St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-18
Total cost per ton. on.................. so
What 1t Means.

AS will be seen, the above figures
governed the wages OF the men in De-
ceInber, 1889, at which time the men
were working under sliding scale of
$50 ton. The reductions since then
are we'll known, as there was a drop
every three months until it reached the
the minimum, S25. On July 5, 1889, ac-
cording to the Pittsburg quotations of
the American Manufacturer, these fig
ures are accepted by both sides in the
averagement of wages. Acid O.. III.
steel was selling at 2sl cents per pound,
or $50 ton. The first cost of produc-
tlon was. S26.9S. Then, in order 10 be
just, it is necessary to enumerate the
expense attached to rolling ton
of acid o. II. into. plate and
also the cost in the sabbing mill and
the total cost of ton reaches SAL. With
the market quotations at that time it is
readily seen that the profit to the Car
negle company per ton runs exactly
Sl4. Two per cent off is allowed Oh
their figures tor cash sales. The figures
on the basis o. Fl. vary but little; the
cost per ton, quoted selling price. ETC.,
would net profit of something like SIG
a ton. As previously stated, since then
the minimum basis has dropped, reduc
tiOnS in all departments accepted, and
the cost of labor made much lower.
President William Weihe, of the Anal
gamated association, was shown the fig
ureS, and he said:
The Agreement.
According to the original agreement
made in 1889 it was expressly Stipulated
that the basis of the scale should be reg
ulated by the quoted selling price of
BesSemer AKA steel billets. Open hearth
steel is finer grade, and commands
higher price, but the Homestead men
manufacture it on the Bessemer billet
basis. The present selling price of AKA
billetS is s24 ton, and for this reason
the men. recognizing the condition of
the market, agreed to come down to
S24 minimum basis. MI. Frick first
wanted it S22 and then conceded S23. If
these rates were accepted, just think of
the increased profits the company would
receive. In July, 1892, Bessemer
pig was quoted at S16.35. In the same
mOnth of 1892 it was quoted at S14 a
ton, showing decrease of S2.35. The
average quotation of steel plates is S1.SO
per 100 pounds, which makes $50 ton
at 1000 per ton. Now, remember that
the men are paid on a basis of 2,24O
pounds to the ton. This proves that the
company gains 240 pounds OH the deal.
The figures published are correctly
StIoliS eNlueHco, anu ndQ CneSe rates
been In possession of the Homestead
men while the congressman were here
they would have made mighty strong
arguments"
W0rkmen DumfOunded.
When reporter visited Homestead
and displayed the figures to the leaders
of the men they were almost dumb
founded. At first they refused to be-
lieve they were bona fide, but, after
scrutiniZing the different items, they
admitted that they were indeed the
truthful figures. Although they have
all along had an idea of the cost and
could present them, yet they could not
swear by the truth of them. George
1relands. one of the best posted men on
wage rates at Homestead, and who pre-
sented such strong testimony on behalf
of the men, said:
"The only thing lacking is the cost of
the Bessemer Aka billetS. This would
be immense, and if once secured would
knock Mr.. Frick silly in his figures on
the wages paid the men during May.