The Washington times., 1924-07-23
u s. WILL PUSH
GREATEST OF
OIL SUITS
Coolidge Initiates Proceedings
Against Standard and 40
Other Companies
lcontInued from FIrat Page.l

Continued from First Page.)
the point Of view Of prices and Of
alleged control Of prices.
A reckless President would have.
done it dramatically and spectacu-
larry. President Coolidge, not num-
bering reclElessnesg among his
faults, and not being at eli sure
just what the Department Of JUS
tice would find or would not find
in the course Of its inquiries, con-
veyed his communication to the De.
partment Of Justice with his left
hand quietly and unobtrusively.
He at the same time requested
the Federal Trade Commission to
make similar inquiries out In the
oil fields and in the offices Of the
oil companies from the statistical
and industrial more than from the
legal or judicial standpoint.
Thus two sets Of inquiries were
put on their way by Presidential
Impetus. The inquiries, Of the De-
partment Of Justice, however, were
in fact already on their way by
impetus from the Department itself
and from the results Of the in.
vestigation into gasoline prices con.
Quoted last year ny q senatorial
committee Of which Senator Nc.
Nary Of Oregon, Senator Brook.
hart Of Iowa, Senator Smith Of
South Carolina and Senator Jones
of New Mexico were members and
Of which Senator La Toilette Of
Wisconsin was chairman.
Back to La Toilette.
Just az the naval oil reserve in.
vestigation by Senator Walsh Of
Montana goes back to the famous
naval oil reserve resolution intro
duced by La Toilette, so this new
suit against the Standard Oil Com.
pany Of Indiana and its alleged
fellow conspirators on the OIL indus
try goes back quite considerably to
La Follette's famous gasoline hear.
ings.
In those hearings the thing was
first popularity and widely dis
closed which forms the basis Of the
suit which the Government has
now brought against Standard
OIL Company Qndiana), Standard
OIL Company NIew Jersey, Texas
Company, Gasoline Products Com.
pany. ct al"
This thing IL the Cracking
process Of getting gasoline out Of
petroleum, and It Is the various
agreements through which certain
oil companies have pooled" their
patents dealing with the Cracking"
process and then have leased those
patents to still other companies In
return for alleged promises to re-
strict competition and even to re-
strict production.
The Department Of Justice put
three men on the La Toilette gaso
line report and they studied 1t and
analysed 1t for weeks.
Then the patent lawyer in the
Department of Justice took hold,
headed by H. q. Knight. and they
devoted themselves to studying all
the patents on cracking"
Route Is Tough One.
It VIII be seen that the route
toward catching these oil com.
panies conspiring and monopolizing
and being wicked, Is long route
and o tough one.
It takes in United States Sena
tors, Department Of Justice anti
trust.law experts, Department Ct
Justice patent-law sharks, Federal
Trade Commission statisticians and
accountants, and Presidents.
The oil companies and the gaSO.
line consumers can rest assured
that billions of volts Of energy IN
washington have gone for two
years into the sublime task Of
doping out way of catching the
oil companies at their wicked tricks
and of rescuing the consumers
from the 'depredations Of the filling
station magnates.
It can be said with authority that
finally three ways Of going at the
oil companies were conaidered.
The first was to charge them
with direct conspiracy to fix prices.
Members Of the Federal Trade
Commission are known to believe
that such conspiracies exist. They
apparently have not been able,
however, even in their recent re.
port to the President. to provide
the proof.
This way, therefore, of going at
the oil companies was not used.
The second way considered was TO
charge certain old Standard OIL COM
panies with continuing to maintain
the same non-coEnpetitiv divisions
of territory among themselves which
they used to maintain when they all
were constituent parts Of the old
standard Oil Trust" THIS way may
be tried later.
Plan Finally Adopted.
The third way was the way which
the revelations about Cracking and
about the patent pool" on 'crack-
ing" had suggested. This way was
adopted.
Before IL was adopted, It was care
fully considered by Augustus L.
Seymour, who is second in com.
upand In the Department Of Justice,
and also by Attorney General Har.
Ian F. Stone himself. THE prepare
tons were exhaustive. They were
complete. The suit was brought,
and the mere announcement OF the
bringing Of 1t took millions Of dol.
lars off the quoted market value OF
the stock Of the Standard Oil Com.
rany OF Indiana.
That blow. coming from an admin.
istration headed by Calvin Coolidge,
was stunning and paralyxing to the
oil industry. What prospect did It
portend? Was the OIL industry 70.
ing to be torn up by It's roots and
scattered all over the national lot
once more?
To get the answer It IL necessary
to understand that great new anna.
ing novelty the gasoline cracking