Evening star., 1925-02-10
GAS PRICE INCREASE
LAID TO CRUDE OIL
House Probers Told Penn
Company Gauges Price by
What Standard Asks.

Terrifying that the increase of 5
cents per gallon in the price of gaso-
line in the District of Columbia was
due to the increase in crude oil prices.
j. T. Walker of the Standard Oil Co.
Co. appeared today before the sub
committee Of the House District COM
mittee investigating the sharp rise in
the price of fuel.
Mr.. Walker told the committee that
the price of gasoline for this terri
tory was set in New York, while Mr..
Himmeifarb said that his company
changed the cost so that 1t would cor
respond to that Of Standard.
Representative Hammer tried to
elicit from Mr. Himmelfarb the way
in which he was spprised of the
change in price He asked il the
witness had any understanding with
the Standard Oil Co. and just how 1t
was possible for him to And out ac-
curately when a change was about to
occur. =.
Denies Any Understanainx.
Well, sometimes walk around to
Standard station and see what price
is asked" answered Mr.. Himmelfarb
He denied that he had any under
standing with the Standard Oil Com
pany. ,.
eIsn't that a peculiar way to do
businees"' retosted Mr.. Hammer. LAS
understand ", you just walk around
to see what price Is posted, then GO
back and change yours. That, to my
mind. IL very haphaxArd way of do
ing things"
The witness said that, due to the
overproductfon of crude oil in Cali
fornia in the last two years, the price
was low. but rs soon as the reserves
were being used the price increased
He pointed out that in November the
price per gallon from the refiner was
z cents, while now 1t Is IL.
Asked who fixed the prices for his
company. the witness answered that
ne himself did, as the main office was
In Washington. --.
Mr.. Walker testified that the price
of crude oil had increased three or
four times in the last month, and
that this was responsible for the rise
in gas prices He asserted that the
price increase was general in the
East.
Calis Boost InexcusabIe.
cents per gallon in the price Of
gasoline in Washington" said Repre-
sentative Blanton Of Texas "The
only excuse that the producers have
is that they think they can get away
with IT..
W.-P. Richard, collector of taxes al
the District. gave the committee data
from his office showing the method
of collection of the gasoline tax. He
said that the reason that the revenue
did not come up to expects tions from
this source was because the number
of cars in Washington had been over
estimated.
sS,e00 Autos Here.
He asserted that the number of Ii.
censes Issued showed that there wa.
not more than 5000 automobiles or
the streets of the District, and that
when computed on this basis the re
turns compared favorably with those
In other states.
Present revenue, he pointed out
showed that the averake car here
consumed 81 gallons of gas per month
and paid 80 cents per month in gaso-
line tax. 49,
Representative Zihlman told the
witness that when the gas tax wa,
being considered he was told that
there were approximately 1000
automobiles In. the District and tha,
some: estimates went up as high al
10000.
Whoever told you that must have
been dreaming" answered Mr.. Rich.
ards. That figure is an impossible
one. and ] don't believe there have
ever been as many as 100000 cars
here" =