Evening star., 1933-07-16
THREE HOT FIGHTS PRESAGED
IN HEARINGS ON OIL CODE
Control of Market and Price Fixing Will
Provide Highlights on Industry's
''Jud gment Day.

BY the Associated Press.
CHICAGO, July 15.-The American
! oil industry's day before the Federal Re
covery Administration will see rival
groups dumping volatile problems into
the Governments lap.
A code, drafted out of controversy at
Chicago, has been submitted to Gen.
Hugh S. johnson, Federal administrator,
who will hold open hearings starting
july 20.
Independents, including both small
scale producers and jobbers, are deter
mined to make the submission of the oil
code Judgment day for the industry
Major companies, if they support their
tions. will oppose any such shake-up as
the independents demand.
Argued on Principals.
The oil men go before the Govern
ment agreed on few general principles,
such as that production must be lin
tied and the flow of bootleg oil stopped.
But the chance to freeze competition
and assign permanent seats at the in
dustryS table finds them in sharp dis
pute.
From the p-eview furnished by the
code conventions of producers and re-
fners. the hearing will bring:
A fight for control of the gas and oil
market.
A fight fo- control of the price of
crude oil and gasoline.
A fight over the management Of the
entire industry.
Producers left it to be settled at
Washington how far the Government
shall manage their business. The re-
covery act takes special aim at OIL
giving the President a grip on the pipe
lines. its arteries Independents, hop
ing to wrest price control from their
big competitors advocated an industry
planned as definitely as menu. They
won the convention and wrote into the
production code provisions for Govern
ment price fixing and rigid govern
mental licensing system.
Ma jor Companies Demur.
Major companies, although some of
the big operators joined the independ-
ents on this, urged that Government
control of production was enough.
Refners also transferred to Washing
ton their hottest issue, on which they
ended deadlocked Independents, led
by B. j. MajeWski of Chicago, accepted
the trade practice suggestions of the
American Petroleum Institute men,
bers, but forced the issue on what they
said was the most important question
in the marketing of the country's gas.
That was as to the control of filling
stations by the big refners.
Independents, fighting the 'lease and
agency" agreement by which refiners
take over stations, would require all
leases to be for at least five years.
Major companies oppose any restric-
ton on this arrangement.
Since the code meetings the battle
for freedom of the pumps has brought
a resolution from institute directors ap-
proving the looser rule. Another has
come from Illinois Independents, term
ing it monopolistic. Chicago station
owners have aimed law suit at the
system.
While bringing out the disputes, the
code conventions either did or did not
settle them-there is a dispute over
that.
Producers Harmonious.
The producers meeting was harmoni-
GUS, although independent leaders fire.
quently forecast trouble ahead by point
ing out that there were sections of the
industry not represented and jealous of
any steps taken. The oil marketers,
however, split early in their meeting as
to what its effect would be.