Evening star., 1925-01-05
VITAL THEMES
The Presidents Oil
Commission.
BY IDA NJ. TARBELL,
Historian of the Standard OIL Co.

President Coolidge probably was
listening to his wise Secretary of
Commerce when he appointed cab
met commission to consider oil con-
servation. For a good many months
now Mr.. Hoover has been worrying
over the multiplying and growing
drains on the national petroleum
supply.
Some two years ago he called a
conference of oil men, urging them
to economize at home and extension
into foreign fields.
Old oil men-those who started in
the Cos or 70s and are still wild
eating in California, Texas and
Mexico - laughed at Mr.. Hoover.
They have been hearing at intervals
all their producing lives these cries
of approaching exhaustion and they
quote Natures answer to every
alarm. Their figures are startling.
In 1900, they will tell you, we were
producing, in round figures. $4,000, 900
barrels Of oil; 10 years later produc-
tion had risen to 210,000,000; five
years later, 1915, to 100000, 900 bar
rels; in 1920 to 443, 100000, and now
it is over 700,000000 barrels. Why
worry with such a record? There is
always more where this came from.
Mr.. Coolidge's commission will face
is the instructive hostility of much
of the oil trade. For over so years
powerful group in the industry has
fought every attempt to curb it's
recklessness, to force il to better
service of the public. The oil gam
blers have been on the side of this
leadership: so have most of the oil
trade journals. ITO read them one
might suppose that the Government
was the malicious enemy of the in
dustry! This element can now be
depended upon to do what it can
TO hamper Mr.. Coolidges commission,
but the day is past when it is all
powerful. There is an altogether
modern spirit growing up in the oil
world - enlightened. sensing that if
the Industry is to be stabilized they
must aid, not hinder, attempts of the
Government to. find out what regu-
lation is wise and what unwise.
There is even an element in the
oil trade today that goes so far as
to talk out loud of regulation in the
lndustry's inner sanctum - the Ma
tional Petroleum Institute. The most
stirring feature of recent meetings of
this fine organization has been an
attempt to persuade the industry to
far larger degree of regulation
than Mr.. Coolidge's commission will
probably dare to advise. And the
Institute listened, and a good number
of it's members applauded.
The suggestion came from Henry
Ia. Doherty, one of the big men
in oila He proposed that henceforth
the petroleum world pledge itself to
do no drilling except by State permit
and that it seek and adopt a plan
OF development which will result in
true community interest
To be sure, the old leaders have
so far successfully sidetracked Mr..
Doherty's proposal. but the member
ship has shown its interest by cheer
ing the idea of it's open discussion.
1t is pretty certain that it will not
be long, if Mr.. Doherty sticks to his
guns, as he has the reputation of
doing, before we will have the Ma
tional Petroleum Institute openly
considering how 50 to harness oil
| as TO produce according to needs,
prevent waste and serve not only
the individual company but the whole
community.
Copyright, 1924