Gasoline War

The lot of the oil dealer in South Dakota is not a happy one. Last year, during the period of crude overproduction, prices for gasoline were kept fairly high until Gov. W. H. McMaster intervened. So many of the oppressed farmers of South Dakota own and operate Fords and even more elaborate motor cars that the price of gasoline is of more than academic interest. The Governor saw the chance for a political ten-strike and he took it.

Evidently he intends to repeat his crop this year, by purchasing gasoline wholesale with State funds and selling it to consumers under the prices set by private oil dealers. The latter have decided to fight back, and the Independent Home Oil Co. has applied for an injunction restraining Governor McMaster from going into the oil business with public funds.