224 
The  Price  of  Gasoline. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  19 17. 
of  charge  and  conditions  of  service  will  be  so  regulated  as  to  be 
just  and  equal  to  all  producers  and  refiners.  Such  regulation,  how- 
ever, has  not  yet  been  tested,  and,  in  view  of  the  differences  between 
pipe-line  transportation  and  railway  transportation,  its  effectiveness 
is  problematical.  The  analogy  of  the  coal  carriers  and  of  the  "  com- 
modities clause  "  suggests  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  effect  a  com- 
plete separation  of  the  ownership  of  the  pipe  lines  from  the  owner- 
ship of  the  oil  which  they  transport,  and  that  a  law  to  that  effect  is 
feasible.  It  is  generally  recognized  that  when  the  carrier  is  iden- 
tified with  certain  shippers  it  is  very  difficult  to  prevent  rates  and 
conditions  which  are  equivalent  to  discrimination,  and  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  has  repeatedly  called  attention  to  this 
difficulty. 
A  powerful  agency  for  insuring  a  just  balance  of  supply  and 
demand — for  eliminating  violent  fluctuations  in  price — is  knowl- 
edge of  conditions.  This  truth  is  well  illustrated  by  advantages 
gained  from  the  statistics  of  crops  compiled  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  and  even  from  the  statistics  of  live-stock  receipts  from 
private  sources.  Such  statistics  concerning  the  petroleum  industry 
as  are  now  available  are  not  satisfactory.  Information  on  vital 
points  does  not  appear  on  time  and  the  data  are  regarded  with  sus- 
picion by  many  "independent"  oil  men. 
Several  statements  on  this  subject  were  made  to  the  Commission 
at  one  of  its  hearings,  excerpts  from  which  follow.   A  jobber  said: 
I  suppose  it  cost  me  $50,000  last  year  (1915)  for  lack  of  knowledge.  If 
we  had  had  any  way  to  know  the  crude  conditions,  we  could  have  protected 
ourselves  in  the  market.  ...  If  there  had  been  knowledge  at  our  hand  of  the 
falling  off  of  the  production  at  Cushing,  we  would  not  have  been  caught  with 
such  a  small  amount  of  supplies.  The  other  people  who  have  greater  knowl- 
edge of  the  situation  could  reduce  their  price  on  the  10th  of  June  and  make  us 
think  that  the  production  was  increasing  and  there  was  going  to  be  still 
cheaper  gasoline.  .  .  .  Now,  if  we  had  statistics  in  the  oil  business  that  gave 
bona  fide  statement's,  we  could  then  know  what  the  runs  were  every  day,  and 
we  could  tell  what  the  stocks  on  hand  were  every  day,  all  of  which  would 
tend  to  create  a  more  solid  condition  in  the  oil  business. 
Another  jobber  said: 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  statistics  available  in  the  oil  business  are  very 
meager  indeed.  .  .  .  But  if  it  were  possible  to  get  government  statistics, 
brought  fairly  well  up  to  date,  as  to  the  production  of  gasoline,  if  you  please, 
and  the  shipments  of  gasoline,  and  the  volume  going  into  the  different  terri- 
tories, and  the  stocks  of  distillates  of  benzine  on  hand,  it  seems  to  me  that 
would  be  of  very  measurable  help. 
