The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-10-15
BY ARCHER BROWN


From the Engineering Magazine.
A rise of 100 per cent in six months in the
price of a commodity so universally used as
iron is calculated to startle the world. 1t
requires little sagacity to see that if present
values are to be maintained for any length
of time new basis of all industrial oper-
atoms Is rendered necessary. Will 1t last?
How can 1t last? Assuming that 1898 prices
Melted cost to the makers, it would seem to
follow that there Is 100 per cent profit in
the manufacture today Millions of capital
are eagerly seeking investment where one
tenth of that return can be assured. Why
will not capital rush in, start the idle fur
naces and mills, build new ones, and quick
ly break down the markets by over-produc-
ton? Again, will not new undertakings be
checked by the high cost of structural steel,
machinery, rolling stock, electrical equip
ment and the like, so that the great demand
will soon begin to fall off, and the makers
find themselves with more iron than custo-
mers?
Questions like these are universally asked
by those who produce as well as by those
who consume. The answer reaches far into
economics-labor conditions, relations with
foreign nations, transportation Idc1lllleS,
the physical limitations of mineS water
ways, etc, the staying qualities of the far
mers and laboring masses in their power to
buy needed things and pay good prices for
them, the rapid increase but powerful fac
tor in all commerce and fndustry-human
nature.
The facts in the rise of prices are fresh
in all minds. In the first week in December,
1898, the larger interests in Alabama felt
that the better demand warranted adding
% cents per ton to the price of $500, then
prevailing for No. foundry pig iron f. o. b.
cars Birmingham. 1t is a somewhat curious
fact that while Alabama produces less than
tenth of the pig iron made in the United
States, 1t is her admitted prerogative to fix
prices for the whole market. This is DUE
doubtless, to two causes 1t Is the cheapest
center of production of raw iron In the
world, and its product reaches nearly all
consuming markets of the United States,
and even of Europe, on more nearly equal
terms than that of any other district.
There was not much confidence in the i'm
provement at first There had been several
false starts since the Barring failure in 1890
and the memorable panic of 1898, and Moth
ing was more deeply fixed in the minds of
producers and consumers alike than that
era of low prices was here to stay. Here
and there a man had memory and used
it, But, for the most part, furnaces and
mills sold freely on the first slight advance.
| When the price was up so cents ton on pig
| iron and a dollar on steel billets and bars,
| furnace and mill owners joyfuly took hea-
| wy contracts. When another dollar was
| added along in January, many of the
strongest and most conservative concerns
| in the United States booked their output
| for three six. and even nine months ahead.
| At this writing (September) tens of thous-
| ands of tons of material still going for
| ward on these low-prced contracts. And
| TO the honor of the trade be it said that, al
most universally, the fulfllment of these
| low-prced orders is given preference over
| newer and highly profitable business. Here
| and there an INSCRIPTIONS concern has found
| temptation to side-track the cheap business
| too great to resist, but these are rare ex-
| centions to the general rule of good faith
and business honesty
The increduity of the trade as to the gen.
uineness and extent of the Improvement had
one conspicuous illustration in the highest
quarters The Lake Superior ore interests
are counted the corner stone of the Amer
lean iron and steel industry. The owners
and agents centering in Cleveland, Pitts
burg, Youngstown and Chicago, thought
prudence dictated a conservative policy, and
opened their books in February at agreed
prices averaging scarcely % cents ton
above the very low range of 1898. The ore
was snapped up almost In a day. and before
the bewildered sellers could tell what had
happened, the vast product OF all the Lake
Superior ranges was sold for deliveries ex-
tending to July ], 1900. Stockholders of
mines and other critics wise after the facts,
have wondered at a policy SO very conserv-
alive towards the mine owner, and so high
w liberal to the furnaces. In the light OF
subsequent events, it was a huge mistake.
But 1t must be remembered and emphasized
| that. as late as March, only man here and
there in the whole trade showed by his acts
his faith in the large Improvement which
was so rapidly to follow.
The following table will show the change
that has taken place in prices OF lew or
the leading products in different markets of
the United States: