Another very entertaining Standard Oil witness was Professor C. F. Chandler, of New York, who explained that he had been coming to Europe for a holiday, and was asked by the Standard Oil Trust to give evidence against raising the flash-point. He gave that evidence, and was confronted with this passage in a report he made to the New York State Board of Health in 1871 :— There is a strong inducement to turn the heavier portions of the naphtha into the kerosene tank so as to get for it the price of kerosene. It is therefore the cupidity of the refiner that leads him to run as much benzine as possible into the kerosene, regardless of the frightful consequences of the frequent explosions.
As this was exactly what the Standard was doing, this was rather awkward for the Pro fessor, but he cynically explained that it was " a reckless statement " made when he was a " reformer." He admitted that he had never withdrawn it publicly until that very date in 1896, but he went on to swallow it whole.
But the prize witness on that side was Mr. Paul Babcock, whom we saw in 1877, and who as one of the American directors of the Trust came to tell the Select Committee that the 73 deg. oil—the brands known to the trade as " Tea Rose " and " Royal Daylight "—were as safe as the 105 deg. oil—the brand known as " White Rose." Thereupon Mr. Ure, M.P., produced a little folding card just then issued by the Anglo-American Oil Company, Limited, a copy of which lies before me as I write. On the front page of this little .Rockefeller tract—which, I grieve to say, is not now in circulation, so that mine has become a " rare edition "—there are two big orange-coloured barrels, and the words " White Rose American Lamp Oil." Inside there is an artless panegyric on " White Rose," of which we are told :— Its fire test is so high as to make it the safest petroleum lamp oil in the world. Explosion is guarded against and families can burn White Rose Oil with the same assurance of safety as they can gas . . . a really safe and reliable illu minant, &c.
Of course, all this clearly proved that the Anglo-American Oil Company, whatever it might say at Westminster, did not believe in Billiter Street that 73 deg. oil was as safe as " White Rose." But Mr. Paul Babcock was a cool hand. He turned the card over carefully, and then remarked that it was " merely advertising bankum," and that it was issued by the Anglo American Oil Company, " who no doubt bought the oil of us." This was fairly cool in view of the fact that the Standard owns all the shares in the Anglo-American, but it is even cooler when we examine the orange-coloured barrel in the picture. The barrel bears at its head a
label, " Kings County Oil Works, Sone and Fleming Mfg. Co., Limited, New York." Now Mr. Paul Babcock was himself general manager to that very Sone and Fleming Company, in addition to being a director of the Standard, which, since 1877, had controlled it. That incident is a fair specimen of the Standard's evidence at this inquiry.
On the other side evidence was given by Lord Kelvin (the greatest scientific man of his day), Sir Henry Roscoe, Professor Ramsay, Professor Attfield, Dr. Stevenson Macadam, Professor D. Mendeleef (who represented the Russian Govern ment and the Russian petroleum industry), and Dr. Hermann Kast (of Karlsruhe), all denouncing the 73 deg. flash-point and advocating its being raised. Sir Henry Roscoe said :— I think that Americans send over so much mixed oil of the character of this " Tea Rose " oil only because our flash-point is so low.
Lord Kelvin told the Select Committee :— I am clearly of opinion that in order to avoid accidents the flash-point must be raised, and that no construction of lamp will meet the difficulty.
The Select Committee at last reported in favour of raising the flash-point, and an agitation started by the Star newspaper in support of this course received the adhesion of a large number of newspapers, coroners, and of the London County Council. At the same time the Standard Oil Trust started its own characteristic agitations. Petition forms were sent to every oil retailer with requests to obtain signatures in opposition to raising the flash-point. And according to the state ment of Mr. Jasper Tully, M.P., in the House, some of these men in Ireland were threatened that they would get no more oil if this was not done. The result was that M.P.s were bom barded with petitions from their constituencies, and Standard Oil agents filled the lobbies. A well-known Standard Oil " expert " contributed anonymously a long article to the Times, in which it was represented that the safe-oil agitation was due to a desire to secure " pro tection" for the Scottish trade. It is amusing to recall that one of the strongest supporters of this theory was the Right Hon. Jesse Collings, who in four short years was to become an ardent convert to the theory of " Protection," not only for Scotch oil, but for everything else.