“The Great Oil Octopus.”

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 42, 22 December 1911, Page 5

“The Great Oil Octopus.”

Results of " Standard Oil."

By London "Truth's" Investigator.

(Copyright. All

CLHAPTER VI. ARSON AND ESPIONAGE.

The Oil Trust is evangelical at one end and explosive at the other.— Henry D. Lloyd, in "Wealth against Commonwealth." '

Bights Reserved.)

It will be necessary to return to the subject of bribery when we come to the marketing business of the Trust. Wβ will now pass to a few examples of the resort to open violence for the attaimnemt of the Trust's ends. The Tidewater Pipe Line was started by Lombard, Ayres, and Co., New York refiners, and others, on the publication, of the Rutter circular; and Mr. Rocke-* feller offered at first to buy them out— pipes, refineries, and all —but refused finally to give the price of 15,000,000 dols. they asked. The Standard's next move waiß the purchase of a certain minority of the shares in the Tidewater Company. On January 17, 1883, the Standard stockholders held a huggermugger meeting at the Tidewater office in Titusville, without notifying the stockholders generally, voted the turning over of the control to Standard Oil interests, and took possession of tlie office in the name of that Company. The president of the Tidewater, however, who had been absent in New York, met this atempt by another equally determined; He carried the office by surprise,, barricaded it, and kept forcible possession till a suit could be brought to declare the meeting void, w'hicih was legally accomplished. Previously to this all sorts of material obstacles had been put in the way of the Tidewater pipe getting to tihe sea; the railroads constantly opposed the Company's obtaining a right of way, and mysterious individuals— obviously representing Standard interests'—constantly, cropped up alone , the proposed route, acquiring exclusive rights over strips of land running at right angles to the proposed right of way, some of theise tiny ribbanis of land being forty miles long. Finally, the Tidewater Pipe Line became a Standard Oil tentacle. Tha Ptee Line Fight. In the case of the United States Pipe Line*—organised by the independent oil producers and not to be confused with the United Pipe Lines, which were always a Rockefeller organisation—ii has been clearly shown that the Standard Oil Company's representatives have resioxted to similar means of obstruction. Physical force was used on several occasions, a notable instance being that of the crossing of the Delaware Hi ver at Haimock under the Erie Railroad, bridge in 1893. Erie interests as , siuch : were in no wise affected by the crossing, and the president of the Erie road, after a conference with Mr.' Emery, manager of the United States Pipe Line, had informed, him that there would be no objection to'goimg under the bridge, and even sent his own engineer to Hancock to make arrangements for the exact location of the pipe. When the connection from both sides of the river was about to be made, however, the railroad company ran up two engines and "wrecking cars," with about seventy-five meai, and placed inflammable material over the emds of the pipe limes , , so that on amy attempt to connect they would be so heated that connection would become impossible. The spot was beleaguered by the hostile forces l of the" railroad and tii© pipe line company for thr-ee months, when the later abandoned the routte and set its pipes seventy niitess back, to a place called Athens l , Pa. The for the United States Government in the Missouri prosecution says:— The obstruction came in part ddnectly from the agents of the Standard Oil Company and partly from the railroads, but- there is every reason to believe that..-the railroads were acting in the interests of the Sandard Oil Company, as their own interests would scarcely be injured by the pipe line, amd as they had (so far as the evidence ".shows), never opposed the construction of pipe Mites by the Standard Oil Company. I select another case from the year 1895, when the United States Pipe Line was getting in through the State of New Jersey to New York Harbour.The aicoount of it may be best given in the words of the United States Attormey-G-eneiral's brief in the Missouri Case: —

When the Delaware, Lackawanwa, and Western Railroad was reached at Washington, N.J., serious opposition was again ■encountered. The pipe line pohipany bought the fee simple title to land at a point where there was a 'culvert in the railroad, and placed, a pipe through this culvert, and put a force of men in charge. The next dray two iooomotives, a "wrecker, and 100 men attempted by force to eject the employees of the pipe line from their poadtuML aiud to. tear u\> tlie uruoa. >

Story of the Development, Methods, Men, and

hand-to-hand fight ensued, and finally an agreement was reached by which the matter was taken into Court. Mr. Emery testifies that some of the same men who opposed the passage of the under the tracks of the Erie Railroad at Hancock, N.Y., some two years before, were also among the representatives of the Delaware, Lackawanna, a^ud t Western Railroad in the trouble at Washington, N.J. After a delay of six : mcojitliis the lower Court decided in favour of the right of the pipe line to cross tihe .tracks. The Charge of Arson. In 1879 the owners of the Vacuum -Oil Works, of Rochester, N.Y., Messrs, H. B. and C. M. Everest, father and son, made over a three-fourths interest in their concern, which manufactured a pateoift lubricating oil, to the Standard Oil Company, the Everestis remaining managers ooot- a salary, and also being co-directors along with Messrs. H. H. Rogers, J. D. Archbold, and Ambrose McGregor, 1 of the Standard Oil Trust, of which the Vacuum Oil Company was now run on a subsidiary. The folio wing year three of the employees, Wilson, Matthews', amid Miller, having got some money together, thought that they would like to start refining an their own account, and did so, setting up the Buffalo Lubricating Oil Company in. the town of Buffaio. C. M. Everett warned them he would do all in his power to injure their 0021----dcpn.; He tried especially, by am offer 0f,20,000d015., to get Miller, who was the most practical refinier of the tliree, to break his contract with his two new partners, .and on June 7, 1881, H. B. Everest- took Miller to the office of his lawyer, Mr. Geo. Truesdale, in order to come to an arrangement with him. ...Mr. afterwards testified as follows in regard to this interview (Proceedings in Relation to Trusts, House of Representatives, 18,88, Report No. 3112, p. 864) :—-

I told him (Miller) that I did wot know the exact terms of his contract, but if he had entered in/to a contract and violated it I presumed there would be a liability for damages as well as a liability foV the debts of' the Buffalo party. ( ' Mr. . Miller and Everest both talked on the subject, and Mr. Everest s.ays,"l think there are other ways for. Midler to get out of it." 1 told him I saw no way except either to- back out or to sell out ; no other honorable way. Mr. -Everest,says, substantially, I thinfe, jn these words: "Suppose lie should arrange the machinery so it would. bust [': up, or smash, up, what would tKe consequences be?" —something, to.. ±h at effect. "Well," I says, "in my .'opinion, if it is negligently, carelessly done, mot purposely done, he would be «ifily civilly liable for damages caused.Tby'hiiJ negligence; but if it was wilfailliv.'.ci.oipPj -there would be a. further criminal -| liability for malicious injury to the property of the parties—the cornparty.",,; Mr. Everest 'said he, thought tltere "wouldn't be-anything only civil ],iab,iliiyi.,ar.d said that would— he referred * ici .the- fact .;that, I had been pblipe .justice, had same experience in 'criminallla.^7—and &c said that he would like to'have mc look up the law carefully on that point, and that they would &&e mc again.

Shortly afterwards Miller blew up a ''still in the/Biiffalo works twice by overheating, bitt did no further damage beyond spoiling the 175 barrels of oil contained in the still-. He absconded, was kept in idleness, or. semi-idleness, by the Vacuum Company at a salary of 1,500d0k. a year, and the latter company proceeded to harass the Buffalo Lubricating Oil Company out of existence by taking one xevatiou3 act-ion after a no obex against it oi i . the ground. of- infringement of patents. These wore all decided in favour of the Buffalo -Company by the Courts except in one.caiso, for a purely teohauicai infringement it was condemned to pay 8 cents (3d-). : damages. Finally, the Buffalo Company turned on its adversary and'took an. action against the Vacuum Oil Company directors, H. H. Rogers, J. D. Archbold, A. McGregor, aai-d the two Everests for criminal ■oon.spi-racy, instituting at the same time civil suits for damages. : " The £50 Fine. Th© trial, at which Mr. J. D. Rockefeller arid all the forces of the Standard Oil-.were, mustered, aided by the most eminent counsel in the States, cajne off at Buffalo on May 2, 1886, and Messrs, Rogers, Arch-bold, and McGregor, escaped owing to the judge withdrawing the ca.se from the jury, because, although they were directors of the Vacuum Oil Oounpany, it could not be proved that they had advised Miller to cause a,n explosion. The two Everest s were condemned. By various means ./the Standard ■contrived to stay execution of the sentence until May, 1888, two years later; the statute provided a penalty of. one year's imprisonment or 25Cklols. fine, or both. Great efforts r.-ere made to obtain- a mitigation of the sentence" A petition signed >y forty Vleadrng,citizens'' of Roches-r ter was haiirdiO'd* i.ii to the. judge, pray- i : n<x.. him, on aoooimt of the "imtarr i n'isHdd fidelity n.nd'c integrity" of the ■■>"viewed "lfii- to make the .is light as the "Court" "was authorised by!

