"The Great Oil Octopus."

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 48, 9 February 1912, Page 3

"The Great Oil Octopus."

Story of the Development, IVlethods, Men, and

Results of " Standard Oil."

By London "Truth's" Investigator.

(Cop<ji-ijM, <W R ':'' , ' < fl-wi-*!.!.)

CHAPTER XL THE TRUST IN -GERMANY, SWEDEN AND FRANCE. vCVitinuod.) Bribery. It will be seen at once that the judgment exculpates Mr. Quarles personally , but obviously inculpates the German Vacuum Oil Company, by assuming that the practices alleged had taken place, though there iviw not evidence to connect Mr. Quarts with them. Mr. Hildohralicit makes great capital, in a pamphlet he has published; out of the regular Standard Oil'pr.iotic:' of bribery, with which the German public seems to have been quite unfamiliar, but in which their education must now have been pretty well completer!, to judge from the mass of evidence adduced in the Tlildobrandt book. Some of it is entertaining enough and edifying enough for British consumption, particularly as it relates to a cousin-Gorman of one of our own Standard Oil subsidiaries. Here is the "<xr of an affidavit made by Mr. Hans Sehiioll, who had formerly been a representative of tbe German Vacuum Oil Company:—

'•£, the undersigned, hereby declare .and n,m ready to testify on oath that from September 15, 1906, to March 31, JIXW, I. was in (ho employ of the German Vacuum Oil Company of Hamburg, as representative for the liresden braneli, :ind later for Lower Silesia, on a fixed salary of '200 marks a month and also euniidontial expenditure and commission. This commission I had for the most part to pay over to macninemen. partly in cash, partly in goods, in order to bring off now business, and in some oases to maintain business relations heretofore existing. 1 was told by Mr. Naerger, the correspondent for Bioshu, in the branch office in that city of the German Vacuum Oil Company of Hambnig, the names of the linns whose niaoiiino-nicn flPro to receive bribes from mc. Also Mr. A. S Mie. of Dresden, director of the' Vacuum Oil Company, told mc in a way that could not be misunderstood that I was to expend these commissions in this way, and that if I had paid over no bribes in money or goods to the machine-men of the firms I had to call on I would have had scarcely any new orders, and would have lost the old business connection. "Dresden, November 4, 190 ft. "(Signed) Hans Schnell. "The above signature of Mr. liana Schnell, Wilholmruh, noar Berlin, merchant, was done in my presence, and I hereby officially certify that it i 3 genuine. '"Dresden. November 5, 100 ft. "(Signed) Horst yon Muellor-Bemeck, "Royal Saxon Notary, Dresden." In further illustration of Mr. Mie's eil'oru, llerr I l ', llildobrandt publishes a photographed bill of expenses incurred by that gentleman in establishing and keeping up the German Vacuum Oil Company's business connections, and no doubt* incidentally of establishing a reputation for himself among engineers and machine-men generally of being a thoroughly good fellow. This document- will, perhaps, help us to understand why so many working engineers select the Vacuum oils, when no chemical test known to science will indicate any superiority, its translation is as follows: — M. Evening with Mr. Pnmpel and Obersteiger Ilohnor 42 Evening with Mr. Mie 28 (Note. —We had invited these gentlemen, and threw about a good deal of money in order to accomplish something. Residos the M.28 entered here, 1 added M.4S out of my own pocket, which I have had. entered in my own account. —(Signed) Mie.) Cash, Mr. Midler, foreman 100 Cash, Mr. Plaints, engineer of Gustav Toelle 50 Foreman of S. Wolle 5 Cigars for Foreman Muller 12.00 Cigars for Foreman Hortenbach 6.25 Carriage and beer —call on Hortenbach 10.30 Wine, dinner, cigars, etc., with Hortenbach 50.30 Cash. Mr. Hortenbach 20 Total ..M.309.25 "Schmiergeld." Mr. Hortenbach seems to have taken a good deal of lubricating. Apparently his machinery remained immovable under the influence of wine, dinner, and cigars, and it became necessary to put 20 marks in tho slob in order to make him work. How Mr. Hildebrandt got hold of #is bill, or potty cash ticket, he dowjflot say, but lie evidently takes a sinister view of the junketing disclosed, and regards the money spent upon it as so murili "Schmiergeld," to use the appropriate word used by Mr. Schnell in his affidavit. The only English translation for "SchniiergeUV is "bribe"-—iio doubt a very frigid and colorless word. '•Smearing-money'' would bo more descriptive and picturesque as well a* literal, thoti-h for absolute ji«atno*s of •Kprottit* joined to projaaacy of

J meaning i.he Italian circumlocution for the ugly word '"hrilie" of "ogiio oi palma," or palm-oil, heats the German. '"Liibricjiting oil" seems mi-apt English equivalent. Air. liildel)iaioli. also publisher a letter on tin's subject from one ot ihe Vacuum Oil Company representatives, which seems to have attracted some attention in Kiel: —

