Read the quote and answer the Question that Follows In the fall of 1871, Rockefeller and some other oil refiners developed a remarkable scheme, the gist of
which was to bring together secretly a large enough body of refiners and shippers to persuade all the
railroads handling oil to give to the company formed special rebates on its oil, and drawbacks on that of
other people. If they could get such rates it was evident that those outside of their combination could
not compete with them long and that they would become eventually the only refiners. They could then
limit their output to actual demand, and so keep up prices. This done, they could easily persuade the
railroads to transport no crude for exportation, so that the foreigners would be forced to buy American
refined. They believed that the price of oil thus exported could easily be advanced fifty per cent. The
control of the refining interests would also enable them to fix their own price on crude. As they would
be the only buyers and sellers, the speculative character of the business would be done away with.
Source: Ida Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904)

2. What was the effect of these practices on Rockefeller? On the
consumer?