RISE OF THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY 183 



of the United Pipe Line company and the Standard 

 " alliance." 



In the year following the United Pipe Line company ac- 

 quired, by purchase, the greater part of the pipe lines which 

 had not participated in the agreement. Combinations among 

 the large systems — the United Pipe Line company, the Co- 

 lumbia Conduit company, and the Empire Transportation 

 company — gradually absorbed all the others. Meanwhile the 

 pipe lines enjoying the discriminations so abused their priv- 

 ilege by high charges that in 1875 competition from without 

 and suspicion within broke up the agreement. In 1874 the 

 Baltimore & Ohio railroad had entered Chicago, and was 

 making advances to the Columbia Conduit company. The 

 railway situation was uneasy; and when, in 1875, the Erie 

 railroad accused the Pennsylvania railroad of granting secret 

 discriminations to the Empire Transportation company, the 

 agreement among the pipe lines was immediately broken. 

 The Columbia Conduit company attached itself to the Balti- 

 more & Ohio railroad; the Empire Transportation attached 

 itself to the Pennsylvania railroad ; and the United Pipe Line 

 company, through its owner, the Standard Oil company, com- 

 pleted an agreement with the Erie and the New York Central 

 railroads, according to which it gave to each road 50 per cent 

 of its traffic, guaranteed to the Erie railroad 27 per cent of 

 the entire oil traffic in the oil regions, and received in return 

 upon all shipments a rebate of 10 per cent. The motives of 

 the Erie and the New York Central railroads were plain. 

 Entering the oil regions by connections from the north, these 

 roads depended entirely for their traffic upon the Standard 

 Oil company at Cleveland. Accordingly, for the guarantee 

 that its oil traffic would not be diminished, the Erie railroad 

 could afford to pay roundly; and for the maintenance of the 

 oil industry at Cleveland, and for the privilege of handling 

 all its traffic, the New York Central railroad was ready to 

 grant a liberal discrimination. Therefore, throughout the 

 rest of 1875 all the pipe lines in the oil regions arrayed them- 

 selves with one or another of the three rival pipe lines and 

 their allied railroads; and the armed peace thus maintained 

 continued throughout 1876. 



