The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-12-28
IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
By FREDERIC J. HASKnN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

the affairs Of the corporation are as pub
/ lie as those Of any branch OF the gov
eminent Indeed. the steel Corporation
Is so nearly an approach. to industrial
socialism that Wal street has said that
one more push from Morgan would have
sent il into government ownership.
Before steel produced the greatest cor
poration on earth it produced the greatest
single business man in history. Andrew
Carnegie could not 90 what he did with
out help, but II was his brain and his
hand that steered the ship. When he and
his forty partners were bought out and
Carnegie quit business. all his partners
were multi-milllonaires, and he now has a
/ steel pension Of $4,000 a day. The extrav-
I agance OF Louis XIV IS still a fun page
/ in history. but that profigate monarch in
( all his long reign did not squander one
tenth as much as Mr.. Carnegie has given
away IN the last six years. The steel
laird's donations now amount 10 a total
I Of $I22500.o00. OF this amount 50 0oa00O
/ has gone TO erect Loo public Libraries
The use OF steel is ages old. but the
/ Age Of Steel had its beginning within the
memory OF living men. When William
( Kelly forced an airbIast through melted
{ pig iron at EddyviIle. KY. in the late 'a0s'
\ he laid the foundation for an empire
I Of steel OF that airblast were born I.O00
/ millionaires- Steelmaking IS a business
I for millionaires. II cannot be made in a
: little shop. and 20 make Il in such quanti-
/ ties and at such a price that IL may be
/ used for all the many things what the
I twentieth century demands, even multi
/ millionaires must pool their capital and
/ work as partners. The steel trust Is a
I partnership Of -miilioneires and Ia
boring men, with a free look-in for every
BODY
( In fifty years American steel has placed
I The United States at the head Of the na-
I lions. Despite the higher cost Of labor In
/ this country We sell steel in England
much cheaper than the English steel
makers can sell it, and. incidentally.
much cheaper than We 90 sell il here at
/ home. But there IS no part OF the world
+ 20 which American steel and American
{ machinery has not gone. and as long as
/ this country can make the best steel for
] the least money its supremacy among ma
/ tions viii De complete. That the United
\ States has sacrificed quality fOr quantity
I in the past IS only another reason why
\ the future Of steel is full OF promise, for
the future VIII AID quality 10 quantity.
The future Of iron and steel IN America
! depends. OF course, upon the iron ore TO
be found here. Not long ago a Swedish
geologist made the startling announce
ment that the iron ore reserves OF the
United States, about one-ninth Of the
worlds supply. would be exhausted with
! in the present century. This direfuI
| prophecy was based upon too meager in
| formation As a matter Of fact. the iron
1 ore reserves OF the United States cannot
/ be estimated with any degree Of GER
i Jainty. The Lake Superior district which
I now furnishes 50 per cent OF the ore used
\ IN this country. and which is nearly all
/ controlled by the trust. viii continue 10
/ furnish this great proportion Of the whole
demand until 1850 This estimate. made
/ by Edwin g Eckel a leading mineral
I authority. presumes the steady sncrease
I IN demand which has been shown for The
/ past twenty years. But the great de-
poSits OF iron ore in the Southeastern
States. from Virginia 10 Alabama. have
/ scarcely been touched When the steel
/ corporation took over the Tennessee COM
pany il added about . per cent 10 its
I holdings Of ore reserves. not to mention
the immense coal fields which it then
! acquired
Every mans life IS bound UP with
steel This metal may be made worth
more than gold-hair-springs for watches
are worth twelve times their weight in
the precious yellow metal YET tie United
states produces thirty-seven pounds for
every man. woman, and child in the ma
ton each year, so that much Of It must
/ be sold quite cheaply. Steel makes a
/ quarter Of a billion dollars in profits each
year for the steel makers Steel adds 10
the profits Of the farmer, because il gives
him additional tools to work with. add
tiOnal knowledge Of how 10 work. and
/ additional means Of transportation to
buyer OF his produce. Steel means much
I TO tho labOring man. II has made a ma
chine that will do the work Of a hundred
men, and, To- miracle Of miracles. II has
provided a hundred better-paying Jobs
/ somewhere else. Railroads. steamships.
the wonders Of the magnetic telegraph
and telephone, the thousands Of inven-
tons which add 10 the comfort and con-
venience Of life, have beer taken from
the iron mines in the past century. What
the next century holds no man can tell.
but the men who make iron and steel
believe that the Age Of Steel has barely
begun
TO-mOrrOw-The Birthday of Texas