■ '-crests were each fined 250d015. for the criminal offence, /and the Vacuum

•'<'■ r V,m-pa.ny settled the civil suits for 85,000d<ols. (£17,000). This is the case

..wiiifidi the late, Mr. Henry D. Lloyd,vXwli)Ose work,' "Wealth agai.net ( t t>!\\\t'-\\\M-V was the first to ex-

pose the Standard's nlisdceds), based the caustic comment; '.?' 'The Standard Oil.' r i>p',st Jis evangelical:at one end and explosive/Jat the other. ,.

It in :st; previous chap- , ter unfairvr?advantag;es conceded tb;v: : Mri Rockefeller by the conspiring railroads afford a sufficient answer to the Standard Oil Trust's contention that the secret of its success lies in its superior business ability. But there is no need to demy a high. level of. business ability to Mr. Rockefeller and hie associates. The Standard Oil>■-people have always enjoyed this legitimate .advantage of knowing exactly what they Wteiid doing. Granting, how.ever, that thp Standard / people are the keenest of business men, it is equally certain that they have pushed their keenness to the : point where it has become mere unscrupulous cunning ahd chicanery. This is conspicuously showm in the. history of tlie Trust in its character of salesnien. . The System of Espionage. Every iocal agent for the sale of Standard -oil. is required to furnish reports to the statistical, department of the Standard' Oil Triist ■> at 26, Broadway, New; ,¥ork, ..of, all; the transactions entered into by every dealer in his district. His business, in short, is to know everybody else's business aud to repoirt it. This is done by filling up fprmis showing in parallel columns every, retailer , a name in the distriict, be he shopkeeper or pedlar, the description and brand of goods he buys aaid sells, how the goods 'have been'transported, their price, and the name and address of the wholesiale dealer who supplied them. The agent is stimulated i.n every way by reproof a.nd reward to obtain the most intimate and apparently trifling details bearing upon tlie above points, and, as is well known in J the United States, is . generally converted by the system into a mere spy, who will not stick at bribery or any other dirty trick so lon.p as he can. give his chiefs the desired information.' The United States Governmeint'agents found that tlhe Staaidard'« "statistical depaittmejrt" wa,s presided over by a man named Christian; Dredger —a name which, allied to the occupation, certkinly remiind.s one of "tho man wdth the muck-rake. ,, The knowledoje that a local grocer or pedlar is buying ; elsewhere, tha.n from the Standard is no sooner received by ma<i] or telegraph'"'at'the statistical department than a- Standard agent is told off to swnnp . rllnArn tipon the "irregular trader," and either by threats of unde.rselling a.nd ruiiiinff'his ".business ir. ca.se ho persists to offer the "i.ndr.pendwit" oil, or by pronmi'Sing him a secret rebate on-published prices, secures his siiibmi&sion. . If the agent c-an. persuacie the retailor to countermand, his order from. , the independent, so much the better. : : ' '• t

These acqusataonis are proved beyond question by extant collections of hundreds of letters and numerous telegrams received by independent retailers, and by a superabundance of eworn testimony from all parts, of the States. Just to show bk>w ; the , thing : works, here- is a typical' letter received: by a retailer who hns been caught ordening oil from an independent, and has been "persuaded" to ooainteirnmnd the order: — •:.:■■ Dcs Moines., lowa, , January. 14, 1891. John Fowler, Hamptooij lowa.

'-Dear Sir,—Our Marshalltown manager/ Mr. Ruth, hais explained the cir-. cumstances regarding tihe purchase and subseqiienit'.coiintea'ma.nd of a car of oil from our competitors. He desires to have "us to you our • promise that we will.stand all'.-oxpei-S'se, provifclied there should ,be any -.trouble growing out . of=;:thp- countermand of : this ear. We cheerfully- promise to do this ; we have tho legal.advice- which can l>3 - obtaaiird iiii lowa bea.ri.ng on the points-"in 'this-oa.se. An order can be counteiThianded.either before or after the goods have been shipped, and, in. fact, can be countermanded even if the goods have already arrived and are at the depot ! (arwxlice, - . radlwa'v station). A firm is absolutely -obliged to accept a counterma.nd. The. fact that the order has been sign'eid does not make any difference. We want you to absolutely refuse under any ciroumstances to accept the car of oil. ' Woare standing back of you in this matter, and will protect you in ©very way, and would kindly' ask you to keep this letter strictly confidential. Yours truly, . E. P. PRATT. A Short Way With Competitors. Another typical example'of' Standard methods is revealed in the following letter addressed' to the. In-djependent Oil Company, of Mairsfild, Ohio, by oaie of its customeiis :-jr' : Tiffin, Ohio, January 24, 1898. Dea.r am sorry to say that a Standard Oil ; man from- your city followed that , oil car and , oil to my place, and told mc that Ji-e woiild not lot mc make a dollar on that oil, and was dogging mc around for, two days to buy that oil, and made all kinds of threats, and talked to :; my people of the house while I vva,s. out; and persuaded mc to sell, a,nd I was. in a stew what I should'■• ditS/ but I yielded, and; I have been very sorry for it since. I thought I would' : has-e-to-see the; bottom knocked out of the prices, but that is why I did it-rythe .pinly .reason. The oil was all right.-' I now see the mistake, and that is of getting a carload. Two carloads odmJng va here> iiiside' of a week is more than the other company will, stand. , .•■;>•,■>'. . ',: ':■ ■ •;-.,.:/;-v:.;C- ---■ Yours truly, .. .., . ■..-•■;. - ; -<*■..: My.A, KIRIC?C, -. Che&s, Carley arid Co., the Standard marketing agents. r Ken-tu-oky, are big offenders in this respeot.

