Page:The History of the Standard Oil Company Vol 2.djvu/254

 handled .204 of a cent, effecting a saving of $1,860,000, and the difference has been more than made up by further reductions of cost of marketing by our distributing interests, as well as in the increased quantity handled. Although the average price of crude has been the highest this year of any of the last five years, the increase over the price of 1887 (when the price on both crude and refined was the lowest for that period) being about 22¼ per cent., the average price of products has increased but 12¼ per cent., showing a saving to the consumer of 10 per cent. We have therefore continued to make good the claim that the Standard has heretofore maintained of cheapening the cost of the products to the consumers by giving them the benefits of the saving in costs effected by consolidation of interests."

This certainly sounds just—even philanthropic. It is exactly what the consumer claims is his due—to have a share of the economies which undoubtedly may be effected by such complete and intelligent consolidation as Mr. Rockefeller has effected. But was it combination that caused this falling of the margin? As a matter of fact this lowering of the margin was the direct result of competition. In 1888 a German firm, located in New York City, erected large oil plants in Rotterdam and Bremerhaven. They put up storage tanks at each place of 90,000 barrels' capacity. They also established a storage depot of 30,000 barrels at Mannheim, and took steps to extend their supply stations in Germany and Switzerland. They built tank steamers in order to ship their oil in bulk. These oil importers allied themselves with certain independent refiners, and interested themselves also in the co-operative movement which the producers of Pennsylvania were striving to get into operation at this time. The extent of the undertaking threatened serious competition. In the same year imports of Russian oil into the markets of Western Europe began for the first time to assume serious proportions. Russian oil had, from the beginning, been a possible menace to American petroleum, for the wonderful fields on the Caspian were known long before oil was "struck" in