Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-12-18
TIE IRON DEPRESSION
AID the Policy of Greed That Has
Caused 1t.
The Sheet Mills Reduction---UaheaIthy
Nail Profit Of the Past---Ioo
Great Capacity to
Blame.

Onthe first day Of the New Year, gen
eral reduction OF II per cent will go into
eff,ct at the Ktna aud Standard mills, in
Guiding all men not members OF the Anal
ramat,d Association 1t will extend from
the highest to the lowest, taking in clerks,
bookk-rpers and lab0rers alike. The coz
Germs feel that they have made contract
with the AmalgamaiiOI and the wL1rs OF
Il ose men will not be touched, In the
two mills, this order will affect about two
hundred men, including the office forces,
blacksmiths. anneaIers. bundlers, tetmSters,
Carriers, etc. The coal bank forces, belong
ing 10 another union, will not be affected.
There WAS rumor yesterday, that at
the Whitaker mill, which is Of the same
Class, the same reduction would be made,
but Mr. Whitaker promptly contrad'cted It,
wleu questioned by telephone. Neither
will there be any reduction az any OF oar
nail mills, as far as could be ascertalned
A REGISTER reporter had talk with one Of
our mill owners yesterday on this anu
kindred topics and gaiued considerable IN
formation on the iron question. Said he
We ae row experiencing periodical
DEPRESSION that is the result Of great over
Production; or rather, | should say, the
effect Of having a producing capacity largely
in excess Of the demand Ii Is the lOStcal
IT suit OF the ability TO make in seven mouths
enough nails 10 last year.
How did it happent
In this way. la 1879, so, 81, 30, and
81 though less in 1883, there was great
money in mai There was an unhealthy
profit, Along in those years, mills declared
dividends. IN some cases Us high as ~ per
cent and one mill even declared stock
dividend of 100 percent. There was, say,
an unhealthy profit in the business. What
vas the result? Men rushed into mills
the old ones largely Increased their produc
ing capacity. The result is we have reaches
that slate of affairs when in seven months
We can TURN out enough nails TO supply tn"
q, maud ior YEA. When boom comes
tie mills put on I'LL force and make money,
he market gets stocked and over-itocked
aud the mills must stop. Now see the iuiQulty
Of this. Instead of employing fewer msu
r,r longer tine giving them steady work,
she mills double their force, work only halt
as long, and then lie idle. 1t makes nodGt-
terence to The owners, but in the name OF
ted v bat are the men going 10 do about 1t?
The market is glutted with nails aud
down goes the price. The only thing to Dc
done is to shut down and limit the produc
lion and that is what they are trying to do
Then there is the steel nail, with the call on
the market, keeping the iron one in no;
wafer. The steel nail mills have trade
and refuse to shut down and will run, as !
would do, until they force some Of the
smaller concerns, the weaker ones to the
wall. Now that is the situation. Aud
here, in the tail end of the Republican al
ministration. come these purblind idiots and
attribute this to the result Of the election
The whole thing is done by this internal
system OF tariff that makes US prey on
each other, Que getting rich at the expense
of the other; that builds an impregpsblr
vail about us, keeping out the wealth hat
would make Us great.