Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, October 14, 1921, Page 4

al ost Lo) PAGE FOUR Clarence B. Richardson of the Consolidated Royalty Oil company, has written an open letter now be- ing widely published in the state amplifying and discussing the sev- eral questions brought up by George Brimmer of Rawlins, with reference to the price paid for crude oil tn the state and the :prices charged for refined products. Mr. Richardson discusses very ably the entire situation in what follows: “I have read with great interest, as I am sure thousands of others have done, the very interesting ar- ticles recently published and writ- ten by Mr. Brimmer and Governor Carey, together with editorial com ment pertaining to the arbitrary price paid for crude oj! in this state. “It is a question that not only affects the oil producers of the state, but nearly every citizen of the state is directly, or indirectly, vitally interested to a much great- er extent than many of them pos- sidly realize, either directly through stock ownership in independent Producing companies, or indirectly as tax payers and more especially im building good roads, irrigating ‘Vast areas of desert land and as the guardians of the school children of the state, it would become their i@uty to see that a fair price is paid for the royalty ofl produced from tate school lands. is Does a Monopoly Exist? “Both of Mr. Brimmer’s articles wing, first, that the price is un- r and purely arbitrary, and sec- @ndly, that the state has a lawful iremedy, are absolutely unanswer- able. If additional and unquestion- evidence is required to show Bet the compantes purchasing ‘Grude oll have-an absolute monop- oly without any competition what- @ver in this state, we have it at band in the government report made by the Federal Trade Com- mission and published by the United States government in a report made January 8, 1931, and covering 64 Printed pages, showing in detail the absolute control of a!) the pipeline companies, the refiring company afd the purchasing of all crude oil in the state. An absolute monopoly in the purchasing of crude oil is an undeniably, established and official- ly proven fact. The Result. “Last year Wytming produced 17,071,000 barrels of crude oll and Producers of the state received for it 75 cents per barrel less than the same quality of ofl brought in the mid-continent fleld.. or about $03,250 less than the fair value the same grade of oil as estab by the mid-continent posted price. The producers, the state of Wyo- mifig, the United States govern- ment, every taxpayer and «the “chool. children of the state were the losers of this amount. by this arbitrary and unjust Price fixing and the shutting out of ail competitive buying for Wyo- ming crude vv. Let Us Be Falr, “The Midwest Refning company, Which has been recently taken over by the Standard Oi! Company of Indiana, has been, and is now, a very important factor in building up and developing the resources of this state, furnishing employment to thousands of men. Great credit is due them, and absolutely fair and even liberal treatment by every citi- men and by the state government should always be extended to.them. It, is to be hoped that it will never be necessary to follow the tadical and drastic legislation of ‘such states as Texas, although, as Mr. Brimmer sugg we have the Power to do Certainly the in- dependent producers of this state have a right to expect and to look to the state and to the United States government for every rea- sonable assistance, co-operation and Protection, the state itself and the government with their royalty ei are actually partners with the sitixena of this state in producing efude of] and no contract should be ‘mtered into by the state or the ernment- in selling their oll ® special price or privilege is exacted by the state or the goy- ernment if the advantage and prot. it)accruing to them is paid indirect. ty by the independent producers. In other words, if the state is selling Salt Creek oll at a minimum of $1.50 per barrel and the independ- ent producers are forced to sell their oll. as they recently have been Going, at 50 cents per barrel, then it Is manifestly unfair to the citi. wens of the state, as the premium paid to the stat taken from the independent producers, Either