Evening star., 1933-07-30
.MOFFETT may GET
|. OIL CONTROL POST
Standard. Official Who Re.
signed Likely to Head Fed
eraI Enforcement Body.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
James A. Mo6ett Of New York, who
resigned Friday as vice president Of
Standard OIL Of New Jersey, Is now
pointed to authoritatively as the man
who win enforce oil production control.
He quit his 500, 0,0o0-a-year job be-
cause Of q disagreement between him
self and other officials over President
Roosevelt's oil policies.
From Hyde Park, where the Chief
Executive rested over the week end,
came word that the administration has
not been satisfied with the attitude of
some officers of the New Jersey COM
pany, of which Walter C. Teagle is
president and W. 8. Parish chairman
of the board.
Teagle. chairman Of the Advisory
Committee aiding Hugh s. johnson, the
industrial administrator, and Parish
was senior vice president Of the COM
pany. They opposed Monett's view
that the Government should supervise
the oil industry and its prices.
Given Two Alternatives.
Moffett resigned after Teagle had
told him he either would have to re-
sign from the company or reject an
offer Of appointment to the johnson
Advisory Committee. Teagle was re-
ported to have asked the board Of di-
rectors OF the company to accept Moi
fett's resignation.
Establishment Of q special admins
tratiye agency to enforce oil production
control was understood in informed
quarters to be planned by President
Roosevelt, with the expectation that
Moffett would be active in its super
vision.
Whether such an agency would be set
up in the Recovery Administration un-
der johnson or In the Interior Depart
ment was q subject on which no one
would comment, but President Roosevelt
was believed to want control under the
Interior Department.
Should enforcement of production
and refining proposals that will be put
forward in a trade practice plan for the
industry now being formulated by john
son. Interior Department officials and
other agencies. be assigned to the In
terror Department, Secretary Ickes
probably would be designated oil admin
istrator with Moffett to aid him.
xlu6 uCCASIO1 ACStS WILL 1ICclOCAli
Roosevelt. He has called in Mohett In
the past for his views on oil problems
and possible solutions, and both he and
Secretary Ickes have shown high re-
gard for the oil executive.
MolYett Industry Authority.
Quiet and friendly, Moffett is At. He
Is recognized among oil men as an au-
thority on its problems. He has been
28 years with the Standard of New Jer-
sey, with which his father served about
40 years. part Of the time as president
Moffett said Friday he was in full
accord with the Presidents policies, and
added:
My views as to the policies to be
pursued apparently are not In accord
with those of the board Of the New
jersey company"
Teagle and Parish maintained an alb
solute silence. Meanwhile. Secretary
v1SOry Committee assisting johnson
sought to allay the friction between
TeaGle and Mohett.
Roper said he had asked Moffett to
sit on the Advisory Board and intended
to have his appointment approved. but
that he hoped Teagle would remain
Some observers thought Teagle might
resign because Of the sharp conflict be-
tween his views and those of Moffett.
Oficials were silently working on
their proposed code for the petroleum
industry. but there were reports In
usually informed sources that the plan
might not seek to fix prices but would
provide some sort Of price regulation.
Likely Regulation Outlined.
1t was expected that regulation would
be intended to prevent any selling at
less than cost Of production and to pre-
vent an unnaturally high retail price.
The Interior Department was re-
garded as likely to recommend thst
pipe line regulatory sections be written
into the code as was asked by indepen-
dents and several spokesmen for States
in recent hearings before Johnson.
Moffett's resignation was looked upon
In oil circles as bringing into the open
a contest between the major oil COM
panieS over price regulation and Fed
eral supervision Of the industry.
K. R.. Kingsbury, president Of the
Standard OF California; Harry F. Sim
clair Of the Consolidated Oil Corpora
ton and wide section Of the industry
favoring price regulation, are opposed
by the Standards of Indiana and New
jersey, the Royal Dutch Shell, the
TexAs Co. and the Gulf OIL Co.
In recent sessions of oil men here
In connection with formulation of q
trade code for submission to johnson,
Sinclair and Kingsbury lined up as
leaders Of the campaign for Federal
regulation, while spokesmen for the
other companies voted against them.
The Emergency National Committee
OF 81, set up under the trade-practices
plan drawn at Chicago under auspices
OF the American Petroleum Institute,
omctally voted here few days ago, 27
to IL. in favor Of price regulation.