Evening star., 1936-08-09

oil produced and marketed in vio-
lation of code allowances. Litiga-
tion resulted. and the Federal courts
in Texas refused to uphold the au-
thority of the Secretary Of the In
terror in the Panama and Amazon
cases. They were sustained in this
by the United States Supreme Court,
and the oil code was finally and
definitely knocked out, along with
Schechter case.
Congress in the Spring of 1884 re-
ceived the Thomas-Disney bills, in
dorsed by the independents, by Secre-
tary Ickes, and, 1t was claimed, by
majority of the oil industry. The
oil code was still in effect at that
time, but legislation creating N. R. A.
was temporary. Moreover, the flow
Of hot oil' was becoming increas-
ingly difficult to suppress, and the
code authority had suffered reverses
in the courts. The national petro-
leum act" as the legislation was
known, would have imposed perma-
nent Federal control of the oil in
dustry.
Feared Later Demonstration.
Secretary Ickes. at a Senate hear
ing in May, 1884. pointed out that
the code would expire automatically
in June Of the following year, and
said he feared complete demoraliza-
ton Of the petroleum industry in
the absence Of proper regulation
I'VE have been able to make real
progress toward the stabilization of
the industry under the code, but we
| have reached a critical point where
its future effectiveness in maintain
ing the improved condition of the
! industry is very doubtful" said Ickes
There are many loopholes in its pro-
visions. The penalties for violations
are woefully inadequate. To make
bad matters worse. the code has been
declared invalid by the Federal dis
trict courts of Texas. Our hands are
completely tied in that most impor-
tant jurisdiction. The production of
hot oil has been on the increase
for the past several months, not only
in Texas but in the other producing
| States"
The Independent Petroleum Asso-
citation, in a resolution in support of
the legislation, declared the oil in
dustry faced a critical situation be-
cause oil produced and imported was
in excess of quantities prescribed by
the petroleum administration.
Gov. Landon, in a letter of April
IS, 1885, to Senator Thomas of Utah,
chairman Of the Senate subcommit-
tee handling the legislation, urged its
passage as the most practical method
which has been proposed to solve
many of the most serious problems
now disturbing the oil industry"
Landon Feared Price War.
IT am convinced that if this Con-
gress adjourns without providing
some such legislation, it will not be
long before disturbances in the Pc
troleum industry will result in dis
astrous reduction in the price Of
crude petroleum" Landon wrote.
This measure will supplement legis-
lation which has been adopted by
some of the oil States, including the
State of Kansas, in an attempt to
prevent an oversupply Of petroleum
and its products from demoralizing
the industry. and also to prevent a
needless waste of this irreplacable
natural resource. Our experience has
been that the problem of balanced
production cannot be achieved by
the action of any single State, but
requires Federal action.
This measure, by setting up a ma
tional body to make the determination
of the actual demand for consumption
and for export from this country, and