before the
investigating committee of the legislature of New York that in 1878 he
had requested the Erie Company to transport for him 100 cars of crude
oil from Carrollton to New York; that he had called upon Mr. Vilas, the
general freight agent of the company, in person, but had never been able
to obtain the cars, though the oil had been held in Carrollton three or
four months ready to be loaded. This gentleman also testified that he
had found it impossible to obtain cars from the New York Central, and
that the company's general freight agent had informed him that the road
did not own and could not furnish any oil cars.

After the Standard Oil Company had secured control of the various pipe
lines of the oil regions, it frequently lowered the price of crude oil
to such an extent as to make its production unprofitable. It even
refused to buy oil, basing its refusal upon the ground that the railroad
companies failed to furnish cars for its transportation. When the
well-owners had their tanks filled, they had the choice to let the oil
run away or to be at the expense of closing up their wells. In one
instance, however, when their ruse threatened to cause a riot, several
hundred cars were brought to the wells within a few hours.

The Standard Oil Trust, not satisfied with the monopoly of the wholesale
trade, even tried in places to control the retail trade by peddling oil
at private houses. This method of destroying competition was chiefly
resorted to where independent dealers obtained their supply by a water
route.

That many of the deeds of the Standard are dark is evident from the fact
that its members, when summoned by the Hepburn committee, declined to
testify, lest their testimony be used to convict them of crime.
Officials of the trust have bribed or attempted to bribe employes of
rival firms, for the purpose of ruining their business. By its peculiar
methods the company has been successful in courts of justice and
legislative halls, and has enjoyed an impunity for its conspiracy
against the public that is without precedent in America. It has
accumulated a capital of more than $100,000,000, and it is even claimed
that for years its annual dividends have exceeded in amount the capital
actually invested. This is not at all strange when it is considered that
they have levied upon the producers, consumers and transporters alike.
Mr. Cassat testified before the New York investigating committee that in
eighteen months t