The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1926-12-31
IN THE
JLTGll5{lsl@GlT
by PJ.Wallace
o7r+ and Pertinent
c71er5DilS Pertaining
10 T1L16S and EIeHtS
~ Great ana Small
CC1C5E1.
IN THE

CC1C5E7.
,rr1RNEI GENERAL FOOT in
=. interview, which we publish on
~ maze today, has put forward
.-s af the most advanced and SEN
.tfe SUGGESTIONS which ever eman-
.,s4 from person holding an Off
-,sI po-.ion under the copper dome
= the state capitol. In brief the
.raae-tiau of General Foot is that
lsu should be introduced which
..rH althoriZe some state agency
4, 81. up refining plants and distri-
brflre stations for the refining and
.sIe as oil He points out that it
r8rId be better to take the royal
ties due the state now, in the form
4 crude oil and refine and sell it,
-bsn 90 take it in the form of cash
from the oil companies. He also
nsiats out that under the present
s,stem the prices charged for gas
= Montana, which is a producing
State. is much higher than in North
Dakota or Minnesota and other non
oiI producing areas. There is little
doubt that if the Attorney Gener-
ais suggestions are enacted into
law al the next session of the leg
fsIature that the people of this state
viii get some relief from the intOl-
srable robbery Dracticed by the Oil
companies at the present time.
TIE SUPREME COURT Just hand
Il down a decision compelling the
oh companies Of the state to pay
half q million dollars which they
collected from the people, but re-
fused 20 turn over to the state while
a chance remained to emaculate the
Gasoline tax law passed in this
state. The oil companies had no
more right to hold this tax money
IN their possession than a highway
man would. but they did. Because
of that fact, their slick lobbyists,
when they invade the corridors of
the state capitol and the lobby of
the Placer Hotel and tell unsus-
pecting legislators that this law
would "kiIl the independent oil in
dustry in Montana should get scant
consideration If the oil industry
of the state cannot compete with
stato-Owned refineries and filling sta
ti0ns then it should go out of busi-
ness. All this bunk is old and should
not affect members Of the legisla-
ture but We must remember that
of the members of the House
and nine-tenths Of the members of
the Senate are political subnOrmals
from COW pasture towns who get
hypnotized by the well-dressed,
smooth-talling lobbyists of the pre-
datOry interests. The people will
keep a close watch on how their leg
islatiye representatives vote on this
important subject this time and
trained Dr0gressives should demand
roll calls and help keep the records
straight for the election two years
hence.
SELLING GASOLINE from state
financed filling stations was first
tried In a kind of an irregular way
q South Dakota. There filling sta
uOHs were established by Executive
Decree under the direction and con-
troll of the Highway Department.
But even at that the people of
South Dakota were saved thousands
Of dollars when the big oil cOmpa-
nies were forced to reduce their
prices. While the Montana prices
remain skyhigh the price of gasO-
Inc is still low in South Dakota as
II is in Minnesota, where high
powered gas sells for 1914 cents.
! have before me an article in the
New York Commercial which was
Eritten by Ralph Z. Duncan for the
purpose of discrediting the govern
mental operation of oil selling agen-
ues. But the article, while throw
mg out a lot of msinuatiOns. fails
70 prove that such agencies are
detrimental to the interests of the
People or the state. AS a matter Of
Tact certain paragraphs in this
booklet show the advantage of
such state owned oil stations. The
following shows what might be in
Montana if the State went into this
business;
The report Of the SO-day test
period shows the average cost per
gallon on 1920 gallons of gasO-
me sold by tho six stations as fol-
lows:
Cents
Average price at refinery -.--- $50
>hrnkage ......-................ ......... .OS4
average freight ......----.-.--... 1893
Operat. expenses and overhead liza
State gasoline tax ....--..--..--.-. 300
Total cost .....-..-. .......-.18.5l