The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1923-04-20
HfADOFSTANDARD
COMPANY IN TALK
Address At Luncheon Given
By c and c Body
MEETS KATO FOLKS
Party of Oil Officials Were
Party of Oil Officials Were
Guests of City Business
Organization


explain-one who showed plain
ly that he was speaking his
true convictions and beliefs,
than Colonel Robert w. Stewart
who spoke today noon at the
Masonic Temple. A big man in
a big job, both physically and
mentally, Colonel Stewart great
ly impressed the two hundred
odd business men of the city
who gathered at the luncheon to
hear him tell of Standard Oil,
Gndiana).
What he said. and the way he
said IT, went deep into every
man and woman present in the
hall. His explanations OF vari
Gus phases of the company were
clear, with no great mincing of
words. He said what he meant
in his own way, and IN way
that made the audience under
stand and appreciate his re-
marks.
Speaking before members of the
Civic and Commerce association
and invited guests at a luncheon
rendered distinguished officials OF
the Standard Oil Company of Indi-
ana in the Masonic Temple at noon
today, Colonel Robert w. Stewart
of Chicago, chairman of the board
Of directors of the Standard Oil
company, declared that the talk
about 81 gasoline was preposterous
and ridiculous. He also denied alb
solutely that his company had a
monopoly OF the petroleum indus
try. or that there were any comb :
nations agreements or understand
,y,A IL,
with any OF the So called companies
said he spoke for the Standard Oil
company, Qndiana) only and not
for any other Standard company
In discussing the question Of 81
gasoline. Colonel Stewart said:
In January, l was a witness be
fore the United States Senate Com
mittee Of Manufacturers, which was
investigating the alleged high price
of gasoline and | wish you to keep
this in mind: That the principal
complaint OF the so called indepen
dents against this company has al
ways been that the prices maintain
ed by this company were too low
not too high, the charge being that
drive our competitors. out of bust
ness" 1.
You have, no doubt, seen the re-
port of this senatorial committee
published in the newspapers. / wish
to discuss 1t briefly"
"In the first place, this was an
eX- parts hearing, wherein the oil
companies. though placed in the po-
sition of defendants, were denied
the right to present their side OF
the case. We who were witnesses
were permitted to answer only
those questions which were asked
of us, and then only within limits
prescribed by an attorney for the
committee. The result was that a
mass OF half truths were introduced
in the record, whereas, had we been
permitted to develop the whole
truth. a very different light would
have been thrown on the entire in
dustry."
But even though only half truths
were developed, the report of the
committee was not substaniated by
the evidence, as anyone who reads
the record can readily see"
Where Was The Suggestion
The committee warned OF 81
gasoline. Who're in all that eH
dence was one single line which
would warrant such a ridiculous
pIOpHtSy "hSlO III dlIOIOI vi
the Standard Oil can be found any
evidence of such lack Of business
sense and acumen as raising the
price of gasoline to 81 a gallon
would mean? The Standard Oil
Co, gentlemen, has been accused OF
many things, but this is the first
time have ever known 1t to be
accused Of lacking ordinary bust
ness sense"
Consider the question-What
would 81 gasoline mean TO the
Standard OIL? 1t would mean the
closing of every service station we
have 1t would mean the junkine
of most Of our refining capacity. II
would mean, if the government did
mt take US over instanter, that the
oil business would cease to be big
business. How many of you would
drive cars with gasoline at 81 a
gallon? How many cars would Mr.
Ford be able to sell with gasoline
at 81 a gallon? How many auto
mobile companies would go entirely
out Of business with motor fuel al
that preposterous price? Theirs
wouldn't be enough automobiles left
in America to warrant our keeping
open even a single service station:
And with gasoline at 81 gal
Ion, how long would it be, do you
suppose, before the former distill
cries OF the country would be turn
ing out alcohol for fuel at 80 to 4C
cents a gallon. The war demon
strated how quickly an industry
can be converted into a similar one
and with gasoline at 81, a year
would see the country flooded with
cheaper motor fuels and the Stan
dard Oil company's business would
be on the rocks. would have
thought that even a senatorial com
mittee would have credited Stan
dard Oil with possessing enough
business sense not deliberately to
wreck its own business"
Colonel Stewart said that during
the twelve years since the Supreme
Court of the United States. issued a
decree dissolving the Standard Oil
Germany, Inc, OF which hts com
many was a component part, that
"Dissolution has become actual and
the ownership scattered and that
during the last FIVE yers the number
Of stockholders in the Standard Oil
company. Qndiana), has increased
from 1923, to more than $4,000"
Five years ago our largest share
holder owned nearly 5000 OF the to
raj stock. Today, the largest share
holder only owns 5A% and that
,I;areholder is not an individual, but
= a charitable institution"
at may be OF interest 20 you
49,. ~ lypou, tbot aE o,,r oc