The Washington herald., 1910-12-18

United States Steel Corporation, either in
their mills, their mines. or on their rail-
road and steamship lines. The unions
have been gradually eliminated, and to-
day their organizations have fallen 10
pieces, so far as all practical results are
concerned In the old days, when union
ism was strong among the steel workers.
the officers of the unions would know
exactly how many men were employed
and how many were idle. This source of
information has been, of course, elimi-
mated. but in spite of the passage Of
unonism wages have not been reduced.
All the mills that are running are paying
the full scale, and most Of them are
giving substantial bonuses 10 their men.
according TO the output. There seems 10
be no discomfort, and those who are
idle make little complaint
Orders Held I'D.
Another reason given for the present
stagnation is that the consumers are ex-
pecting a cut in prices and are holding
of their orders until this comes. At a
meeting held a little more than a week
ago the proposition was made to reduce
the prices on certain lines OF material.
such as structural iron and steel plates.
but three or four Of the big mill owners
refused 10 consider the matter. As
= consequence the meeting adjourned with
out any action. but another gathering
has been called for the fr~s week in
January. when ii is expected that ma
terial reductions will be made in prices
Until this is settled. Of course, no orders
are expected.
Again the attitude Of Congress toward
I . ba ar5f fl. l.
the situation. Some OF the most promi-
nent steel and iron manufacturers are
OF the belief that there may be a revision
OF the wool and iron schedules This re-
vision, they say. viii BE- downward and
would naturally cut the prices of mill
products, For this reason there is a
further holding OF OF orders. and il is
not expected that there win be any great
rush for materials until the tariff is set
tied one way or the other one steel
manufacturer to-day said il was his opin-
ion that railroads would not order large
quantities of materials in advance, as has
been the custom in the past, but that
rails and cars would be called for from
time TO time as the necessity arose. This,
in his opinion, would eliminate for all fu-
ture time the old system Of booking or
ders far in advance.
the railroads must have more rails. more
cars, and more engines. and they are
resting. satisfied that the orders will
have to come sooner or later. OF course,
Il makes business extremely duh Just at
present, but we are not without hope
that things viii look up greatly in the
spring. that is if we can get the tariff
out OF the way
Tin Plate Mills Affected
The district that has suffered most ~
the present depression is that lying about
Wheeling. ". Va It is safe TO say that
1900 men are idle there in the sheet ana
! tin plate mills. but the principal reason
for this would seem 20 be a desire on
the part Of the manufacturers to punish
the merchants of Wheeling for support
ing the strikers during the recent labor
troubles. This. of course, the mill own
ers deny, but the people of the town
maintain that ii is true. The La Belle
plant Of the American Sheet and Tin
Plate Company, which employs 2,9e0 men,
has been closed for more than fifteen
months, and there seems to be no pros
pect Of its being reopened. At the Aetna
Standard Mills between $500 and 1850
men are at work. instead of $500 as for
merly. No hope is given of a return TO
a full force
Across the river from Wheeling. at
Bellaire. Ohio. is a plant of the Car
negie Steel Company. They employ in
flush times about 5000 men. They are
working now half time. Another mill in
the Wheeling district is the plant at
Martins Ferry. which is known as the
Laughlin Mill, and belongs 10 the Amer
lean Sheet and Tin Plate Company
They make a special brand Of tin plare,
which commands high price in the
market OF their twenty-five mills,
eighteen have been blown out, and only
900 of their 1000 hands are at work. The
others are not even on part time.
Owing 10 the general closing down Of
mills, ii is estimated that from SIX 10
seven thousand men have left the iron
regions and have gone to Europe. Some
Of them viii return when business re-
sumes. but many of them will not. They
represent entirely the cheapest class of
labor. and the min owners as rule. do
not seem 10 regret their going
Summing up, it is safe to say, conser-
vatively, that from % to so per cent Of
the nearly 10000 men in the Pittsburg.
JohnstOwn, Wheeling. and Youngstown
districts in the steel and iron mills alone
are absolutely idle, with the others work
ing approximately half time or slightly
more. And still the merchants insist
that business is normal