Show METHODS OF A TRUST + How he Standard Oil Illonopoh Crushes Competitors + CONTROL OF RAILROADS + RUINOUS SYSTEM OF FREIGHT RATE DISORIMINATION + One of the Victims Tells How He Was Forced Out of Business By the TrustB 0 Southern Advanced Ad-vanced His Rates 162 PerCent Per-Cent 4 New York March 21The hearing in the case of the state of Ohio ex ret F S Monnett attorneygeneral against the Buckeye Pipe Line company of Lima 0 was resumed today in the office of Charles Edgar Mills sitting as special commissioner Attorney General Gener-al MonnCltt conducted his side of the case Messrs Elliott and Kline appear ed for the company It was expected that the state of Ohio would present the representatives of three or four important im-portant oil refineries of Ohio to testify to alleged arbitrary methods of the pipeline pipe-line Before the case opened Attorney Monnett reported he had been unable to secure these witnesses and after a brief reexamination of George R Rice he would close his case for the time being 111 Monnett explained that he was informed that the courts could compel the attendance of the witnesses but they could not punish them if they refused to testify The proceedings agaInst the Pipe Line company are to secure an annulment of its charter on the ground that it has violated the antitrust law of Ohio and that in defiance of the courts it is still a member of the Standard Oil trust The purpose of calling Jlr Rice today to-day p was to allow him to testify in contradiction con-tradiction to the statement made by John D Archbold that he had attempted attempt-ed to blackmail the Standard Oil company com-pany by demandIng 500000 for his properties which were worth about 25000 1Ir Rice replying to the attorney generals invitation that he make a statement read from a lengthy manuscript manu-script It is true he said that in 1886 on their solicitation I did submit a proposition to sell all of my oil prop ertynot only my refinery but production I produc-tion as wellfor the sum stated I Mr Rice quoted from the letters of Mr Archbold already published to show that the Standard Oil company had his proposition under consideration The Standard Oil company Mr Rice said by its control of the railroads has raised the freights so that it was impossible im-possible for him to carryon his business busi-ness 5 I i 11 1886 he saId the Baltimore Ohio Southern connections raised their freight rates on me from 50 to 162 percent per-cent and none on the Standard Oil trust whIch closed up fourteen of my agencies out of twentyfour in five months and shut me out of over half the towns in which I was doing business busi-ness Replying to a Question by Mr Elliott lIr RIce gave the date of the occurrences occur-rences of which he was complaining as early as 1881 and 1882 He admitted that the Buckeye Pipe Line company was not organized until 1885 In concluding con-cluding his statement 111 Rice said he could prove that the Standard Oil company com-pany has secretly and criminally blackmailed black-mailed the railroads of this city of mil lions of dollars on rebate of freight When he had finished counsel for the Pipe Line company asked him if the prepared statement he had read from did not contaIn the same testimony he had given in Columbus Mr Rice said that in substance it was the same He said he was testifying in the present proceedings because he wanted an opportunity I op-portunity for contradicting the false I and malIcious statements made by John D Archbold Is it not a fact asked Mr Cline that In 1890 you sent to the Standard Oil company through Mr Orvis an offer of-fer to accept 500000 for all your oil property agreeIng if the offer was accepted ac-cepted to abate litigation Yes I guess I did Mr RIces testimony to the same effect ef-fect gIven at the hearing in Columbus wasread to hIm and he said It was correct Replying to Mr Cline 1lr Rice said that In 1S79 he offered to sell his refinery to exSenator Campbell for 20000 That offer did not include any of his oil property When he offered to sell his property later It Included 200 i acres of oil land a production of 20f barrels of oil a day and 0 quantity of I expensive machinery I |