The South Improvement Company was a short lived Pennsylvania corporation founded in late 1871 which existed until the state of Pennsylvania suspended its charter on April 2, 1872. It was created by major railroad and oil interests, and was widely seen as part of John D. Rockefeller's early efforts to organize and control the oil industry in the United States under Standard Oil. The company's purpose was to end a rate war with the rail trunk lines by dividing oil traffic more evenly between the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Erie Railroad, and the New York Central railroads. The second purpose of the company was to limit production of refined oil - the country had a daily refining capacity of 40,000 barrels and a market for only 16,000. Although the company never shipped any oil, the South Improvement Company scheme caused widespread attention to be focused on the relationships between big railroads and big businesses which wanted and demanded favorable treatment. In what would become known as the Cleveland Massacre, John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler bought eighteen refineries, only one of which wasn't located in Cleveland over a month's time between mid-February and mid-March 1872. Formation Thomas A. Scott, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad established the South Improvement Company in the fall of 1871. A group representing the trunk railroad interests and oil refinery interests met in New York in late November, 1871, to discuss the creation of the company. Included in this meeting were William Henry Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller. The scheme was intended to benefit both the railroads and major refiners, notably those controlled by Rockefeller through secret rebates. Rockefeller had earlier merged several of the Cleveland area refineries and issued 2,000 shares of stock, of which 900 were controlled by Rockefeller and his partners. Rockefeller then started negotiations to collude with the three major railroads running through Cleveland: the Erie Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the New York Central Railroad. The result of these secret negotiations were as follows: (1) The official rate per barrel from Cleveland to New York would be $2.56, but South Improvement would receive a $1.06 rebate; (2) The railroads would also pay South Improvement $1.06 per barrel of oil shipped that was not produced by South; (3) The railroads would also give reports of the shipping destinations, costs, and dates of all of South's competitors; (4) The commerce would be divided evenly