Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1882-12-03
Wage Workers May Look For a
Reduction in the Price
of Labor.
Retrenchment in Railroad Building
Begun Bouncing maintain
ancs of Way" Men.

I&tfBde. This uneaSlneSS 10 oest e'ioohNeN
by the watchful eye eastern manufacturers
are keeping on their western competitors,
and the frequent visits of steel manufac-
,urers of other cities to this senter.
Among those who have been here the
present week was Mr.. William Chisholm,
President of the Cleveland Rolling Mill
Company; tie establishment in which such
a serious strike recently took place. In
discussing the situation, Mr.. Chlsholm
stated that his company ordinarily employ
ed over 5000 men, but that many oi tnem
were out of employment at present. ms
reduction he said was made i'll the steel rail
Department of the mill, and was due to the
fact that the company could not manutac,
ture rails at present prices. This price ne
fixes at Si3 per ton.
The extent OF the
Over Production
i'm steel rails may be seen from the follow
ing statistics secured at the Office OF the
Western Iron Association. In 1873 the out
put of steel rails in this country was ooo'
200 tons, in 1881 it was 100000 tons, ana
the ESTIMATE for the present year is 1900
OOO an increase of over 200 per cent IN
four years. During the past two years the
capacity of the mills has grown from J.
go 900 tons TO $1,000 tons. 1t IS not
necessary to state that the demand has not
increased commenSurately with the pro-
duction, and as Il natural consequence the
market is very greatly oyerStOcked.
The cause Of this over production may
very reasonably he attributed to the
tendency upon the part OF mill owners 10
increase the capacity OF their works. LOOK,
ing the country over 1t does not seem that
many new concerns have been established,
h,,k ha those
in existence has been Tremendous:
Livery manufacturer seems pressed
with desire to be known as
q king or at least prince, in the IRON
world. Mills with capacity OF working
lUOmen have made additions giving them
q capacity Of so. Those formerly employ
ing 400 and SO now give employment to
two or three or five thousand. While 1t
would not be proper to mention names,
could point to a half dozen such over
grown establishments. and | dare say
Wheeling can furnish several examples.
The general failure Of strikes IN all dl-
reCtiOns last summer and fall was an indi-
cation that business was being pushed TO
its utmost limit and that
The Iron Trade
particularly could not support any greater
load OF expense in production than ii was
then CARRYING. 1t is now evident the load
Il was then carrying could not bear another
feather, and lnSreoTer that a part OF the
present burden will have to be taken of.
fhe tirsf source OF retfenekment will netpr,
ally be in cutting down thewagc scale, and
tho Amalgamatsd A!soeistion And atha1GfS hNiGS
he tienarde8 of them at an early day.
Added TO the decreased demand, the natural
dullness of the season will help to produce
this effect. The closing OF the works OF the
North Chicago rolling mill, yesterday for
want Of orders, by which over 1000 men
were thrown out OF employment, has had a
depressing effect upon mill owners and
employees here.
One Of our most conservative and best in
formed manufacturers, with whom con-
versed last evening, sal Il:
ut can not be denied that the market is at
present very uncertain, but do not appre'
bend that this state OF affairs will he very
lasting. 1t seems to me that this threatened
trouble is the result OF undue speculation.
When such huge monetary interests arc
involved in railroad and other Specula-
tions Of an uncertain character, the effect
can not be but for evil. Stock SpeculatiOnS
are curse to the legitimate bus in
tcrestS of the country. Another influence
in causing the
Depressed State OF Trade
is the evident intention OF the coming Con-
rreSs to do some tinkerin% with the tarih.
Whatever is done in this direction will have
the effect Of unsettling values until trade
readiusts itself to the new order OF things.
A change of policy is always dangerous TO
existing business interests and the prudent
business man times his acts for the coming
gale. That is what is gOirg on IN this
country now. While am firmly convinced
that the outcome of the matter will be a
permanent reduction in prices, yet do not
believe the result will be g serious blow to
the laboring class. The reduction will not
be large and will be followed by proper
innate decline in the price Of Commod-
tiles. There will be no trouble whatever
in .Le readiusting process. Our men all
work under the scale and with the fall in
the selling price will. Of course, submit to
the proportionate reduction in their
wages"
The m ills of this city are still running as
usual, and probably will continue to run.
Iron can be manufactured in Pittsburgh as
cheap and probably little cheaper than
any city in the country, so that our mills
will he kept going
The tone Of this letter may cause your
! readers to think panic in the iron world
is imminent. Nothing of the sort. As
vet the iron market has been in reality
| verv little affected by the reduction in
steel. and prices have been we'll sustained.
This letter only shows that the prevailing
| opinion is that
Lower Prices Must Come,
| but il does not follow that such reduc.
ton is necessarily attended with panic.
| There may be q stoppage in some mills for
want Of orders, as occurred yesterday at
! Chicago, which will cause considerable
| distress il localities. But unless produced
! from some cause unseen at present, there
! Is no rerson to apprrhcnd general and
lasting depression OF any serious extent,
In nv letter of last week | spoke OF re-
! trenchment in railroad building. ihis
! week the retrcnchment comes from aooIhef
direction, namely in the operating expen
ses. An order goes into effect to,Gay on
the lines operated by the Pennsylvania
| Railroad Company that will largely re
6uce the number OF their employees
This first move is made in the direction
of the "nSintsinance OF way men; II
other 'xorda the sons of the Emerald Isle
Who keep the road in good order. On the
Pittsburgh Fort Wayne Chicago Kait
road over 9, 600 men are employed IN thl'
csnscity. To dag seven hundred Of them
when they received their pay got with
il notice that their seryice'
were no longer required. upon tne FAu
| handle road the same order went INTO Ell
feet, and the main stem will soon iolIoN
suit, il is said, in a few weeks; To be throwr
ont of employment just at the commence
ment OF the winter will be hard blow Il
these men, who are generally improvident
This reduction can hardly be attributed Il
business depression, for it is well know
fact that the Fort Wayne road has NOR
business than il can handle, and frequent
" suffers from Q freight blockade. The roa'
bed can not be repaired 10 much advantag
during the cold weather, so these men ar
discharged now TO pe rehired again in tn
spring. if they survive the winter
hN cCr0pr Tn cETnE