That  was  a  clause  which  guaranteed  those  who  became  vassals
that  they  should  have  the  same  freight  rates  and  get  back  the
same  rebates  as  the  monopoly.*  ^'Had  the  monopoly  the
power,"  said  the  Hon.  Stanley  Matthews,  "  to  procure  freights
on  better  and  more  advantageous  terms  than  the  rest  of  the
public  engaged  in  the  same  business  ?  .  .  .  And  if  they  had
such  power,  how  did  it  get  it  ?  ...  If  this  or  any  other  cor-
poration is  allowed  to  exalt  itself  in  this  way  and  by  these
means  above  competition,  it  is  also  exalted  above  the  law."

The  great  lawyer,  who  soon  afterwards  became  a  justice  of
9  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  conld  not  answer
the  questions  he  raised.  The  facts  were  hidden  in  secret  con-
tracts with  the  railroads.  As  regards  Cleveland,  they  did  not
eome  out  until  five  years  later,  in  1885.  It  then  became  an
adjudicated  fact  that  in  1875,  the  year  before  this  "  Agree-
ment for  an  Adventure,"  the  Lake  Shore  Railroad  had  made
a  contract  with  the  oil  combination  to  drive  these  very
competitors  and  all  others  out  of  business,  just  as  the  same
road  had  done  for  the  South  Improvement  Company  in  1872.
When  they  escaped  from  their  "  reconciler,"  they  brought  this
railroad  and  the  contract  into  court.  The  case  was  fought  up
to  the  Supreme  Court.
That  tribunal  found  that  the  Lake  Shore  road  had  con-
tracted with  this  company  to  carry  its  products  ten  cents  per
barrel  cheaper  than  for  any  other  customers.  It  showed  that
this  made  a  difference  to  the  victims  of  the  "Adventure"
equal  to  more  than  21  per  cent,  a  year  on  their  capital.
