Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-03
NEARLY 10000 IDLE.
Summary of the Iron Mills and Men
in the United States
AFFECTED BY THE WAGE DISPUTE
Secretary Lovejoy on the Effect of I'm.
proved Machinery.
MORE SCALE SIGNATURES COMING IN


the iron masters and the workers the ma
joritv of rolling mills, steel works ant
their auxlliaries throughout the country
are lying idle. This fact has given rise tt
considerable discussion, and there are many
who would like to know the number of
mills controlled by labor organizations an
the number of workmen at present out on @
strike. This The DIsP ATCH is able te
| give this morning.
There are 47S rolling mills and steel
works, 80 forges and bloomeries, 30 wire
nail works and 65 cut nail factories, the lat.
ter containing in the aggregate 5.646 me.
chimes These give employment to upward
of SO, 900 men, and the annual capacity, not
including the nail works, is placed at TO-
42S, 494 net tons of finished iron and steel,
ingots, blooms and billets. These rolling
mills, steel works, etc., are distributed
among 2s different States, the largest num-
Der, 211, being located in Pennsylvania,
while the States of Maine, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Georgia, Iowa and Wyoming
each have one.
The Association Controls Three-Fourths.
Out of the 47S mills, about 80 have been
idle for some months past, less than 80 are
non-union, from 40 to 80 are controlled by
independent labor organizations, and the
balance, some $50, are under the immediate
supervision of the Amalgamated Associa-
tion of Iron and Steel Workers. This or
gaulzation has 291 separate lodges, which
look after the interests of these $50 mills,
few of the lodges having more than one
man ufactorv to attend to,
When, on the eve of June 80, it was an
nounced that because the manufacturers
had refused to sign the new scale the iron
and steel mills would close down, the
general belief was that on July 1
every plant in the United States manufact-
uring iron and steel would be idle, but the
position taken by the manufacturers did
not affect those mills under the control of
independent labor organizations or the ones
employing non-union men; then, again,
quite number of manufacturers under the
supervision of the National Lodge of the
Amalgamated Association have agreed to
the western scale of prices" for the en-
suing year and the list of signers is being
augmented daily
Two More Signatures Como in.
Up to late hour last night the only ad-
tionsl signers of the new scale were the
Bristol Rolling Mills, of Bristol, Pa, and
the new concern at Hartman, Tenn, max
ing IS firms who have agreed to the terms
of the Amalgamated Association. These
do not include the mills governed BY the
sheet scale. Of the 80 mills or less that are
non-union, and the 40 or 80 controlled by
organizations outside of the Amalgamated,
1t would be safe to state that no more than
one-half, or about 40 mills, are in operation;
some having adopted the policy of union
mills, that of closing down for repairs.
This number, added to mills owned by
firms who have signed the scale and are now
running, would make total of 58
The number of workmen employed in
these So mills is placed at II. 100, and the
annual capacity in round numbers is rated
at 8, 431 ,S45 net tons of finished material,
embracing merchant iron and steel, special
shapes, ingots, billets, blooms, etc. About
10000 workmen are steadily employed wien
all the mills are in operation, and 69, 200
are now idle. Deducting 1921, S45 net tons
from 20, 428, 494 net tons, the annual capacity
of all the mills, there will be q balance of
Ii, 1877, ,649 net tons, which the country would
lose if the mills were idle for one year. By
dividing this large balance into days, how
ever, it will show that the total loss in the
product for each and every day the mills
remain closed will be about Al, 900 net tons.
Increasing Wages without Increasing Work
As new improvements and machinery are
introduced into these mills the product will
be increased, but the number of workmen
will be diminished. Secretary Lovejoy, of
the Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, when
questioned yesterday, admitted that the diff
fculty between the firm and the workmen
was due to the introduction of new ma
chinery, which increases the output with
out increasing the amount of work per-
formed.
The DISPATCH of March 12, 1892, printed
an Interview with one of the men at the
Homestead Steel Works, who predicted
tion of the scale on June 80 A portion of
the article published follows:
Some time ago the committee from the %
and S3-1nch mills waited upon General Man.
ager Potter in reference to our scale for the
coming year. They were met witt the
no scale next year. The reason OF this is
that the company is going to put in ma
chinery which will greatly reduce the num-
new @ y, converting @ mill similar ART to s the ONE at
Braddock, and this goes to show that there
will be great reduction in employees.
We will not be disturbed until the scale
runs our but in the meantime the laborers
will have to go as fast as thev can be dis |
pensed with. The $50 who were discharged |
to-day is only beginning. All those who |
lv know there is soon to be a crisis, as the ]
iron and steel business is now undergoing a |
great revolution. The price of steel is rapid |
ly descending.
Predicting n Revolution in tn. Business.
For several years past the Carnegie con-
Germs have been pitted against all the other |
ofiro and steel Today, ac- |
cording to authority, there is 800 per cent |
more competition than five years ago in the |
steel business. At the present time every |
pressure that is possible to be brought into |
play is being used against the Homestead |
concern, and it now means a war of the lit. |
tie ones against the one big mill.
From people who are watching the strug- |
gle these facts are learned-and it can be |
stated on good authority that the Carnegies |
intend to get themselves in such a shape so |
they may he able to fix the price of steel |
Ind hold the markets. At present they have
TO do this or let their competitors get the
better of them.
Within a few months things will be
changed. Then the company will be able TO
steel in q manner which, it is
will revolutionfze the business, re-
luce their labor expense two-thirds the pres
ent amount: put competition where it will
not molest, and throw the steel world into
imaZement.
The reference to revolution in the man.
fracture of steel related particularly to the
lirect process, then in course of expert
nent, but now declared to be a success, bv
which the daily tonnage capacity Of the mill
s largely increased without employing
more men, and thus increases the wages of
he tonnage men.
IN A PROSPEROUS CONDITION.
1