The General Leasing Act may become a dangerous weapon in the hands of the _Standard_, and will perhaps be used by it to bring pressure on the _Royal Dutch_, which has several times refused its co-operation. Many Californian companies, subsidiaries of the _Shell_, have already been called upon to prove that their shareholders are really American citizens as required by Congress. Thus, the threats uttered by Walter Teagle at the meeting of the American Petroleum Institute in 1920 are beginning to be put into execution: "If foreign Governments insist on carrying out their policy of nationalizing oil-bearing territory, if they insist on keeping petroleum deposits for their own future profit, at the same time demanding from the United States the satisfaction of their present needs, then there is no alternative for us but to take note of their attitude and, as a means of self-protection, to examine the methods of preserving our own oil for our own needs. Given their position in the world's commerce and the economic and financial weapons they have in their hands, the United States could certainly compel other countries to a redistribution of oil-bearing land, so as to obtain a part of those territories which these countries wish to keep for themselves." "_Great Britain_," Senator Phelan pointed out, "_holds one half the world's oil and produces only a quarter, while the United States, owning one-sixth, produce three-quarters._ In the possible conflicts of to-morrow, she desires, by means of oil, not only to have all the chances of success on her own side, but also to take from her future rivals, although they may be her friends of to-day, these same chances of triumph. She tries deliberately to diminish the resources of America, which will be exhausted in eighteen years, as things go at present." Shortly afterwards, in 1920, the former Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Franklin K. Lane, anxiously wondered whether Great Britain was acting in this way to prevent the growth of the American Navy. "_Now, do such proceedings lead to peace or war?_ Is it admissible that Britain--not merely British capitalists, but the State or Government of Great Britain, that is, a political entity--should take possession of a market of such importance and keep the rest of the world out of it? It is surely obvious that if not only nationals, but States themselves, represented by Governments, take part in economic competition, and turn themselves into business houses or manufacturing firms, there is no hope of appeasing the conflicts which will constantly arise from commercial rivalry." FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 35: _Producteur_, January 1921, _Les Grands Programmes Nationaux_.]