13. Rockefeller’s manipulation of the railroads was not illegal at the time
Rockefeller used the largest and most powerful railroads to manipulate prices in a number of ways, including the issuing of rebates to favored clients, the manipulation of shipping schedules, rates per mile, and other practices which favored his company over the smaller refiners. The smaller companies, crippled by the rates they were forced to pay to move their products, were then quickly gobbled up by Standard Oil. The practice was ruthless, but it was not illegal. Neither Rockefeller nor the railroads broke any laws during a time when business was unregulated by anything other than existing market conditions. When Pennsylvania suspended the charter which Rockefeller used to create the railroad cartel, it was one of the first actions by government to control the conduct of business in the United States.