1 Kiel, November 12, 191)3. The German Vacuum Oil Company, Hamb.urg.

r 'l beg t:i acknowledge receipt of yours of the 10th of this month, fciN> contents of which 1 noto. With reference to my expenditure as your representative, I gave the Fle-nsburg Shipbuildiuy Company last monch alone some 190 marks for gratuities .md introductions to the three foremen. Then I gave oil marks to the head man at the Kiel Electrical Works. As to the smaller expenses incurred as your representative, I eaiitiot remember them now, but tliev will be found in my memoranda ot extra expenses.—Yours truly, Hugo Coiir." Foremen's Gratuities. The Vacuum Oil people have always liked to bo on'good terms with the engineer, tho actual mechanic who has co see to the. application of th" lubricating oils to the machinery, and whose opinion on their merits is naturally deferred to by his employers. Mr. Hcin rich Gremmler, a director of the Ger-man-Vacuum Oil Company, and manager of tho Berlin branch, wrote, under date Juno 20, 190S, by way of instruction- to one of his agents, in one of the letters photographed by Mr. Hildebrandt: "Try and get at what you want through the foremen—that is, by* indirect meaiti. There is no need at all ■for nic to tell you on what spot you may put your haud-upon success.'' Mr. Hildebrandt took all this up in a very unkind spirit towards .the German Vacuum Oil Company, and spoke of it as bribery, whereupon Mr. Gremmler called upon him, he says, and denied indignantly that the company practised bribery. In fact, the company published a document in its defence against this charge signed by Dr. Ruperti, one of its directors, in which, while it did not go so far as to state that it never practised bribery, it declared, at any rate, that "it was incorrect to say that the German Vacuum Oil Company had introduced the gros's practice of bribery into German trade as a system, and that it had succeeded by means of bribes in obtaining permanently higher prices for its oils." The studious moderation of this defence strikes mc as remarkable. Tho company, however, also took occasion to state that it never put any employee into its selling business except on a contract containing this passage:—

"Tou pledge yourself in dealing with the employees of our customers most" carefully to abstain from any transaction that has even the appearance of corrupt influence. Any action contrary to this regulation is a special reason for instant dismissal."

But Mr. Hildebrandt unkindly suggests that this is only another way of saying "Don't nail his ears to the pump." He also says that after tTie publication of the Hugo Cohr letter in Kiel, the Vacuum Oil Company was struclc from the list of those invited to tender for the supply of oils to the municipality. The British public and the proprietors of British engineering works must form their own judgment in tho matter, but they will at any rate see that, for one reason or another, the Vacuum Oil people have conceived a deep affection for the German working man. The Swedish Navy. These revelations are th» more interesting because there are similar •tories from other countries whero the Vacuum lrmiiods have been introduced. The of Stockholm (quoted in the English shipping organ '•Fairplay," of July 22, 190!)) gives an account of the methods of the Vacuum Oil Company of Sweden, another of the Everest, group. The Stockholm newspaper states that the Civil Commission appointed to inquire into the buying of naval stores has in its possession several letters from tho Vacuum Oil Company of Sweden to engineers in the Swedish Navy. These letters contain advice to enable the engineers to prove to their superior officers, who possess less knowledge of tho .subject, that other lubricating oils are inferior to those vended by the Vacuum Company. One letter runs: "It is very easy to do this by only tightening the nuts a little, and the bearings will soon become hot."

The sensation created by the publication of these letters caused the Chancery of Justice, tho highest judicial authority in Sweden, to order the Chief of the Criminal Police in Stockholm (Mr. Lars Stentlahl), who is also an officer of the Municipal Treasury, to hold a general inquiry with plenipotentiary authority as to the summoning of witnesses. This was on May 18, 190!), and on June 5 following the King of Sweden '■confirmed tin's Covci'iis-sion, and added two other commissioners. Messrs. .). Tli. Akerstrom and Fr. S. Eriksson. In the beginning of September, 1909, Mr. Stendahl's report was issued, which proves by an abnndanco of sensational and at times amusing evidence that the to-c*lled Swediik Vnouum Oil Company

is identical with that of Rochester, U.S.A.; that it has evaded Swedish taxation; fraudulently * ; re-branded cheaper as dearer <>ils ; and by a very curiously concealed system vi' bribery indiicrd engineers of the Royal .Navy to diminish the effectiveness of their service. In the result the company lost all its Government contracts, but escaped further proceedings, as Swedish commercial law, in its previous innocence of the '"real smart" methods now introduced to backward old Europe by the .Standard Oil apostles, had utterly failed to provide penalties to meet the case. From Norway, in September, came the news that the last independent refinery had been acquired by the Standard; that much public indignation had been aroused among the hardy Norsemen; and that steps were taken with the support of the Government to build at once an independent relinery. ■• France. In France, where there is a heavy duty on refined petroleum, the Standard has established a refinery, which has given it a monopoly of the benzino trade. The latest news last September was that the French Government has been induced to reduce the import duty on Dutch East Indian benzine from £1 to 10s., and this has enabled tho Royal Dutch combine to start a refinery <v France for the purpose of competing with the Standard. As 1 hare explained the Sumatran and Borneo crude provides a higher percentage of benzine than tne Standard's American crude, and there is no doubt this move will prove a very awkward one for tha 'attar.