Editing Standard Oil (section)

===Hepburn Committee===
[[A. Barton Hepburn]] was directed by the [[New York State Legislature]] in 1879, to [[The Hepburn Committee|investigate the railroads' practice of giving rebates to their largest clients within the state]].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924022800019/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater |title = Proceedings of the Special Committee on Railroads, Appointed under a resolution of the Assembly to investigate alleged abuses in the Management of Railroads chartered by the State of New York (Vol. I, 1879) |author = <!--Not stated--> |date = 1879 |via = Internet Archive |publisher = New York State Legislature |access-date = February 11, 2022 |quote = Resolved, That a special Committee of five [afterwards increased to nine] persons be appointed, with power to send for persons and papers, and to employ a stenographer, whose duty it shall be to investigate the abuses alleged to exist in the management of the railroads chartered by this State, and to inquire into and report concerning their powers, contracts and obligations; said Committee to take testimony in the city of New York, and such other places as they may deem necessary, and to report to the Legislature, either at the present or the next session, by bill or otherwise, what, if any, legislation is necessary to protect and extend the commercial and industrial interests of the State. Composed of Messrs. HEPBURN, HUSTED, DUGUID, LOW, GRADY, NOYES, WADSWORTH, TERRY and BAKER, met at the Capitol in the City of Albany on Wednesday March 26th, 1879, at 3 o'clock P. M., and was called to order by the Chairman. }}</ref> Merchants without ties to the oil industry had pressed for the hearings. Prior to the committee's investigation, few knew of the size of Standard Oil's control and influence on seemingly unaffiliated oil refineries and pipelines—Hawke (1980) cites that only a dozen or so within Standard Oil knew the extent of company operations.<ref name="ul6uO" />

The committee counsel, [[Simon Sterne]], questioned representatives from the Erie Railroad and the New York Central Railroad and discovered that at least half of their long-haul traffic granted rebates and much of this traffic came from Standard Oil. Even independent companies not allied with Standard Oil confirmed receiving these rebates such as Simon Bernheimner, who was once a partner of the Olefin Oil Company.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Olien |first1=Roger M. |title=Oil and Ideology: The Cultural Creation of the American Petroleum Industry |last2=Hinton |first2=Diana Davids |last3=Olien |first3=Diana Davids |date=2000 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=0-8078-2523-9 |location=Chapel Hill, NC |pages=62 |language=en}}</ref> The committee then shifted its focus to Standard Oil's operations. [[John Dustin Archbold]], as president of Acme Oil Company, denied that Acme was associated with Standard Oil. He then admitted to being a director of Standard Oil.<ref name="ul6uO" />

The committee's final report scolded the railroads for their rebate policies and cited Standard Oil as an example. This scolding was largely moot to Standard Oil's interests since long-distance oil pipelines were now their preferred method of transportation.<ref name="ul6uO" />