' A? j/ MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: STANDARD OIL COMPANY.
The name of the standard Oil Company was submitted for a determination of its status under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935.
The Abstract Clerk has investigated all available sources of information in the Interstate Commerce Com mission and has found no information concerning the Standard Oil Company, as such, but some information has been found concerning the standard oil Company of New Jersey, which corporation is a holding company for a number of corporations bearing the name Standard Oil Company with some word or words of qualification. It also controls numerous other companies.
Poor's Manual of Industrials for 1936.
"Standard Oil Company of New Jersey was incorporated August 5, 1882, in N. J . , as the Standard Oil Co. of N. J.; name changed to Standard Oil Co. on March 19, 1892. The original Standard Oil Co. was The Standard Oil Co., organized under the laws of Ohio in 1670. On Jan. 1, 1882, all of the stock of the Standard Oil Co. (of Ohio) and stocks in various companies held by trustees for the stockholders of The Standard Oil Co. were transferred to the trustees of the standard Oil Trust, who on August 5, 1882, caused the New Jersey company to be organized. On its organization, its entire capital stock was issued to trustees of the Standard Oil Trust for $8 0 4 , 7 9 4 in cash and for property of The Standard Oil Co. (Ohio) located at Bayonne, Jersey City and Ueehawken, N. J ., appraised at $2,195,206. The properties so acquired consisted of oil refineries, barrel manufactories and cooperage works and shipping facilities, and the company became actively engaged in the manufacture and sale of petroleum products. Additional properties were acquired at Jersey City, Baltimore, Parkersburg and Bayonne, N. J., in 1892. in 1892 the Standard Oil Trust was dissolved, and in that year and subsequently the capital stock of the Standard Oil Co. (N. J.) as well as the other stocks then held by the Standard Oil Trust were distributed among the holders of Standard Oil Trust certificates. "In 1906 a suit was instituted by the United States against the Standard Oil Company and others, under the Sherman Anti-Trust Law, This resulted in a decision against the company, and in Dec., 1911 and in Jan., 1912, in order to comply with the decree in the case, the Company distributed pro rata among its stockholders its entire holdings in the stock of thirty-three corporations as follows: Anglo-American Oil, Ltd.; Atlantic Refining Co.; Buckeye Pipe Line Co.; et al.
"The business of the company in accordance with the terms of its charter was formerly the production, transportation, manufacture and sale of petroleum and its products and the holding and owning the stocks of corporations engaged in the production, transportation, manufacture and sale of petroleum, and its products, in the production, transportation and sale of natural gas and in closely related lines of business. The Company now, however, is only a holding Company, it owns, or is affiliated with, numerous companies which operate in the United States and many foreign countries, and the interests of these subsidiaries are fairly evenly divided between domestic and foreign business. The year 1928 was the first complete year in which the business of the Company was administered by a group of self-contained subsidiary units. The change in the administrative structure which was adopted to meet problems presented by the growth and widening diversity of the business has justified itself in that it has promoted efficiency and economy of operation."
Several other corporations bearing the name of Standard Oil Company such as standard Oil Company of Indiana, Standard Oil Company of New York, etc., do the seme type of business as the standard oil Company of new Jersey. After careful consideration of all available information concerning the above mentioned companies, it appears that they were not and are not subject to the Interstate Com merce Act, inasmuch as they never filed^tariffs, powers of attorney or concurrences in their own names, nor were ?fny"of Thera listed‘"Tn”TEe’ Card Index of the Bureau of Statistics.
From the above stated facts, it would appear that none of the above mentioned companies are subject to the Railroad Retirement Act, but it is suggested that the application of the person claiming service with this or these companies be referred to in order to ascertain what type of service is claimed by the applicant, and then the appropriate questionnaire be sent to the company in question.
(SIGNED) Harry M. Shooman