New-York tribune., 1900-07-18
TILE IRON OETLOOK.

The anxiety in regard to the future In the iron
and steel business is natural OF course. 1t is
well understood by all that conditions exist 20
warrant heavy business in this department at
no late day with good prices but to some people
the question of time is Of the last Importance.
while to others who have plants not OF the most
modern or economical sort business will be of
value unless at rate Of profit which would be
unusually good for the most modern and best
equipped concerns. There is a vast amount OF
reasoning on the subject just now which is we'll
calculated to mislead. Thus a recent Pittsburg
dispatch says: The steel bar makers have cut
the price to 81 % per hundred pounds but
when the price began to rise in 1898 and
reached 81 10 the steelmakers were overjoyed.
ut went higher but it goes to show that there
sis profit in bars at 81 p. and the cut has
not reached cost even if the material has ad-
"vanced considerably" This is a random state
ment, for the cost Of the and the transporta-
ton has advanced greatly, though differently
for different works. and the wages in furnace
works have advanced. and it is now an open
question whether Bessemer pig which sold
with profit by many concerns at less than $40
ton, be sold at any profit at less than
S15. When half is added to the cost Of the ma
terial with allowance for the loss OF material in
use and for the higher wages paid during the
last year, it may be doubted whether those who
were overjOyed to get 81 10 for bars are as much
pleased now to get 81 %.
The efforts to obtain modification OF contracts
for ore and freights and for coke are constantly
in progress. and some reports from the lake
region indicate that there is least partial sue
cess attained The shipments from Duluth are
said to be larger than ever before in about half
the year-S,5OO.O0O tons already-though the
tonnage season is only third over 1t is re-
ported that some concerns are making lower
figures than were originally named and others
are prepared to sell at heavy reduction The
various associations help to stiffen the con-
hdence and the backbone of the members at
such times and prevent a great deal OF yielding
which is urged to retain the preferences of the
largest and best buyers. But the largest and
best buyers are all the time putting their pref
erences where IT pays best.
most important part Of the contest is hid
den by the operations of the great steel COM
panies, which are often reported as operating
in perfect accord, but are in fact fighting
against each other all the time, and the more
sharply because there is no competition on the
surface Thus it isNstated that the Carnegie
Company will presently be in position TO make
for itself all the Bessemer pig 1t requires This
statement has been made several times already
without strict truth, and the great company is
still one of the largest buyers of pig, nor is
there any evidence that its furnace capacity
can be greatly increased within a year But
that has been the policy Of the concern from the
first, to render itself nearly independent of
other works possible. No company can ever
determine far ahead exactly what it will re-
Quire. however, until it has made contracts for
delivery OF finished products far ahead and
even these contracts involve some uncertainty
Thus the firm in question is understood to have
heavy provisional orders in connection with the
extension of Chinese railways by the various
nj UhiC hpb
there not long ago AS it is doubtful now
whether anything will be done with most Of the
orders for months or years to come, and mean
while the control of concessions or enterprises
may pass into entirely different hands the busi-
ness OF providing for these proposed railways
can hardly be reckoned upon as certain to help
producers anywhere in the near future
There is a large amount of business which is
in much the same position OF uncertainty. Be
fore coming back to American shores II may
be noticed that in the Philippines and Japan
there many and important improvements
pending, and Russian railway extension counts
for much and that early settlement in South
Africa would mean an enormous demand for
machinery and railway material In this coun-
try a great deal OF business depends upon many
conditions which are not vet settled as to rail-
way material and shipments lake and ocean
steamships warehouses and building local tram
electric ways In some lines, as In building
in towns there symptoms that the busi-
ness pushed too far last year. and a rather
unusual crop of failures followed in various
places. But in other lines of even more i'm
portance, in a great multitude OF cities
throughout the country not yet reconstructed
with steel buildings. there is room for a simply
incalculabe quantity of and steel to be
applied within comparatively short time and
with prospects of profit in the near future, pro-
vided the cost Of material at the outset is not
too great
II is time for some Democrat to discover that