New-York tribune., 1902-12-31

resistibly attracts the competition of fresh
capital, and the fertility Of mind and the ac-
tivity of inventors have never been more pro-
nounced than now, just as the ma terial rewards
for valuable inventions have never been more
munificent than at present
The corporation Of the past operated on
the principle that competition is the life of
trade" The maxim of the great corporation OF
this period is that the smaller the competition
the greater the prosperity" To minimize the
danger of additional competition the enlightened
corporation strives to effect all the economies
in operation which are made possible through a
unified control of several or many hitherto com
netting concerns, and resists the temptation to
reap enormous temporary profits, keeping us
prices as nearly constant as may be. Some OF
the CORPORATIONS of comparatively recent fornna-
ton have, through inability to meet the ex-
cessive fixed charges resulting from overcapt
talization, or through incompetent management
come TO grief; but the reorganization has IN no
case worked a dissolution Of the corporation
into the minor corporations and firms which mad
been combined in its formation The vast cor
porations Of the day, with their enormous capf-
talization and their armies Of executive oH1cers'
clerks. operatives and laborers. not only domi-
nate in important lines of industry in the United
States but are also extending their operations
bevond seas and ebsorbing the ocean carrying
trade.
Most colossal Of all the incorporated aggre-
cations of capital in the United States is the
United States Steel Corporation. which has a
total Capitalization Of S1404 100000. of which
81 100000 is stock and $304,000OO0 bonds;
which employees il round numbers one hundred
thousand men, which is virtually in a position
OF independence, owning its own raw material
and land and water lines by which that ma
t,a cd m
plants, and conducting also its own selling oper-
ations, by which the finished products are dis
posed of direct to the consumers, and which Is
in line with the most modern sentiment IN max
ing public at frequent intervals Information as
to its operations and its earnings. The United
States Steel Corporation is a trust OF trusts
using the word trust" in popular, although
Inaccurate significance. It Is not itself an
operating company, but holding company
which in February, 1901, acquired practically
the entire capital stock of ten of the principal
cornnanies engaged in the steel industry, as
follows:
The Federal Steel Company. capitalized az
500 200: the American Bridge Company
SCI. .O55. 600; the American Steel and Wire Com
pany. S9OOO00OO the American Tin Plate Com
many 6325 eco; the American Steel Hoop
Cornnanv $50 coo 900; the American Sheet Steel
Company, S49OOOO00; the National Steel Com
nanv. S59OO0OOO; the National Tube Company,
$50 oOO 600: the Lake Superior Consolidated
Iron Mines 2S.722,0o0; the Carnegie Company
s156 $4,000 stock and $160.GOO,OO0 bonds
Each of these companies had been consoll-
dation of several smaller concerns the American
Steel and Wire Company, which was organized
g., January 1899 including tie following COM
nanies: The then existing American Steel and
Wire Company, the Washburn & Moen Manu-
featuring Company, Of Worcester, Mass; Wau-
lxeean ILL., and San Francisco; the worcester
Wire Company, of Worcester, Mass; the CleVe-
land Rolling Mill Company, of Cleveland ana
Newburg. Ohio, and iron mine property al
Negaunee, Mich; the Indiana WIRE renee Conl-
nonv of Charlottesville. Ind; the Garden City
Wire and Spring Company, Of Chicago; the Con-
eoIidated Barb Wire Company, Of Joliet. Ill. ana
lawrence. Kan; the Portage Iron Company
,11agbanv Furnace Company. Pittsburg Wire
Co,,,nanv Shenango Valley Steel Company
oliver Wire Company, Oliver & snyder steel
Corpany and the Shoenberger Steel Company
oil An PENNSYLVANIA; Newburg Wire and Nail
Conopany at Newburg, n. Y; Puget Souno
,s-,re Nail and Steel Company, at Everett
Wash: Edgar Zinc Company at St LOUIS ana
cherryvale, Kan, and mines at virginia. -dLIi'
o,d ar IRON Mountain. Mich. The company con-
+-o,Jed also five coke, zinc and STEEL supply ana
mining companies by stock ownership
rr,,o nronerties owned by the several COM
,a,,ies now combined into the United States
60 Cornoration aggregated at the time of the
.sol;5atjon 149 steel works, with an annual
canacitv estimated at about 100000 tons OF
finished material, seventy-eight blast furnaces
.r,,b on annual capacity Of over 650oOOo tons
of pig iron; more than $1,000 coke furnaces.
n 600 acres of coal lands. more than 40 per
cent Of the ore mines of the Lake Superior re
eion. more than 10000 acres of land in the coke
region. 125 vessels plying on me great LAKES
-, - railway lines and other property.