all the ofl {s worth $1.50 per barrel, or all the of] is worth 50 cents per Barrel and there should be no spe- ie! privilege in price between the 8 of the state and the state Meelf. In other words, giving the @tate a direct benefit and taking it from the producer, because ‘the gipte is powerful enough to demand @nd exact a higher price from the Perchasing company and without the assistance and co-operation of the state, the independent producer Cannot do so, or at least up to this time has not been able to do #0,’ is "9 unfair discrimination against the independent producers of the state. “The United States -government, Under the leasing law, receives from 12% per cent to 331-83 per cent of all ofl produced on government lands. The government delivers this off to the refineries at Casper and receives for it, on some basis that is not generally known, fuel cil of a very much lower gravity and a greatly inferior quality to supply its ships on the Pacific coast, The state of Wyoming, under the leasing law, recelves a certain per- centage from the proceeds of the COMING In Eight Reels ‘POWDER RIVER’ CRUDE PRICE SITUATION HERE: DISCUSSED BY RICHARDSON IN COMMUNICATION T0 THE PRESS stem of? actual price in dollars and cents to be received by the state for fta por- tion of the royalty oll. I under- stand, is not at this time known even to our state officials. If the price paid to the government for its\ royalty ofl-fs greater than the price paid to the independent pro ducers then it ts manifestly unfair to: the’ citizens of our ‘state and places the United States government in the position of exacting a spe- clal privilege in the sale of its oil to the injury and detriment of its citizens and it would seem, under such an arrangement, that the gov- ernment itself would be participat ing in and be a party’ to the re- straint of fair competition in sell- | ing the ofl at its fair value in the open markets. Encourage Competition. “Governor Carey says he feels convinced that the price of crude off in the state has always been too | low and invites suggestions for a remedy. AM we require is compe- tition. TRe only reason mid-conti nent oil has a posted. price of 75 cents per barrel higher than Wyo- ming crude ofl of the same grade is due to the numerous small inde- Pendent refineries in Oklahoma, who are not only able to pay the posted price but generally pay an additional bonus of 6&0 cents per barrel over the posted price in or- der to secure the olf. While Wyo- ming ofl was selling for 50 cents per barrel the little independent re- fineries in Montana were paying $1.75 and $2 per barrel. Wyoming. would have had independent rofin- eres long ago had it been possible for them to secure a permanent and assured supply of crude ofl to op- erate with. The state is now, and has been for some time, In a poal- Uon to remedy this condition, not by building m state refinery, al- though that could easily be done, but by simply offering to sell for a term of years all the state toyalty oll to ady independest, responsible refinery that would ‘agree to buy the of! and also buy the of) ef the other independent: producers at the midcontinent ‘posted price. Buch a policy would résuit tn one or more small independent refineries and Pipelines Seing built in| Wyoming within @ very short time and would, I believe, solve the problem. If the present purchasers of crude oil do not tare to buy the cit gt a fair price and someone else is willing to do 80, surely that would be a sim- ple solution to the problem. Let us hope that the ‘stdte land board will try this simple remedy and let it be known to the ofl industry that the state of Wyoming, with its roy- alty ofl, and the independent. pro- ducers of the state are willing to | contract for a term of years to sel their ofl to any independent refin- that will come into the state nd take ft at the mid-continent osted price, thus assuring an in- pendent refiners of un ample sup- ply of crude ofl for many years to come. I believe that it is reason- ably certain that the offer would be taken advantage of by one, or more, independent refineries. Of course, I realize that it would take probably $5,000,000 to establish an independ ent refinery capable of handling this business and such a large sum cannot be secured