DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Railroad Commission of Texas. Now, most folks rolling through Travis County don't think twice about where their gasoline comes from, or who decided the rules for gettin' it out of the ground. But there's a story behind all of that — and it starts with a fight.
The Railroad Commission of Texas was created in 1891. Not quietly, not easily — but as the result of years of political controversy over how to regulate shipping rates and practices. That kind of hard-won origin tends to produce something serious, and this commission was serious from the very first day.
So serious, in fact, that Governor James S. Hogg — a man who clearly understood what leverage looked like — persuaded John H. Reagan to resign from the United States Senate just to come lead it.
Let that sink in for a moment. Resign from the Senate. To run a commission.
That is how much this thing mattered. For a while, the commission did what its name suggests — rail and shipping concerns. But Texas, being Texas, had something else brewing underground.
Oil and gas regulation entered the picture in 1917, starting with jurisdiction over pipelines. Then in 1919, the Legislature handed the commission responsibility for oil and gas conservation, and the drilling rules began taking shape. The nineteen-twenties brought something called proration — the managing of how much could flow and when.
And then the 1930's arrived, and with them came the full weight of what complete regulation really meant. East Texas had struck big. We're talking one million, seven hundred thousand barrels a day in production.
That is not a number you manage with a strongly worded letter. The commission didn't send a strongly worded letter. They backed by Texas Rangers, closed the field — shut it down — until the conservation rules could be revised.
That is a commission that meant business. And then came the test that settled the question once and for all. World War II.
Texas, because of the orderly regulation that had been built over those decades, was able to supply the Allies with great stores of oil necessary for victory. The commission's policies were acclaimed for that. Not just appreciated — acclaimed.
Because when the moment demanded it, the system held. The commission's goal, as the marker puts it, is to prevent waste and protect oil and gas reserves through orderly regulation of exploration, production, and transportation. And the members, over all those years, set high ethical standards that continued forward — standards that caused the commission to merit the confidence of the people and of the petroleum industry.
Merit the confidence. That's a quiet phrase, but it's a heavy one. You don't inherit confidence like that.
You build it, carefully, from 1891 forward — one contested decision, one shut-down field, one world war at a time.
What the marker says
(75th Anniversary) Created in 1891, as result of years of political controversy, to regulate shipping rates, practices. Considered so important that Governor James S. Hogg persuaded John H. Reagan to resign from the United States Senate to head the original commission. Oil and gas regulation, a major responsibility, began in 1917 with jurisdiction over pipelines. The Legislature made the commission responsible in 1919 for oil and gas conservation, and drilling rules were made. In the 1920's proration began. Complete regulation came in the 1930's with the 1,700,000-barrel-a-day production in east Texas. Backed by Texas Rangers, the commission closed the field until conservation rules could be revised. Commission policies were acclaimed when in World War II Texas was able to supply the Allies with great stores of oil necessary for victory. The commission's goal is to prevent waste and protect oil and gas reserves by orderly regulation of exploration, production and transportation. Members have set high ethical standards that continue in the commission, causing it to merit the confidence of the people and of the petroleum industry.