The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-25
BRITISH PRESTIGE LOST
No Increase in the Scotch Pig Iron
Output Since 1870.
Fatal Result of the Policy of Linn
itatiou and PrOduction-The Lead
ing Position of England Never to
BE Regained-The Only Alternative


ftatiou and ProductfOn-The Lead
ing Position of England Never to
BE Regained-The Only Alternative
LONDON. May 2S.-There is probably
no article Of commerce more intimately
associated with the commercial pros
perity Of Great Britain than crude iron,
and it is. therefore. with feelings Of
considerable alarm that EnglisEmen re-
gard the present position OF the blast
furnace of the country. For a long
time past they have been accustomed
To the fact that the production of zig
iron has remained stationary; and this
alone ought TO have prepared them fer
the loss of their supremacy in the iron
trade of the world. Trade is like a
tree; if it be not growing it is decaying:
and a recognition Of this truth ought 10
have led TO serious thought and COM
bined effort more than quarter OF a
century ago.
Looking at the statistics II Scotch
pig iron production, it is found that the
high water mark was reached as long
since as 1870, when the total output of
this class of iron was 100000 tons. and
the average price SIS 4d- per ton- Since
then the output has fiuctuated very
considerably. falling in 1891 as low as
674 425 tons, and rising again ID 1,190, 264
tons in 1873, but never exceeding the
level Of 1870
That the Scotch ironmasters, occupy
ing. as they have done for so long a
time, d commanding position in the
| their production during a period of
thirty years, is sufficiently astonishing.
And it is equally surprising that, with
such a small output. Scotch iron should
have practically controlled the markets
Of Europe. This indicates the value of
prestige in trade, but it reflects terribly
upon the business capacity Of the men
who did not make any commercial use
of this prestige. The policy of keeping
down the production in order to main
tain prices has been followed all the
way through with most disastrous con-
sequences TO the trade Of the country.
This policy has, indeed, succeeded in
| preventing the natural growth of bust
ness, but it has failed in its primary
| object OF maintaining prices, as is cas-
! lily seen from the records
Thus in 1889. with a production OF
| Cd per ton. in 1891. with a production
| Of 6T4. f25 tons, the average price was
| AS. lad; and IN 1894 with production
! OF 605,614 tons, the average price was
! only AS. Sd It is obvious that the
/ blindness OF the Scotch ironmasters in
| refusing to see that the only safe policy
/ in manufacture is to make goods as
| cheaply and IN as large q quantity as
| possible has led to the contraction of
| the trade, and VIII. unless altered, lead
| inevitably to its extinction.
In the Cleveland district official sta
! tistics go back only to 1876, and the an
/ nual production has not been published
/ since 1895, although it may be roughly
/ guessed at. Here the trszde has not
| been so stationary as in Scotland, and
| production was probably greater in 1899
| than II has ever been Ney ertheIess,
/ although there has been a certain
j amount Of progress, 1t has been mere
/ crawling compared with the advance
! made by other countries in the same
| direction, and notably by the United
| states, and in lesser degree by Ger
| many. Thus twenty years ago, in 1891,
! the production in Cleveland pig iron
| was 2,6I0,300 tons per annum; fifteen
| years later, in 1886, II was only 3,I62, 30S
/ tons, and it is possible that in 1899
| 100000 tons We're reached Compare
| this with the increase in the makes of
! German pig iron. to say nothing about
/ American, and it is seen how trumpery
| have been the efforts of British blast
| furnace owners to maintain their posi-
| ton IN the trade.
It Is very likely that the persistent
! disregard Of the possibilities of basic
| pig has had something TO do with the
| present state of things. In Germany
/ more than half the pig iron made is
! basic. and as Z consequence 1t is within
/ the power Of the German blast furnaces
70
/ utilized IN Great Britain But this one
/ circumstance is not enough 10 account
! Tor the decay OF the industry in zng-
| land or the loss Of supremacy in the
| competition for the greatest output
\ glance at the figures relating to
| WeSt-COaSt heTmatite is sufficient to
| show that the same policy of restricted
/ production that is running the Scotch
! trade IS being pursued also in this part
/ OF the country Statistics of this class
| of iron do not run back further than
! 1852; but it is TO be noted that in 1883
| the output was l, 450, 600 tons. or within
! about $4,000 tons of the production of
! the present time
| There have been periods of decline. as
| in 1895, when the total tonnage was Just
enc million, but no periods of growth
whatever for a space of eighteen years.
| Taking the whole Of the United King
| dom, including Welsh. Lancashire
| iron, the same observation ma he
| made. Twenty years ago Great Britain
| had reached a production of about g.
/ 100000 tons q year. which was then in
( deed far beyond that of any other
| country in the world. and now it is not
| any further forward; in fact. last year
| the total output IS estimated as only
| S,90S.570 tons.
1t is perfectly obvious that Great Brit
am can never regain the relative nosi-
ton as regards production Of crude
| iron which she occupied thirty wears
lsago- The only question which remains
IS whether anything can be done to in
fuSe life into the business of pig inn
making and start a fresh period of
growth which will enable her to pro
vide at least for her own needs and
maintain the second place in the list of
| IRON producing countries Another
| year or two of the present policy Of re-
striction viii see the place occupied by
! Germany
REPAIRING THE VIGILANT.