VI. The party of the second part that it will agree to increase and lessen the aggregate production of crude petroleum, as the said joint committee shall direct, to adapt as nearly as practicable the supply of the same to the capacity of the markets of the world to absorb at a price remunerative to the producer, the refiner and the transporter. VII. The parties hereto mutually, that the said joint committee shall, at the beginning of each year, fix the minimum average price at which crude petroleum can be produced and delivered on board railway cars, which price shall be called the minimum cost of production—that at the same periods the said committee shall also fix the minimum average price at which crude oil can be refined, put up in packages and sold, which price shall be called the minimum cost of manufacture. VIII. The parties hereto mutually, that after paying the minimum cost of production of crude petroleum, the minimum cost of its manufacture, and the cost of transportation and storage, and shipping also, in the case of exported oil, the profits shall be apportioned between the producers and refiners, in the ratio of ... per cent. to the former, and ... per cent. to the latter. IX. The said parties, that in case of a temporary over-production of crude petroleum, the excess shall as far as practicable be taken and withheld from market, and an advance of three-fourths of the minimum cost of production advanced thereon by the party of the first part at eight per cent., intrust the party of the second part keeping the tanked petroleum insured in good and responsible companies to the full amount of the advance, one year’s interest added. X. The said parties mutually, that the party of the first part shall only be bound to pay the prices and make the advances aforesaid, in case the producers shall in good faith obey the instructions of the joint committee, to limit production by stopping the drilling of new wells. XI. The party of the second part that it will keep a register of the date of the commencement of all new wells, the date at which the same shall be finished, the character of the well and the monthly production, and the date at which it may be abandoned, and that it will make it a condition, precedent to the holding of stock in its company, that the date aforesaid shall be finished by its stockholders. XII. Both parties, that it is the especial object of this agreement to bring the producers and refiners of petroleum into harmony and co-operation, by reciprocal, fair, and just dealing, for the promotion of their mutual interests, and everything in this agreement is to be construed liberally for the carrying into effect of this object. NUMBER 11 (See page 1082) EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF W. G. WARDEN [From “A History of the Rise and Fall of the South Improvement Company,” pages 30–41.]