rs, as
described by their own solicitor in his defence of the Trust, is
convincing testimony of their control of the situation:--"When the
producer of oil puts down a well, he notifies the pipe line company (a
branch of the Trust), and immediately a pipe line is laid to connect
with his well. The oil is taken from the tank at the well, whenever
requested, into the large storage tanks of the company, and is held
for the owner as long as he desires it. A certificate is given for it,
which can be turned into cash at any time; and when sold it is
delivered to the purchaser at any station on the delivery lines."[138]
In similar fashion the Sugar Trust, before the competition of the
Spreckles refineries arose, controlled the market for raw sugar. Nor
was this power exercised alone over the producers of raw sugar. It
extended to dictating the price at which the wholesale grocers who
took from them the refined sugar should sell to their customers.[139]
This power of a monopoly is not merely extended to the control of
prices in the earlier and later processes of production and
distribution of the commodity. One of the most potent forms it assumes
in manufactures where machinery is much used is a control over the
patentees and even the manufacturers of machinery. Where a strong
Trust exists, the patentee of a new invention can only sell to the
Trust and at the Trust's price. Charges are even made against the
Standard Oil Trust and other powerful monopolies to the effect that
they are in the habit of appropriating any new invention, whether
patented or not, without paying for it, trusting to their influence to
avoid the legal consequences of such conduct. There is indeed strong
reason to believe that the irresponsible position in which some of
these corporations are placed induces them to an unscrupulous use of
their great wealth for such purposes.

Sec. 2. (_b_) Since the prime object of a Trust is to effect sales at
profitable prices, and prices are directly determined by the
quantitative relation between supply and demand, it is clearly
advantageous for a Trust to obtain as full a power in the regulation
of the quantity of supply as is possible. In order to effect this
object the Trust will pursue a double policy. It will buy up such
rival businesses as it deems can be worked advantageously for the
purposes of the Trust. The price at which it will compel the owners of
such businesses to sell will have no precise relation to th