n admitted into the inside ring. Of the
two thousand shares of the South Improvement Company, the gentlemen who
were at that time most conspicuously identified with the Standard Oil
Company subscribed to five hundred and forty. Mr. Rockefeller has always
protested that he did not favor the scheme and that he became a party
to it simply because he could not afford to antagonize the powerful
Pennsylvania Railroad, which had originated it. When the details became
public property, a wave of indignation swept from the Atlantic to the
Pacific; the oil regions, which would have been the heaviest sufferers,
shut down their wells and so cut off the supply of crude oil; the New
York newspapers started a "crusade" against the South Improvement group
and Congress ordered an investigation. So fiercely was the public wrath
aroused that the railroads ran to cover, abrogated the contracts, signed
an agreement promising never more to grant rebates to any one, while the
Pennsylvania Legislature repealed the charter of the South Improvement
Company. This particular scheme, therefore, never came to maturity.
Before the South Improvement Company ended its corporate existence,
however, a great change had taken place in the oil situation.
Practically all the refineries in Cleveland had passed into the control
of the Standard Oil Company. The Standard has always denied that there
was any connection between the purchase of these great refineries and
the organization of the South Improvement Company. But there is
much evidence sustaining a contrary view, for many of these refiners
afterward went on the witness stand and told circumstantial stories, all
of which made precisely the same point. This was that the Standard men
had come to them, shown the contracts which had been made by the South
Improvement Company, and argued that, under these new conditions, the
refineries left outside the combination could not long survive. The
Standard's rivals were therefore urged to "come in," to take Standard
stock in return for their refineries, or, if they preferred, to sell
outright. Practically all saw the force in this argument and sold--in
most cases taking cash.

The acquisition of these Cleveland refineries made inevitable the
Rockefeller conquest of the oil industry. Up to that time the Standard
had refined about fifteen hundred barrels a day, and now suddenly its
capacity jumped to more than twelve thousand barrels. This one strategic
move had made