The Owyhee nugget. ([Silver City], Idaho) 1905-1984, 1909-01-22

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and no two agree.
Judge Gary gives $3.50 per ton
as the cost for the Steel Trust; the
bureau, $14 per ton for seven COM
panies (including the trust) pro.
ducing SO per cent of the American
output. The Judge says the trust
produces for two dollars per ton
less than the independents. The
output of the trust is about half of
the total represented by the figures
of the Bureau of Corporations.
Obviously, there is something out
of joint in somebody's calculations.
If it costs the trust SIS and the in
dependents 81 more, the cost
to the independents must be
SIT, and the average for all would
be SIC, and not $l4 as figured by
the Bureau of Corporations. On
the other hand, if the bureaus av-
erage Of $14 is right land it has
been more than year working it
out), and if there is difference of
W ton in the cost of production
between the trusts and the indie
pendents. then the cost to one must
be $13 and to others $15. And, if
the trust is the cheaper producer,
which seems reasonable, Judge
Gary's figures must be about 50
too high. 1t is safe to say they are
too high-much too high.
"But," says Mr.. Standpatter,
Judge Gary gave the several items
Of cost in detail" Yes, he gave
some of them in detail and those
details are worth studying, even if
study does involve more figures.
Judge Gary gives the items in
the cost of ton Of pig iron as fol-
lows.
Iron ore Il SO tons at S4 70 per tony. 1892
Coke Il 2 tons) A Is
Limestone, scrap, and cinder. 49,. .76
Operating expenses (smelting etc ] 81
Depreciation (furnace) ..... 40
Total. ........-.......Sl5 30
AS to the ore and coke, which make
up over So per cent of the total esti-
mated cost, he was questioned more
fully and some apparent information
was elected, and incidentally a little
light was shed upon trust methods of
computing cost. 1t was seen that the
first item is based upon an alleged cost
of $40 per ton for ore delivered at the
company's furnace at Chicago. This
ore costs is made of three elements:
the ore in the ground; the mining of
the ore; and the transportation of the
ore from the mine in the Lake Super
Tor region to Chicago.
Does the actual cost Of these three
elements make up the total of S4.70 per
ton of ore at Chicago? You ask No,
gentle reader, these are TRUST figures,
and profit is figured on each element
of the cost at each stage of the proceed
ings. You, the ordinary businessman,
are glad enough to figure your profit on
any transaction, when it is completed.
But it's different with the trust. The
trust takes profit on EACH OPERA
TON That's what trust is for. A
trust makes that possible.
Now, as to these successive profits:
The ore in the ground was contracted
for some years ago. on a royalty basis
of 30 cents per ton. On this item the
trust loads a profit OF 40 cents. You
see, the trust has advanced the price of
iron and steel so that the ore is worth
more now; SO it charges itself with 20
cents a ton for this 3O-cent ore in the
ground.
The cost of mining, according to
Judge Gary, is 70 cents ton. On this
operation, there is another profit al
lowed, as nearly as it can be deduced
from the trnst,s nstirnnto Of 81 90 q to.a