The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-09-24

WINGED by an examination Of the indus
trial conditions that have obtained In
the United States during the last decade.
that the effect OF the organizati on Of
tho Steel Trust will be 10 keep wages
high. IL Is pointed out that previously
TO 1892 the trades unions controlled
wages at the Carnegie works. but that.
since that date. they have been swept
out Of existence, so far ~ those works
are concerned. During the nine sue
ceeding years, however. the average
annual earnings Of the workmen IN
ployed in the Carnegie mills have been
greater than In any prior years. Again.
the American Steel and Wire Company
paid wages 20 per cent in excess Of
those paid by the constituent companies
before the amalgamation. The bulletin
Of the United States Department of
Labor for July. 1900. shows that in nine
" trusts the average annual wages paid
under combinations TO skilled laborers
had risen 1871 per cent, compared with
those paid in any n year before the
combination. and 10 - per cent in the
case Of unskilled lsborcrs; while the
number of laborers employed had risen
21A and 20.O6 per cent. respectively.
The conclusion reached by the Depart
ment was that the combinations on
the whole showed the same tendency
rs had been remarked in large private
companies. the tendency, namely, TO
raise wages and keep them high.
With reference 60 the effect Of tho
Steel Trust on prices the Contempt
rGry Rerieie comedies that greater cheap
ness should follow increased economy
in working. IL perceives that, besides
the savings resulting from a more scien-
tifc utilization of ores and from the alb
sorption of intermediate profits through
the corporations supplying itself with all
raw materials, economies can be brought
about in several directions. Thus. by
owning the whole fleet of ii5 ore boats,
the trust can carry on transportation
with much greater facility and despatch
than 1t could II the fleet were divided
among half a dozen owners. Secondly.
superintendence can be much simplified
and cheapened. In the third place. there
is economy in selling. In New YORK
the constituent companies used TO have
eight or ten selling Offices. whereas now
these offices are consolidated in M
building under one head. Finally coIne
savings from specialization of plant
and extirpation of competition. The
smaller amalgamations OF which the
United States Steel Corporation is cons
posed had already realized TO a certain ex-
last-named sources, but the process a
be carried materially further under the
larger consolidation.
We sometimes hear IL asserted that.
II the amRlgamstion of manufacturing
industries kills competition. then the
consumer ought To be protected by
putting an end to the tariff and letting
in the foreigner. Those who make the
Insertion may expect support from a
British periodical. but they will get small
comfort from the Contemporary Rerisr.
II holds that the only conclusion which
portant lin.s removal of the tariff would
not benefit the consumer. because Ameri-
can industry Is already strong enough
in those lines 20 beat the foreigner; while
in other lines modification OF the tariff
is not politically possible, since II would
lead TO an immense reduction in wages,
and in the United States the wage oarner
is, when he chooses to be, politically
supreme.