The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-07-07
THF DANGER SIGNAL

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premacy Of the world belongs to the
country that cav. produce pig IRON most
cheaply, because this carries With It the
ability 10 command the cheapest ma
chinery and the cheapest transportation
which, in their turn, render possible the
conversion Of raw materials Into manu-
factured products and the delivery OF
these 10 the consumer at the lowest at
talnable range Of cost But how II the
ability to produce cheaply is accom-
panied by the opportunity to charge a
purely artificial price for the product
and all the natural advantages of the
country for the production of iron and
steel more cheaply than elsewhere IN the
world, are thus utlll4ed2 Mr.. George
H. Hull attempts 70 answer that quea-
ton IN the current number OF the North
American Review, and he constructs
what ut least very suggestive argu-
ment on the assumption that the most
potent influence In turning the tide Of
national prosperity Ia ell the years pre-
cedlng our great commercial panic9 has
been the advance OF from 100 70 800 per
CGLit III AuG pEAEe Va RAuF AANAAa AAS
points out that in the center OF growth
In this country Iron has advanced from
$l9 To- $50 ton In 1854; from SIS 20 SIS
in 1854: from S36 to 800 In 1872:}from $50
to $46 IN 1880: from to $17in 1889; and
iron which was sold a few months ago
at SO In Alabama Is selling at, SO to-day
(say four weeks Rgol with an advancing
tendency and a visible supply Of but six
days production. So Mr. Hull finds
basis for his statement that Il was
not disturbed finances or loss OF conti-
dence which turned the tide Of pros
perity in these years; the loss Of conf
dence and disturbed finances came
months afterward and were the ettects
OF the turn in the tide
While 1t would not be difficult TO show
that such a statement ignores the main
conditions Of the problem, and that IN
each Of these years the advance IN the
price Of pig iron was merely an incl
dent in q general process Of imitation
which bore with II the certainty OF yio-
lent contraction. the fact remains that
no better indication than the price OF
pig iron can be found to. mark the
stages Of such process and the proba-
BILE period Of Its continuance. As our
authority points out, the consumption
OF lronils progressing Year by year with
a cumulative force. Fifty ye4fs ago one
hundred pounds were consumed in the
United States annually for each one OF
Its Inhabitants; ten years ago there We're
three hundred pounds for each person,
and to-day we are consuming iron at
the rate Of four hundred pounds yearly
for each one Of our 1000, 900 Inhabitants.
He might have added that in ten years
the cost Of producing a ton OF pig iron
has decreased 81 per cent-the labor
cost being cut down to about one-hatt
by the advance in furnace capacity and
methods. Advancing a step further.
the cost of converting pig iron into steel
by the BesBemer process has, IN tho
most improved plants, been nearly cut
in two IN eleven years. These changes
tend, of course, to increase the i'm
portance Of the part which pig iron
plays IN our national prosperity. be-
cause they have not only served TO make
our people the largest users OF Iron and
steel in the world, but have placed the
control Of the worlds markets for these
products in the hands OF the United
States. While It is true, therefore, that
there arc thousands Of articles pro-
duced all over the country In which the
price of Iron plays so small part that
their manufacture will continue,
whether iron were six dollars or sixty
dollars a ton, II Is also true that the
duration Of prosperity depends upon the
continued growth OF the great enter
prises: and, In most OF them the price
OF Iron is chief factor. Mr.. Hulrs
contention Is that many Of these enter
prIses are known TO pay but a small rev.
enue upon a normal cost OF construction.
and that II Is the stoppage, one by one.
OF such as cannot be continued at Fam
IVAr Nd AInNha
OF the wprkmen employed which brings
q premature end to each Of our CONNER
cial REVEALS.
OF course, things that happen IN Sc
qnence. do not always bear to each
other the relation OF cause and enect,
and this is an important distinction
which Mr.. Hull overlooks. The creation
OF an artificial price for any staple arti-
Gle OF daily use Is either the result OF
restricted production or greatly M
creased demand. In the case In ques-
ton the demand TO which the price re-
spends means a greatly qulckened rate
Of production In most branches OF man
ufacture which, in Its turn, leads soon
er or later to glutted markets and the
inevitable reaction. II might be ar
gued that II It IL desirable to check this
feyerish activity. the advancing price
OF the basic product Of all mechanical
Industry furnishes precisely the cheek
that is needed. Thus, instead OF the
unnatural price attained by iron, from
time to time, being the cause which
puts a stop to our natural flow OF pros
perity II might be pIausIbly contended
that II Is the regulating force which
saves us from the still severer penalty
that would attend longer continued
increase in the appliances OF produc-
ton. However this may be, there can
be no contesting the judgment OF
Mr.. HulPs statement that we have no
famine prices In the other great staples
OF daily use, because every one OF them,
except iron, Is either carried IN large
quantities or Its output can be In
creased to any desired degree at short
notice. ''The average stock OF iron
carried In the United States during the
last ten years has been less thnn
twenty-five days product. and It takes
practically year to build new FUR
naces." II Is certainly small wonder
that as the books Of consumers I'LL up
with orders for months ahead they
should become alarmed ABOUT the sup
ply OF iron, and that in the scramble
which each one makes to get enough to
supply his individual wants the price
should be carried to enormous figures.
Mr.. Hulls remedy for this evil Is to
carry an ample supply OF iron. He
points out that a three weeks stock Of
pig iron In the United States during
dull times carries prices below the cost
Of production while II pig Iron were
dealt in on the exchanges as other
commodities are. six months stock
could be easily carried without forcing
prices down to such point. In Scot
land, where speculative dealings In pig
iron warrants have been known for
the last fifty years, the stock carried on
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