Midland Cooperator

SOME STANDARD OIL METHODS

A very interesting fact has recently come to light wherein is seen how big business makes use of the public to serve it own ends. In this particular case one of the divisions of Standard Oil, known as Socony-Vacuum, a $790,000,000 concern, has arranged to sell $75,000,000 of debentures through five large insurance companies. There is nothing extraordinary in this as it is frequently being done by big business, but it will be well to consider some of the implications involved in this particular case.

In the first place everyone knows that the huge funds of insurance companies, including the so-called mutuals, are derived from insurance premiums paid in by policyholders. It is this money which is largely used to finance big business. In this case the $75,000,000 will have been contributed by five insurance companies whose membership. i. e.. policyholders. number probably forty million people. Whatever affects these companies. therefore. indirectly affects the policyholders and all those dependent upon them. Thus. by this method of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. this vast number of people are tied to the interests of this oil company whose policies are formulated and controlled by a mere handful of financiers.

What are the probable consequences of such methods in business? Should the price to the consumer of petroleum products be pushed to high levels these millions of people will be stopped from protesting. as to do so it will be pointed out will endanger the value of their insurance policies. Should the government seek to tax large profits of this corporation. the cry will be raised that such action on the part of the government will penalize widows and orphans who are beneficiaries of these insurance policies. In other words. this company makes an ally of a very large part of the population in whatever practices-nefarious or otherwise. to which it may resort

Since large scale business is essential to public welfare and must therefore be adequately financed, is there any escape from the evils hereby illustrated? The answer is that cooperation enables the people to serve themselves in the most efficient manner without being exploited. Genuine cooperative insurance associations are democratic institutions, wherein policyholders control their own funds which they in turn can use to finance their own industrial cooperatives. If we are ever to escape from the terrific exploitation of big business in all its forms it can never be by trying to regulate it through governmental action. but by using our own means in building up every kind of cooperative activity. This we must do instead of furnishing funds to capitalist insurance companies to be used in turn in enslaving us by unconsciously making us allies of big business interests engaged primarily in exploiting us.