Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-11-08

There Is now being produced from the all fields Of
the United States the greatest flood Of petroleum that
has ever been taken from this or any other country at
any one time. According to government estimates. the
1927 production in the United States will be s9o.0oo,-
600. or approximately 70 per cent OF the worlds total.
The increase in the United States is 155 per cent over
that Of 1926.
The wastaee resulting from this flood OF oil Is
tremendous, and the fact is obvious that IL is high time
for the federal government 70 intervene. Attempts
to organize the oil producers for the purpose Of equaliz-
inr the output and to place the industry upon a more
efficient basis have proved futile. Each month the
flood mounts higher. and all efforts to conserve this
great national resource have been met by greater vast
are.
The fact that biologists have estimated the oil
fields 81 the United States will produce over seven
billion barrels does not justify the present wastage.
European nations are now conserving their oil sup
plies and huying the ridiculously cheap oil placed on
the markets rs the American operators. Europe has
learned the lesson Of conservation. and are waiting to
sell back 70 this country, when our supplies are depict
"a, their own oi Az profitable prices. Millions have
been lost ny American oil operators the past three
years as a result Of the excessive production and the
battle for markets which Is the natural outcome of
prevailing conditions in the American oil fields.
The problem II oil conservation IA neither local nor
limited 70 the industry itself. Il Is national and per-
sonal and vital to our very civilization. Congress IN
Questonahly has the authority 10 remedy such A con
uition aS exists today and Nc may. under tire defenSe
clause. condemn all petroleum reserves and regulate
production under = license through pipelines or other
wise. The question Of a high tariff on petroleum and
I'LL products IL one that may have q direct effect on con
scryatlon.
Many Of the big oil companies have made enormous
profits in periods Of overproduction, in which case they
fu1 their storage with cheap oil. which. later on, in
periods Of shortage, is sold at a big profit In the
meantime the independent producer. operating small
wells. Is put out q business or taken in BY the big
companies IN periods Of overproduction. When oil be-
comes scarce. the small independent refiner. with lin
tied capital and dependent upon a stable market. Il
either ruined or is likewise absorbed by the big com
panies. The big companies win either way, and healthy
competition IL eliminated.
The industry. as a whole. now finds itself the vic
tim Of rninous competition. similar to that OF the rail-
roads forty years ago. and which was corrected BY the
establishment OF the Interstate Commerce. Commission.
The railroads fought the establishment Or the Inter-
state Commerce Commission. a. the bis oil companies
will fight any proposed regulation Of the oil industry.
But the railroads would not 20 back to the old cordi-
Aliens. What regulation accomplished for the rail-
roads IL would also accomplish FOR the oil industry;
and Il Is m~anifestly 20 the public interest. as well as
the interests Of the industry. that such regulation be
speedily iaposed