The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-10


 act words, of very successful man of affairs. an authority on industrial mat ters and the resources of the Birming- ham district.
 In purchasing the properties Of the Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Com pany the United States Steel Corpora ton had one of two purposes-to shut down the plants in order to cut off competition. or to operate them on a more extended scale. All the argu- ments are in favor of the latter propo- sition
 The Personal Reason.
 'In the first place, one should re- member that the sale was brought about largely through the exertions of J. Pierpont Morgan. MT. Morgan Is interested in the Southern railway, and the Southern, in turn, has a pecuniary interest in the rail mill at Ensley If this mill were put out of commission the Southern would lose It's share of profits from the operation of the mill and a great deal of tonnage now supplied by the Tennessee Company and the district at large. Is it reason- able to suppose Mir Morgan would sit up nights to close deal by which hls railway interests would suffer? We must believe he received assurances that the plants of the Tennessee Com pany would be kept in operation.
 Political Safeguards.
 {g ad as a great constructor. It's policy has uniformly been to improve and de- velop properties which it takes over; but even if it's record in this respect were otherwise, it would be prevented by two political considerations from closing shop in the Birmingham dis trict One of these st he anti-monop- oly agitation the other is the tariff. The Standard oil Company with the weight of public odium resting upon 1t, harrassed by fines and It's very life threatened by law, is an impressive warning that wreckinS methods will trict. One of these is the anti-monop- plain that the acquisition of the Ten neesee's properties would add only 2M per cent to the steel output of the cor poration and bring it's total production up to about 60 per cent of the steel made in this coun- try It is quite evident that the steel corporation has no desire to be regarded as monopoly. But what defense would 1t have if 1t refused to produce iron at the place where it can be made cheapest? And the clos- ing down of the Ensley rail mill would do more to make the tariff a dominant issue, by waking up and aligning in fluences which are at present dormant or indifferent, than any other thing which could happen in the industrial world.
 To Conserve That Other Supply.
 Now, lo> us take a broader view, one which brings out more clearly the sagaclty of the steel corporation in making this purchase. Tn the fore4 ground Is this new acquisition, which contains at least half as much iron ore, to say nothing of coal deposits. as all the other holdings of the corporation. Those holdings, 1t has been calculated, will supply ore enough to last fifty years at the present rate of iron production; but, as that production must be pro- gressive, twenty years would be a more precise estimate. The operation and development of the Alabama proper ties in order to conserve that other supply of ore, which is the nearer to the present great center of population, is strongly indicated.
 The Geographical Argument.
 We will next take a look at the geo. graphical situation. Since the pass ing of rebates, freight charges on the finished product have become a para mount consideration. The closer the factory to the consumer. the more bus mess, the more profit. The plants of the steel corporation at Pittsburg have the Eastern states for their territory; those at Duluth, the Northwest; and those at Chicago and Gary City. the West This is an admirable arrange ment, but it leaves out the South and the Southwest, the section of our coun- .Is. ---a