THE FIGHT FOR THE STANDARD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 5, 30 January 1909, Page 3

THE FIGHT FOR THE STANDARD

• ALL ABOUT THE GREAT OIL I OCTOPUS. At the present time the Standard Oil lompaiiy-tiie greatest and most successful monopoly on earth co.itrols over !)il per cent, of the export trade 'MI American oil, and SU per cent of the .loniestie trade. It also owns main- oil 'weds and rehneries in Russia and other countries, Aiany people says its power ';" the Mates is greater than that of the V-iovcrniuent. ', llmv I,i,s t' l '* '•••markable position 'been reached? Toe enemies of the standard say, by, ruthless, dishonest, 'ami unscrupulous methods of business-' 'o.v bribing rai.ivnys and legislatures! 'oy stealing the trade secrets of its •rivals; ami by a thousand other mean 'and even criminal, tricks, lint it is 'only lair to reply Unit, after dozen, 01 Investigations by courts of law and Government commission,, the great majority of these charges have not been 'proved. i| The apologists of the Standard siv it has won its place because it knew th'e 'business better than its rivals. thinking JX CONTINENTS.

Some time ago the writer interviewed 'Air. S. C. T. Lodd, the solicitor of Hie •Standard, Air. Dudd's chief point was •that the company succeeds because it 'pau, for brains. ■■That is our best asset," he said. "It is move valuable than our capital, pipelines, Heels of ,'steamers, and vast tank reservoirs. The voinpauy has always been in the market ifor brains; it pays the lop price for 'them.

1 "The most astonishing progress of our •concern was made in the years between 'IB7O, when the Standard' Oil Company of Ohio produced four per cent, of the 'refined oil output, and 1877, when it 'produced ninety-live per cent. "We looked far ahead; we took a 'statesmanlike view of the possibilities •of a new. trade. The men who built up •the Standard—J. D. Rockefeller, William ■Rockefeller, H. 11. Flagler, John Archi•liohl, and the rest—thought in conti'uents. They established their network Mf refineries in geographical situations 'from which they could easily and cheap'ly -supply the large markets. Whenever n new oil region was opened, they were ready to develop it." "THEY WILL BE ON TOP." • The late William H. Vanderbilt, hesa of the great millionaire family, had his own fights with the "Octopus" over freight rates when he controlled the Kcw York Central Railway. He was asked by a Government Commission to name the secret of the Standard's success. "You can't keep such men down," he replied. 'T don't believe it can be done 'by any legislative enactment. They ' will be on top all the time." Mr. John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company, in IS7O, with a 'capital of a. million dollars. Now its •authorisd capital is llu,()00,000dols; but •the market value of its stock is estimated at well over 700,0U0,000d015.

• Mr. Rockefeller's rivals have fought 'him by the very methods that have been charged against himself. During the great "war of the pipe-lines," the Pennsylvania Railway, which the Standard 'had boycotted in the matter of freight, 'carried oil for its competitors at eight cents a barrel under the actual cost of transportation, and instructed its allied pipe-line to "sell oil in the Standard's 'territory at any price whatever." The '.Standard, after a six months' fight, crushed this opposition by superior organisation, and dictated terms of peace, •which gave it a practical monopoly of the production and distribution of oil in the United States. It allowed the Pennsylvania, its beaten enemy, to carry two million barrels a year. In return, the '(Pennsylvania gave the Standard a re'"batc of 10 per cent, on all its freight. 'lt is true it offered the same concession to all shippers of oil, but hedged round 'by conditions which onlv the Standard 'could fulfil.

! This was the practice of other railways until the Interstate Commerce 'Act made rebates illegal. Since then 'the Standard has beaten its rivals 'through its ownership of terminal facilities at the. seaboard and by owning or leasing practically all the oil-tank cars on the railwavs, the great storage-tanks at the oilfields, and the vast network- of pipe-lines which now supersede the railways in carrying the crude oil from the oil-well to the seaboard, or from well to refinerv.

THE ENTERPRISE OF THE STANDARD. The enterprise of the Standard ;n 'handling a new oil region was well di»'played in the ease of the ■•.\lel)o«j| rush" iii 18:11. in July <>< •district produced TelsiiiU^^l^^^^^^^^H •September 'handled daily; by October Ist, 40,0f1W In November, more than S"-"" n - ! ('outran' to popular belief, the Stao \larcl does not own most of the oil-well-, •Its business is buying, refining, J van; 'porting, and retailing. U lakes the oil. Ironi the. producer's well-tor which u nils often advanced money to enable U'e producer to sink : t. "T » • The .iiiantitv received from each proMucer is carefullv recorded t and, ai nay •time he chooses,'he may draw payment ■for his oil in storage at the market•„ricc of the (lav. either io. money, or in •■■pipe-line certificates," which are negotiable in the open market,

A Jul! FOR LIFE. \fter leaving the refinery, the oil is distributed in America by pipe-lines, •tank-cars on the railways, and tankwaggons. r , .. for foieign trade, tlie crude oil is borne to the seaboard by pipe-lines hundred- of miles in length, ™d poured ['into tank-steamers specially built toi the trade. There is an enormous Heel of them, sailing all the seven seas. \ou |<mav see them any day at l'urueet.. Kr'wnhead, ami many another Jiriii.-n ■port. The oil for foreign trade is mosUJ defined abroad. , I The writer has served on two oil-ta-ik steamers, and can give the Standard a ~ood eharaeter as an employer, \\itl the rank and tile of its men also it adopts the policy of paying liberally, and expecting the best service. In ISB7 the Standard made an jigi e(ment with 14.0(M» producers in the oil w-rfons to limit production, in ordei t« Sril.pri.-w. This ■•shutting-down," ■naturallv. injured the laborers employe, ■in drilling wells. The Standard gase a . million Lands of crude ...l-*;o 11, A cents a l»rr.-l-f»r their re let ami •,„„„,. the producers give anot km ml C. This' proved to 1, goo, po icy. The workmen are devoted to tin. Man Uard's interests now. In almost an> 'position, a job with the Standard i» a 'job for life. I WUF.KK TIIKIIK-S A Wlf.r, . In recent vears the Standard has deVoted- its aUeiition mainly to exkrnii„.» its foreign market*. Mr. 11. .«■ Sgler, oi,e "of the heads of the com'naiiv. visited Jamaica in his yacht. Wk Twain was one of hw ] guests, and 'the aerial humorist .rejoiced because hi iad "found a ~lace at last where the 1 .„,,!,. did not bun, the Standard oil .' ..j W t you crow too oudly'said.Mi. 'FI-Her -I'll see Ihey burn it *onii. lie organised a great missionary crii- ' sade in Standard oil by scores ot ei.Hs- ■ :: r L S all over the island. Fancy taps . ltlult delighted the negroes »»■»•" 1 'tastes, were given «way, and <U *> ' Wi,,l free at first. In a "'W months the ! Hnarket had been captiireil.