Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-11


~ the most exhaustive inyesti-
"A cations ever made by q Gov
i eminent board, the petroleum
Industry, and particularly the
refining and marketing branches of
this great business, will come again
this Summer and. Autumn under the
searching eyes Of still another Fed
eral agency than the Federal Oil Con-
servation Board. whose report Is due
for issuance within few weeks.
Acting at the instance of the Sen
ate, backed by request from the
President Of the United States, the
Federal Trade Commission has swung
into line all its comprehensive in
vestigatory powers in the initial
phases Of another inquiry-the third
In four years-into the reasons for
the material advances" during the
past Winter and Spring in the price
Of crude oil, gasoline, kerosene and
other petroleum products, seeking to
find out whether. such increases We're
arbitrarily made and unwarranted.
Its field force is being lined up now
in readiness to carry out the results
of preliminary office survey as an
outline for the newest inquiry into
marketing of petroleum and its
products.
OIL In Class With Coal.
Oil has become very much like
coal in the public mind. Stripping
the industry of its trade secrets and
delving deeply into the why's and
wherefores Of such and such a price
| advance Is becoming one Of the most
| popular of sports. Coal has had many
Investigations, while oil is just in the
swaddling- cloth stages-the infant
class-in so far as Government in
vestigations are concerned. Yet the
present inquiry is the second in four
years by the Federal Trade Commits
sion and is the third undertaken into
the marketing and price of petroleum
| and its products by a Government
agency. The Department Of Justice
! also conducted a price investigation
| three years ago and submitted to
| Congress a report virtually white
| washing the industry of charges Of
conspiracy to fix prices.
The investigation now under way,
| result Of which the commission is d.
| rected to report when Congress opens
| in December next, will be an ex-
| haustive affair and comes as a re-
suit of Senate resolution introduced
by Senator Trammell of Florida. Al.
| most coincidentally with the passage
| of the Trammeu resolution came a
request from the White House cover
| ing practically the same ground as
| the Senate order. The presidential
| request came within a few days after
Gov. Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia
| had written President Coolidge in
quiring whether some Federal action
could not be taken to ascertain a rea-
son for the sudden advance in gaso-
| line and kerosene prices in the Old
Dominion State.
Scope of Resolution.
The Trammell resolution directed
| the commission to investigate and re-
| port on, first, "the very material adj
| vances recently made in the price Of
| crude oil, gasoline, kerosene and other
petroleum products, and whether or
| not such price increases were arbi-
/ trarily made and unwarranted.
| Second. Whether or not there has
been any understanding or agree
| ment between various oil companies
or manipulations thereby to raise or
| depress prices, or any conditions of
ownership or control of Oil properties
or OF refining and marketing facilities
in the industry which prevent effec-
tive competition.
Third. The profits Of the principal
companies engaged In the producing,
refining and marketing OF crude oil,
| gasoline, kerosene and other petro-
leum products during the years 1922,
1928, 1924 and 1925, and also such
| other matters as may have bearing
upon the subject covered by the pro.
visions Of the resolution"
| The Federal Oil Conservation Board
| report is understood to be practically
i TI0fnlD orrrof 3raer
meeting Of the full board for indorse-
ment prior to turning the report over
to the President. This report does
not go specifically into prices nor any
possibility Of price-fixing combina-
| tions, except in so far as they affect
the major matters of production and
distribution covered in the report.
The Federal Trade Commission has
ample background on which to start