Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-11-22
THE DEPRESSION IN STEEL.
The Situation Pdro y Commercial aud NH
IOlIttCAl.


IOliticAi.
\ correspondent OF the Herald went up
to Allentown to inquire about the causes
| Of the present depression in steel manu-
I featuring. NJ. Alfred Hunt, the p.esi-
dent, has the reputation Of being ono Of
| the best informed men ON the subject Of
steel ,ail man uafacture in the country. He
| was ut first avcrso u speaking on the sub
| iect, saying that some newspapers were
| treating the question from q political
point of view, and that he did wish in any
| to contribute to such pernicious and IL
logical controversy. When. however, he
was assured that the Herald had no purpose
whatcv, other than to get at the truth
and the facts Mr. Hunt spoke rs follows ::
| "The situation Is purely commercial
one and by no means uncommon, how
ever ucxpected. IL is true that orders
ior steel rails hive fallen off and that We
are making them faster than We eau sell
thom. This is SO because there is not
much road building. Tho price has fallen
below that a. which rails can be produced.
Tho question is not profit, but cost of
production. We arc Offering rails this
morning at $40 per ton. We get more
money for rough pudlled bars OF iron than
for steel rails. Or courso this cannot go
on indinitely, though perhaps we could
stand it as vel! a; anybody. IN the na
ture of business. however, and without
sentiment, one of two things must happen.
We have either to make up our minds 10 so
on 1T 4 los; as long rs possible or make
sweeping reductions everywhere. Some Of
these reductions it will be next to iInpOs-
sble to effect The handling of problem
of this kind is not 80 simple matter as it
| ,,oy coo,, If l., y nrcvajtiuy hCI,af I ,r,
aware, tha. the steel business is very re-
muncratiye bat tic fac: is that the
owners OF the i;,Sseg!.r p,t,nts cOmpoS-
ins the com pany, nave 40: drawn out any
profits worth taking a5out during the
last ten years except ia 1890 and 1881.
These were the oniy ta" year, g, eXcep-
iionab!e SUCCESS since 1872. There are
eleven corporations in the company, each
paying y royalty per ton t. the parent
company, which is the owner Of the
patents. Great competition has arisen be-
tween the members of the concern, where
co operation would naturally bs looked
for. The newspapers rc!er to the steel
business as q monopoly; but the fact is
that the bittercst rivalries exist among the
members of the Bessemer company. This
is matter that OF course it would be un
desirable for rae to 90 into. but
it is tho fact. The present dull
ness OF the market will, in my opin,
ion, affect the iron business generally. We
of tho Bethlehem company look forward
to inevitable troubles, but VIC have No
anxiety but that VIC shall safely weather
them by preparing at once. We produce
from two thousand to three thousand tons
of steel per week, and employ at our works
ans! at our mines nearly three thousand.
We do not apprshend any open trouble
with our men, though reductions either
OF the force Or in the number OF hours or
in ti,a wages will have to be made at once. "
! Mr.. CarnesIe's Views.
Andrew Carnegie. who is at the head
Of the steel industry in the United States,
in an interview on the iron situation, said
The truth Of the matter is, chat We, the
Bessemer people, are betwsen the upper
and n.5her milis:oue il; this country this
year They arc iaGl, Of demand and over
supply. This country is not going to lay
twelve thousand miles Of railroad. this
would be enough business to 60 around
and give all the mills 4 share, but, as re.
tre.,cinlens appears to be the order, Bessc.
mer firms have felt it necessary to make
an active competition for whatever of next
years tad. appeared in sight. That has
been an innovation in the Bessemer line.
"What precipitatcd the sudden drop in
quotations, compelling tho West sru mills
to shut down.
1t was the Scranton mill. There was no
preconcerted arrangement Oh the part OF
! Eastern men to squeeze out the Western
people as appears to have been covertly
suggested when Mr.. Clarke, the owner
Of the Scranton mill, came from Europe
last week, he found his mill without more
! than enough orders to last him 4 week.
His coal and ore roads and coal and Orc
mines were idle, aud there was no market
for the produce OF rails. He resolved to
make 4 market, and quoted rails at $40 to
) 543, delivered in Chicago. lie can't make
rails for $40, but he loses less at $40 than
he would if he were to let his mill lay idle.
He did just what would have done.
, "Suppose you had been running a mill
} in the Wests'
81 would have shut down Just, rs they
have done at Chicago and st. Louis
Their plants will not produce as ours do,
and they arc obliged to ship their fuel
from Pennsylvania
; How a5out the Edgar Thomson
works.
That is an usettled question. We may
} shut down in January. We are running now
, Ga next years orders. More than that.
We are even anticipating few orders
which VIC have not yet received. You state
just as emphatically IS you have mind to
that the Edgar Thomson works will not
run at loss 80 long as the Carnegies have
anything to do with them. We will have
: months Of $40 market yet before any
change can be expected. The shutting
down Of the Western mills will nOs make
prices any better here, but may keep
} Them from going any lower. I do not au
ticipate an iron panic, but do say that
! unless tho cost OF supplies and labor is re-
duced considerably, that 4 largo number
, OF eastern mills will OF necessity, shu,
] down for few months
, ''What place in the calculations of the
steel men, in tho present emergency, do
tariff considerations Occupy?"
, "They do not enter in the matter at all
: England could easily undersell u, at SAC
, for ton Of rails if VIC had FREQ trade.
5 Rails are worth in England 525, which
. with SO for freight and insurance and
: commission, would lay them down il
, New York at $50. Before the tariff com
mission We recommended a decrease Ol
, the tariff On Bessemer from $29 per tor
to a cent pouud or saa 40 per ton. Thai
} would protect Us in any possible market
Before We began making rails in America
our roads thought il economy to buy Eng
} lish rails at Sl20 per ton. We never solo
+ but one lot for more than $50, and that
was good while ago. The Bsssemel
. capacity of this country is far ahead O
1 n r. Al.