The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-09

the men employed is reSpOnSlDle lor lnS
panic. Mr.. Hull, to answer those who
think there may be some other cause,
asks:
IF it is not iron, what is it? There
is no other article of Importance which
is subject to such a condition of in.
adequate supply or excessive advance
in price. 1t is profitable to carry lum-
Der for seasoning purposes hence we
have a stock of two or three years pro-
duction piled up in every town, city
and village; extraordinary demands
can be made on this stock without in
ordinate advances i'm price.
SOME COMPARISONS MADE.
"The output of brick and stone can
be increased quickly to meet any de-
mand by increasing the force in the
briCkyards and stone Quarries: build
ings can be put UP today, exclusive Of
the iron used, at an advance of ) to 10
per cent. 1t is not food or clothing
there is no great advance in any of
these articles. Pass in review every
other article and you find no such fam
inc and famine prices as take place in
pig iron from time to time. The more
it is studied the more one will be i'm
pressed with the conviction that the
unnatural price attained by iron Is the
cause which puts a stop to our natural
flow of prosperity.
Every great staple except iron is
either carried in large quantities or it's
output can be increased to any desired
degree at short notice, consequently
we have no famine or famine price in
CT n nIn n ct
of iron carried in the United States
during the last ten years has been less
than twenty-three days product, and
it takes practically a year to build new
furnaces. What wonder, then, that as
the books of consumers fill up with or
| ders for months ahead they become
| alarmed about the supply of iron, and
in the scramble that each one makes
to get enough to supply his individual
wants the price is carried to enormous
| figures"
The only remedy for the disastrous
advances in price, Mr. Hull argues, is
| to carry an ample supply. The iron
| men of the country are now laESing
| under the delusion, it seems, that n
| twenty-three days stock of iron is
overproduction and, indeed, a score of
| efforts have been made within twenty
years to restrict the output. Mr.. Hull
cOnfesses that in 1884 he was himself
at the head of one of these unwise at
| tempts.
| How to carry an ample supply of
| iron. then becomes the problem. The
| solution, according to Mr.. Hull lies
| in dealing in iron upon the exchanges
| and he argues from the example of
| other products to show that the great
| fluctuations in price would thus be
| stopped:
\ WAY OUT OF THE TROUBLE.
AT one time there was no profit
able system for carrying large stocks
| of grain, cotton, mineral oil, ETC., and
| during that time these articles were
subject to enormous fluctuations in
| price. Means of storage existed, but
| even then the carriage was attended
| by loss of the cost of storage and in
| tcrest and the price of these articles
was inordinately low at the time of
| harvest. Later on certificates repre-
senting these articles came to be
| dealt in on exchange, as the dealings
| in these certificates grew to be large
this carriage. through modern eX-
| change methods became profitable
and the extreme fluctuations in price
were eliminated. The most pronOunc,
ed instance of this change is found
in the price of mineral oil, which
! fluctuated during the nine years be-
fore il was dealt in on exchange from
~ cents to s. per barrel at the wells
| as against a fuctuatiOn of from g.
cents to $1.OG during the nine years
| afte" it was dealt in on exchange
The largest stock carried during tbs
first period of nine years was 500,0 ,00C
| barrels, the average stock, after il
was dealt in on exchanges. was $4,000,
600 barrels. In other words, before eX
change dealing existed q stock of 800,
600 barrels carried the price down tt
80 cents; after exchange dealing!
were inaugurated a stock seVentY-tw,
times as large was easily carried, will
6i cents as the lowest price reached
Could there be a stronger illustration
Of the beneficial effect of eXchang1
dealings"
"A three weeks stock of pig iron il
the United states during dull times
carried prices below the cost of pro
duction. with active dealing in pis
iron on exchanges six months stool
could be easily carried without lorcin|
prices to as low n point"
Scotland affords an example. PIT
iron has been dealt in on the eH
changes there for fifty years or more
Mr.. Hull says
WHAT is DONE IN SCOTLAND.
For thirty years out Of the last fift,
the stock carried in Scotland by eX
change dealing alone has amounted t
more than six months production, an,
at one time for five years i'm success
sion the stock amounted TO more thai
twelve months production.
"a forced sale of 10000 tons in tn
United States during the last twent
years under normal conditions wOul
have caused a decline i'm price Of fror
"a to 80 cents a ton, the same amour
forced off on the Glasgow eXchang
would have caused a decline Of per
haps a half-penny. On the occasio
of a very depressed market within tn
last three years a forced sale Of 1000
tons in the United States caused a de
cline of 50 a ton. 10000 tons We're sol
on the Scotch exchange at the sam
| time ut a decline of one penny an
half per ton.
"In this age an ample supply of iro
and stability i'm its price are second /
Importance only TO a stable govern
ment. We may avoid the disasters rC
sulting from a scarcity of money
times Of an extraordinary demand h
! inauguratirG a flexible currency sy'