Sharp County record., 1891-03-19
TIE STEEL RAIL TRUST.

1t Puts L u the Price OF Ralls-Great PrOhsg
of the Rail Makers-High Protection and
What 1t Costs-A Strong Monopoly Which
Needs No Protection.
The steel rail manufacturing in the
United States has been consolidated
into fewer and fewer hands during the
past ten years. Ten years ago there
were eleven companies engaged in
making rails; now there are only six,
and these are in combination which
controls prices and output. A recent
meeting of the manufacturers were
held, at which it was agreed to put up
the prices of rails to $50 ton, the
price having been as low as S27. so at
the beginning of the year.
The present price of the Besse-
.mer steel rails in England
is S21 ton, or 50 lower than
in the United States. Our total
production of rails last year is given by
the American Iron & Steel Association
rs 1,797,OO gross tons of 2,24O pounds.
If the present difference of 50 a ton
should continue through the year, we
should pay SIG, 17S,OOO more for our
rails this year than the same quantity
would cost in England.
In order to prevent us from buying
rails where we can get them cheapest
protective duty of S13.4 A ton is placed
on rails, although the difference be-
tween the total labor cost of production
in England and the United States has
been officially stated by United States
Labor Commissioner Carroll D. Wright
to be only 27% cents a ton. This is the
difference in the entire labor cost, be-
ginning with the iron ore.
The entire cost,of producing ton of
rails in the United States is given by
Mr.. Wright as S2577 and the entire
European cost, as averaged from seven
establishments on the Continent and
two in England, is stated by the same
authority to be be S2277 This maka
"a difference in the total cost of produc-
tion of just S3-to cover which our tariff
grinders give duty of $l3.44!
AS the steel rail trust has fixed the
price of rails at $50 ton, or "a. 80 above
the cost of production, the total net
earnings of the six companies for this
year on 1,797,OO0 tons will be 81, ZOO, 900.
Our experience in the protection of
iron and steel has been carefully studied
and the result reduced to figures bv
David A. Wells in his "Recent Economic
Changes" Mr.. Wells takes the figures
given out by the Iron and Steel Associa-
ton, OF Philadelphia, covering the ten
years from 1878 to 1887, inclusive, and
Shows that the consumption of iron and
steel averaged 100000 net tons per
annum. The average price of anthracite
pig iron in Philadelphia was S21.S7; the
price of "Scotch" pig in England was
$l294 which, allowing ample for
freights, would make about $l5 in this
country. The average difference was
about ST.;
The average price of best rolled iron
in Philadelphia was 5000 per gross
ton; in England the corresponding iron
was S35,4S, a difference of over S14; but,
taking the lowest diiference-S7-it
then appears that the consumers here
paid on 60,OOO,OOO tons in ten years
$42O, O0O,0 more than the English con-
isumers paid; or more accurately, more
than like quantity would have cost,
taking the English price plus the
freight.
The aggregate consumption of steel
was 20, 100000 tons. Taking then the
lowest form of steel-the rails-the
pverage American price was S44; the
verage English price $50. The in
reased cost to Americans was $3.50, ,OOO,.
100; but, deducting 81 rer ton from the
ron used in making these rails, the diff
erence is $4,000, ,OOO The excess of
rice on iron and steel was then $780,.
10000 for ten years, or $50, 900, 900 per