tandard group contained a large
number of exceedingly able men. "They are mighty smart men," said the
despairing W. H. Vanderbilt, in 1879, when pressed to give his reasons
for granting rebates to the Rockefeller group. "I guess if you ever
had to deal with them you would find that out." In Rockefeller the
corporation possessed a man of tireless industry and unshakable
determination. Nothing could turn him aside from the work to which
he had put his hand. Public criticism and even denunciation, while
he resented it as unjust and regarded it as the product of a general
misunderstanding, never caused the leader of Standard Oil even
momentarily to flinch. He was a man of one idea, and he worked at it
day and night, taking no rest or recreation, skillfully turning to his
purpose every little advantage that came his way. His associates--men
like Flagler, Archbold, and Rogers--also had unusual talents, and
together they built up the splendid organization that still exists. They
exacted from their subordinates the last ounce of attention and energy
and they rewarded generously everybody who served them well. They showed
great judgment in establishing refineries at the most strategic points
and in giving up localities, such as Boston and Portland, which were
too far removed from their supplies. They established a marketing system
which enabled them to bring their oil directly from their own refineries
to the retailer, all in their own tank cars and tank wagons. They
extended their markets in foreign countries, so that now the Standard
sells the larger part of its products outside the United States.
They established chemical research laboratories which devised new and
inexpensive methods for refining the product and developed invaluable
byproducts, such as paraffin, naphtha, vaseline, and lubricating oils.
It is impossible to study the career of the Standard Oil Company
without concluding that we have here an example of a supreme business
intelligence working in a field which gave the widest possible scope of
action.

A high quality of organization, however, does not completely explain the
growth of this monopoly. The Standard Oil Company was the beneficiary of
methods that have deservedly received great public opprobrium. Of these
the one that stands forth most conspicuously is the railroad rebate.
Those who have attempted to trace the very origin of the Rockefeller
preeminence to railroad discrimination have not entirely succe