The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-10-30
THE GREAHP STEEL TRUST
Railway Companies viii Not Buy
Any Rails at Present Rates.
Sheet TinpInte Bars Sold to Welsh
Consumers by the Carnegie Conn
pany Mt Lower Prices Than to
American Purchasers-Drivin the
Small Competitors Out of Business.

The great rail pool which has been try
ing to force the railways Of the country
to buy its product for $26 a ton, while
steel billets are selling for many dollars
less. and the first grade of pigiron for
$15.25. will be forced to give way in all
preba bility in the near future. Many rail-
ways throughout the country are refusing
20 buy their supply of rails at this price,
preferring to wait, OF to leave their extern
sions and improvements even until next
season.
II is freely limited among the railway men
that many of the immense orders for rails
told about III the daily papers are fakes
put out by the pool and the systems which
sympathiZe with them to delude the rail-
ways generally ~ give real orders at the
top prices. Some genuine orders have been
given, and Others to which a string is at
tached. in the shape Of a proyiso that If the
price comes down they shall rot BE bind
ing. The exposure Of this trick will make
the railways doubIy determined.
Billets are selling FOR SIT a ton. Rails
cost very little more than biilets to manu-
tacture. 1t is said that the price of billets
is somewhat too low. perhaps 81 or SO
ton, according TO pigiToD prices. coal prices,
and the present wage scale. Ii they were
adVE need So a ton they would still be S6
ton less than rails. The difference, in
more than g ton. The legitimate price
of rails at The present time these experts
place at $50. or s22 ton.
RImor N 4kes the Carnegie Company
chiefly responsible for this anomalous and
unjust - ndition of the trade. 1t is said
that it insists on receiving SIS a ton. and
that. holding to this price where the rail-
ways are not buying much it insists also
in selling hillets at SIT. price at which
there is no profit. The reason for this is
said to be that it wishes TO force the rail-
ways to come to terms and is selling bill
lets to keep its mills running
The majority # the steel trusts and
iron companies are not manufacturing
biiIets at the SIT rate. claiming that they
cannot make any money by it. They are
not getting any orders for rails AS
result they are doing little business
Tho CarHegies are not making much
money either. but they are keeping their
nils running whi6h is a great item IN
economical operation in itself. The Car
negie Company can manufacture biilets
trife cheaper than almost any other COM
pany in the country
The desperation Of the Carnegie Com
pany can best be understood when II IS
noted that steel sheet tin plate bars are
delivered in Wales at S25 per ton, which
is So 80 per ton below the Welsh price
The cost OF handling and the freight OF
so that the Carnegie Company IS selling
tin plate and sheet bars for Sic ct the
mill while the quotation TO buyers in the
United States at he mill is $50 per ton.
Ship plates are delivered al Clyde ship
yards at $S4.37, while the price to local
buyers is S27 per tcE, which allows Sa-oi
fer the handling ard freight from the
Pittsburg mills to the Clyde docks. Scotch
ship plates are quoted at 1857. and drop
ping 10 meet this competition Steel bill
lets and slabs are delivered at Liverpool
At S26.25 which brings the mill price close
10 So per ton. These are a few of the
sscri ices made in Pittsburg 20 keep mills
running because there are no rail orders
And ii can safely be said that some profit
is mad on all this business
Mordiists might contend that there
should be some stFeaks of friendship in
business transactions. The railroads of the
United states and other consumers Of steel
products made by the Carnegie Steel Com
pany think that If it has any fayoTs TO
bestow they might be going to the Gus
timers of other days, and not be thrown
aEops strangers. This has been practiced
more or less IN other trades, but il is not
one Of the virtues of the steel industry.
The proper point to make, however, is
that the Carnegie Company need not go
abroad 10 secure trade at or near cost
and to hesgar its neighbors in tLe same
industry at home, because there is a big
profitable business waiting here just as
soon as fair bargain can be struck The
Carnegie Company need not be selling its
hillets 1t SIS and ST per ton in Great
Britain. because the mills producing them
/ can be put ca rails 1t Sc per ton in
which is from 81 to S. per tor profit over
what biIlets are sold the foreigners Then.
again, the smaller steel works that are CO.
members with the Carnegie Company can
are now shut out from all kinds of trade
unless they wish to sell below cost, as
they cannot compete with the Pittsburg
concern.
The small fry in the rail pool is being
impoverished, and the big fish is swal-
! lowing the trade. at the same time weak
ening the smaller ones by lis starvation
so that ii can eventually end competition
and there need be no pooling arrange
| ments in the future.
One need only examine the earnings of
the other corporations of the rail pool
and compare them with those CT the Car
negie Company to get the full gist of
this argument. There is method in the
! madness OF the giant PittsbIrg enter
prise.
The British are watching the rail sit
uation. and the 'tITonmonger' publishes
tie following from its Philadelphia cor
respondent: 1T is to hoped that your
people viii not believe all the tales go
ing round about the $50, coo, 0G0 or $780,
COO worth of rails which are going to
be placed. These statements have no
basis in fact, ard are merely beng put
fol ward ON political grounds. The farce
of fixing S26 as the price for 1901 is akin
to the decision relating TO Bessemer pig
Soma orders have been placed at $26. bat
il is with the right to cancel the cor
trsct or to make new price at the time
agreed upon for delivery IN case the price
of S26 Is moi naint ined -