Ohio, a well-known independent, oflVrod a grocer named Armstrong, iii Cl.-wke-ville,. Tennessee, his oil at a io.ivci price, than Chess, Oarley and Co. would sell tio him at. Armstrong mentioned the offer to the latter, and "was acared out of his boots," wrote Rice's agent. Carley told him, coixtidLiies the agent, "he would break him up if he. bou£hiJ oil of any on© else that .the Standard Company had authorised him to spend! lOjOOOdols. to break up any coneem that bought oil from any on© efoe; that he (Carley) would: put' all hiu drummiers in the field to hunt up Armstrong's customers and jSell hie customers groceries, at 5 per cent, bellow Armstrong's and turn all Arm-st-roin'g's trade over to Moqine, Btoniaker and (D 0 . ,, and settle with. Moore, Bremaker and Co. for their losses in helping to break Armstrong up, everjl thirty days. * Tho Waters-Pierce Oil Company, fch* Standard's ---Texas., and Mexico are equally bad, land-their methods ane .denounced, by their customers in■.similar , .'language to' that already quoted. Hw retailers speak of theirthrekts, f, cutting-to kill" ; they compjain ih&6 the '■Standard agents "■.'"nose; , " afeaut their premises, ask impudent questione, andv.generally make trade disgusting and. humiliating. : : i .: Bribery of Employees. The -system;.'naturally results in Jbrib- ; ing employees, ..not only of the rail -.roadei, l>ut of tihe indepeiidents themselves ia order to gain information. Tihe bribes seem to have been -generally j small in. amount," but to have yielded jvonderful results. For instance, in 189$, a negro boy who was induced by tbei Atlantia ■Refining Company of Philadelphia (Standard Oil subsidiary), tjo supply regular details of the business of the Lewis Emery Oil Company/, his employers, was only paid 90dols. for supplying information aa to J>he firm's daily shipment for about nwrnthe ,a.nd also for smxigg-ling his oompan.y'e prioe-book to the Standard managers to be copied out! Most of the old legends about a man "selling his soul to the devil" make Mephistopheles do . something very substantial -as hiis part of-the .bargain. But the -Standard Oil Trust is capable of giving his Satanic Majesty many \yrin.kles in "laibou-r----savin g , ', methods, and breaks down themoral sense of the rising. geiieratw>n on muoh more eoo.nom.i-c prdiiciples. 3L. M. Willioit, Standard a,o<eaif at Topeka, Kansas, from 1891 to 1898,■ testified no. the Missouri trial that his agency w?«9 allowed Bdols. (£1 12s 6d) a.month for paying railroad employees for irufoniiatio'u of competitive shapm-ents, Mr. E. P. Pratt, the manager of t3ne Kansas City branch of the Consolidated Tank Triiie Company, forwarding this Bdols. from Kansas' City by his , persoaiai cheque. Mr. G. "W. Mayer, who succeeded Pratt, reduced tliis<amount to. 6dols. (255.) a month. The cheque* came in blank envelopes without any letter, and the instructions as to what should be done with the money were , u;ivon verbally. The clerks of five clirfere.nt railways were .called upon onoes a Aveek for this information,' which was generally written on a small' slip of paper and handed to the drayman who took oil to the ra,ilroad. I, select this case almost at random as a typical one from an ocean of similar'-.evidence. From the tempter's point of view it certainly seems a very .cheap line of damnation. • , (To be continued.)