in a few min- utes, especially during the present financial depression, but neverthe- less if the state is willing to enter- tain such @ proposition: and to co: operate wn the independent pro. ducers of the’state to bring it about, I believe it can be done within a compa:vtively short time. “For many years Wyoming has been the laughing stock of the off industry of the United States. in Let’s Have Kiddies COLUMBIA Tonight Is Amateur Night ENTIRE CHANGE OF PROGRAM THE SAPPHIRE . GIRLS = BUD and HENRY AT THE FISHING PARTY ‘Also a Real Peppy Picture Program MATINEE TOMORROW Some Fun 5 Cents FRIDAY, 14, 1921, gF sak citizens of our state, Jet us settle it for all time and ff possible let ua mettle It without getting into poli. fics, or adopting radical and tic legisiation, as some of the other “pintes have done, but rather in a fair, high grade, clean-cut mariner hy simply putting it on a business basis, “C. B. RICHARDSON.” C——— a +4 ME. SUNDAY SCHOOL TO: The Methodist Sunday school ts Dianning a large rally of members and friends next Sunday at 945 a. m. Special music is to be rendered by. Mrs. Burton Nye, soprano, Jeseph Bott, violinist. and» the chorus choir led by B. E. Fisher. Attorney H. B.jor money refunded.—aAt all druggists. Durham is to deliver an address. The'—Adv. i $8,000, modeling expenses @nd purchase of Tand for the proposed addition. A CHANGING WORLD “We are living th strange race between tm the big two borses and a lotomotive furnishes one of several exciting scenes Witapngll apeeanl yeetoation, “Black Beauty,” David on Anna Sewell’s famous classic by ie oe ‘The scene was staged at great cost and necessitated the use of unique photographic “shots,’ the most thrilling race scones ever filmed. _ \WE’RE UP WITH THE NEXT ~ KNOCKOUT. PICTURE Up to the present time ten million have read this book. That many itore will see the picture, and moet of er here: Mothers and fathers, don’t deprive your children of the treat of ° 1921. Come with them. Bring the Whole Family to See “Black Beauty” - If you have no family, come anyway, and revive your happy child- hood days again. A WONDERFUL PICTURE—2!G FIGHT—BIG FIRE—BIG RACE— A RACE FOR A FORTUNE—TRAIN AGAINST HORSE. i SO WE WILL EMPHATICALLY SAY “The Best Show in Town is‘at The Lyric” If you want to see really big pictures, you know where to go. NOTICE TO WATER APPROPRIATORS. Name of A) riator, Name of Stream. F. W, le and Corral Creek Albert Hufford The above proof be open for inspection at the office of the Supt. of Water Division No. 1 at Douglas, Wyoming, for One (1) day only from 9 a. m. until 4 p. m. October 29, 1921. Any information conc: these proofs may be obtained from the Secretary of tec State ad Corey che October 29, 1921, Dougias, Wyoming, October 12, - eee ee ee * "L, G BISHOP, Supt, Water Division No. 4. Permit No. 16655 No. of Acres. 65 Publish Oct. 14, 1921 TANT Read the Page Ad in Thurs- day’s Tribune, and Make 100 Per Cent — Paying Investment Stock bought in the Lyric Thea- ter Company entitles you to a share —NEXT— i in. profits in the. receipts of the : ; theater and in the real estate of the . GHARLIE ‘CHAPLIN : property thereon. |. P . Outside of the receipts of the —AND— theater, there’ is approximately $1,700 or more in revenues on sub- “ leases, etc., to be derived from this property monthly. : ~The amount of stock to be sold is limited and when disposed of positively no more will be offered for sale. For Further Particulars Write P. O. BOX 555 CASPER, WYO, Agents Will Call on You John A. Miller Co. . Fiscal Agents SNUB POLLARD “A Night at the Show” ‘ 3 E HE MATCH TRIS A Bishop-Cass Theater Hello, Folks, We're at The Lyric Today. We Do Stunts, Tricks and Eat Out of Your Havd. BREAKER” Here’s the door Cupid, get out!. vamping was Jane Morgan’s job in life, but Jane really was an anti-vamp; a sort of sentimental life- guard to rescue those,caught in the undertow of —ALSO— JOE RYAN —IN— “THE PURPLE RIDERS” Episode Number Eight _ MUTT AND JEFF IN “TOURING” Playas Todas and pntuiny. A Bishop-Cass Theater PLAYING TODAY D. W. GRIFFITH'S SUPREME TRIUMPH “Hearts Of The World” Ten Reels of Tense, Thrilling, Spectacular Drama. ~ First Time in Casper at Popular Prices AT USUAL ADMISSION PRICE—40c Note Schedule—Shows Start at 1:00, 2:45, 4:00, 5:45, 7:30 and 9:15.