The Pot Boils

Florid, terrible-tempered James Andrew Moffett, 58, a crown prince of the Rockefeller Empire until he retired, last fall, from California Standard and Texas Co., last week spearheaded the biggest down-with-Ickes campaign that has hit terrible-tempered Harold in a month of Sundays.

In a vitriolic press release Jimmy demanded 'that Ickes should be removed, perhaps impeached for his "Arabian adventure"--the proposed Government pipeline across the Middle East (TIME, Feb. 14 et seq.). "In my 38 years in the oil business," Jimmy told reporters, "I have heard nothing but [a U.S. oil] shortage." (He cited a 1920 statement by Jersey's William Parish that there was no more oil in Texas.) Besides, why should "that obstructionist" Ickes spend up to $165,000,000 of the taxpayers' money to promote a strictly commercial operation in the middle of a war, or to get oil supplies that any private company wouldhave to give it anyway. He also alleged that, "if my memory serves me correctly," oil delivered by a 1,200-mile pipeline would cost more in the long run than oil routed by tanker over the 3,300-mile run around Arabia and through the Suez Canal.

The Industry Speaks. Though his statistics were suspect, Jimmy Moffett was right on the U.S. oil industry's beam. Next day 55 members of the Petroleum Industry War Council released a resolution against 1) the Arabian pipeline. 2) the continued existence of Harold Ickes' Petroleum Reserves Corp. They represented every U.S. oil company except Gulf, Texas and Standard of California, who are the only three beneficiaries of the Middle Eastern pipeline.

Unanimously the 55 companies claimed that the new venture was unnecessary. They called it a "violation of the Atlantic Charter"(which postulates equal access to the world's natural resources by all nations), and a dangerous U.S. Government commitment in one of the world's tinder-box areas.

As the week wore on, the antipipeline campaign assumed the proportions of a first-class business Blitzkrieg. It was well-timed: the long-delayed Senate investigation of foreign oil commitments and PRC is about to get under way. Considering the newly independent tone of the Congress. Harold Ickes' hasty plans for committing the U.S. to the first step toward "the maintenance of collective security in the postwar world" may yet be outflanked.

Special Interests. As the Middle Eastern oil pot boiled over, it became crucial for the average citizen to understand the special interests involved. They are three: 1) The major oil companies (excepting the three pipeline signatories) are interested mainly in keeping the Government out of the oil business. They regard the pipeline as a sinister entering wedge.

2) The independents with no foreign properties are mainly interested in keeping foreign oil out of U.S. markets. This interest includes the fear that cheap Middle Eastern oil might undercut South American oil markets in Europe and drive that oil (also cheaper than most U.S. production) into the U.S.

3) The three interested Middle Eastern oil companies dislike Government intervention but are willing to chance it in the form of a pipeline because they need continued and active U.S. Government support of their Arabian ventures.

Last week the first two interests joined hands in opposing Ickes. The third went into a deep "this-is-Government-policy" silence, spent the week inviting and uninviting guests to a press luncheon that never came off. Honest Harold made firecracker remarks that Jimmy Moffett was a "playboy,"* and calm remarks to the effect that his argument with the rest of the oil industry was merely an honest difference of opinion.

*Said thrice-married Moffett: "Who could be in the oil industry for 38 years without being a playboy at times?"

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.