The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-04-16

production and prices. Tho combine. a.
at present constituted. is composed of
the folio" ing concerns. Opposite each
is given is annual capacity in net tons
us stated hy James NJ. Swank. general
manager of the american Iron and Steel
association:
Net Tons
The Illinois Stcc. company. .... ...... l!rg,.,.H
arnrgic Bros. ~ u............. tiH.uI
Tho Cambria Iron company. ......... 4!.!j,Et
The Bethlehem company. ........ 2.j.UU
The LaCnawdnua toHl ana Iron com
TIN Pennsylvania steel romlauy..... 5000
Total. ....... a.Iij,mU
1t will he sufii, lent To- go back to 1850
to trace the history of this combine. In
that year there were eleven works pro
ducing steel rails as follows: The North
Chicago. the South Chicago and the
Cnion and Joliet Iron works. in Illinois:
the Edgar Thompson Steel works. the
Cambria Iron company. the PennSyl-
wanna Steel company. the Lackawalna
Coal and Iron company and the Scranton
Steel company. in PENNSYLVANIA: the
Troy Steel and Iron company. i'll New
York; the Cleveland Rolling Mill com
pany. i'll Ohio, and the -. Louis Steel
company, in Missouri. During the five
years following 1850 four other iron
companies added steel rail mill, to their
plants-thc Worcester steel works.
Massachusetts: the Homestead Steel
works. Pennsylvania: the Southern Iron
company, Tennessee; the Springfield
Iron company. Illinois. and the Colorado
Coal and Iron company. To these must
he added the Duquesnc works built III
lss6-s. and til" Maryland plant Of
the Pennsylvania Steel COMPANY recent
ly completed. This make, IA total Of
seventeen separate works which were in
operation or have been built since 1850.
OF the fifteen works i'll operation in
1856 and 1881 the following have ceased
producing rails: The ST. Louis Steel
company, the Troy Steel and Iron COM
pany, the Cleveland Rolling Mills com
pany. the Worcester Steel works and the
Springfield Iron company. During the
saline period tn" other works lave
been consolidated a> follows: Tie Hi
noiS Steel company absorbed the three
Illinois works tirsl mentioned: Car.
nCgie Bros. d c.. airrql control by
purchase of the DTquc>lc Steel works
and the Homestead Steel works. and the
L&ckawamla Cnal ana iron company (
added To is original plant the Scranton ,
Steel works. This consolidation of in
t"'r~;o was completed carly in 1891. with |
the result that the steel rail combine
now control, all the works making rails
III the United States except tina, Of the
Colorado Coal and Iron company. who's.
annual capacity is umll ."0,GO" net tons.
Several more OF les strong cumniuo- .
tiuns have been formed since 1850 t.
control prodr'ti"n and iiX prices. bn,
with VARYING >Glccc~~. Previous to the
present cum1in" thai al lN~, and ls~.
WAS the most Successful Of all. In the
ijll of $3.50 an era Of active railroad
construction WIS begun and conrinurd
throughout $3.50 AIN! lS>;. \, Il result
Of thc large urlI&uI for rails the
rnlnbln was all. To- fore the price NJ
10 the Importing point in spit" of the
fact that the duty WAS then &lS per ton.
The effect Of ihp>o colnbinat ,uns on /
prices il shown ia the following ililes
giving the yearly price per ton of s,cel
rails al the mil IN PENNSYLVANIA or 81
Bessemcr pig iron a. pittsbnrg since
1857:
l--j. !.>t. i-N,. l-s.. l>sp. l.!si. l>gl. /
steel rail-. 2s.Jp san 81, .%.:i 49, M.;5 :M.m.
Pig iron .. 1851 lS!G :i.31 ii.I, i.Hi lS.sj Ij
Difference. lo.Ha l5.5i lj;l l:.G lI.2j 1880 l3M
The extent t" which the prices of steel
rails have been manipulated by the COM
binc is well shown in tie above tables.
If II be the objects 81 trusts which sup
press competition to secure the econo-
mics which are gained by unifying III
terests and lowering the cost Of produc-
tion, and 10 divide the advantages thu,
gained between producers and con
sumers. this division has moi yet been
made by the steel rail trust. On the
contrary. the combine has not only ap-
rropriated all the benefit, 10 itself. but
1t has added to its p.oius by increasing
prices above the level prevailing under
competition. Since the consolidation Of
interests early III 1891 not "a ton of rails
has been sold by the eastern members OF
the combine at less than $50 at the
works, or by the western member, the
Illinois steel company, at less than
S3l 80. These were the prices agreed
upon at the meeting in Philadelphia n
year ago.
The Investigations into the cost of pro-
the various products of iron and
steel by the commissioner Of labor show
the enormous profits of the combination.
page 1853 of his report the commits
sioner says, The department has been