and have more
than double the number Of service
sales stations and have five times
more refining capacity than we have.
So that these competitors have in
each of the three divisions of the
oil industry-productio refining and
marketing-a distinct advantage.
! I'VE have no more to do with the
| making of prices than our competi-
tors, because the prices in any ter
ritory necessarily are dominated by
the one who makes the lowest price.
Our competitors make their prices
without domination by or spgge stion
from us and with no agreement be-
tween us regarding the making of the
same Clearly, IL at any time our
competitors lower the price we must
either meet it or lose the business.
TEAGLE DENIES CHARGES.
BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, March 5.-W. c. Teagle,
nraSidaDt of the Standard Oil Company