The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-08-31
BRITTLE Il STEEL RAILS J.
CAUSE. OF: ACCIDENTS
... Z III. - = s551 t..
Railroad Trust Has Complaint to
Lodge Against Steel Cor Z.
poratlon.
When Trust Meets Trust Then the
People Should Got Their
Due.

In trouble again, serious trouble this
time, for It seems to be up against
the railroad trust. Some one has said,
when trust meets trust then just men
get their dues, and it is to be merci-
fully hoped that the present case will
not prove the exception.
The complaint against the steel
trust is that the steel rails which it Is
manufacturing are not good rails. The
steel is reported to- be brittle and
breaks whenever heavy demands are
ties Of the recent epidemic Of broken
rails, we are told, In The Railroad
Age, IN the failure Of the flange in
crescent-shaped fracture, which has
been traced to the ambition Of the mill
manager to cheaper the product by
reducing the number Of times that the
rail passes through the rolls. To this
end, the shape Of the roll was altered,
with the unforeseen result that
lap or seam was made in the flange Of
the finished rail- not visible on ordi-
nary inspection, but evident when it
was subjected to heavy pressure from
the locomotive QrfVer.
In other words, the imperfect rails
that have resulted in an epidemic Of
train wrecks, are defective because Of
the efforts Of the steel trust to reduce
the cost of manufacture, regardless Of
the effect on the quality Of the rails.
But such was to have been expected
The steel trust has what amounts to
a monopoly Of steel rail manufacture
ing in America. Not only does It con-
troll the domestic manufacture but an
Ubiquitous tariff keeps out the foreign
rails. so that the trust has an absolute
cinch on the situation. The railroad
must buy steel trust rails or go with
out.
We remember when the steel trust
was organized, not SO many years ago,
that the newspapers were filled with
platitudes on the "advantages'' of
such combination, holding that the
cutting of OF unnecessary expenses
would make production that much
cheaper, which would result in bene-
At to the purchasing public. OF
course, anyone with common sense
knew at the time that this saving
would go straight into the pockets OF
those who controlled the combine:
Furthermore, even a professor In the
department Of economics at the state
university would have been able to
foresee that, with a monopoly Of steel
manufacture, the trust would be able
to charge anything 1t chose, which
would be all that the traffic would
bear. Furthermore, ittwasaquite evil
dent that with the elimination of
competition the trust would not, in
the end, concern itself particularly in
the character Of it's output. With no
incentive to manufacture good goods
good goods would not be manufac-
/ tured.
The expected has come to pass. Thu
steel trust has cinched the public tt
the last dollar and has even endang.
cred life by putting out an inferior
article. AS with the steel rails, so is
| it with all articles in the manufacture
| OF which the trust has a. monopoly
This state Of affairs was just as cer-
! tain to exist in time as a ball tossed
| into the air is bound to come down
The American people could not afford
to permit one concern. to control the
steel industry of the country any more
than it could afford to permit one
concern to control the flour industry
! the transportation business or any.
thing else upon which they are de-
pendent. Competition, We are told. Is
; the life of trade, and without COM
: petition we are going to have, not
only prohibitive prices. but inferior
output. The brittle steel rails thai
menace the country today contain 6
lesson that every American should
heed.
| Human nature is such that it is not
safe to permit any man, or set of men
to secure a monopoly Of anything tina
the people require. When such mon
opoly Is secured, not only is the work
sighted, but prohibitive charges are
placed on the product. It Is human
nature to abuse power. This is {
lesson that our forefathers learned IL
dealing with kings. It is a. lesson tina
this generation has learned in DEALING
with captains of industry who secured
complete control in their particular
enterprises. The one IL NO more tt