The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-03


  prevent great combina tions of capital | What the United States Steel corpora 1 tion wanted, he said, was some respon- sible and official department of govern ment to whom it could go and say:
 What prices can We charge and just what can we do?" tsi
 Personally 1 believe the Sherman act" said MT, Gary, docs not now and never will fully prevent the organizing of great combinations of capital believe, we must come to enforced publicity and governmental control of corporations. Do you mean government control, eyen as to prices?' MT. Stanley asked.s : "Yes, even as to prices So far as I am concerned, speaking for the United States Steel corporation, would be very glad if we could know exactly where we. stand and could free ourselves from l the dangers and criticisms of the pub 1 lie, I wish we could go to some repub- lican goverr mental source and say, Here are our facts; here are our business; | here Ais- our property and our cost of productions and could be told just what prices we could charge and just what l we could do.'
 MT. Gary said the real problem was not the makingssof big profits, but it was rather the Establishment of definite | underStanQlnR or the leSdl SlludtlOn. l "Do I understand that you believe in strict governmental supervision of corpor- ations?" asked Representative Littleton of New York.
 .sYes I do," said Mir Gary. "I know that l is a radical position, but something must | be done"
 'Ts it your conviction" MT. Littleton | inquired, that the Sherman antitrust | law is archaic and unable to deal with the modern situation"'
 ''Yes." DO not the interpretations of that law l practically order a continuance of the old systems as to cooperative modern meth ods?
 T am afraid they do.'' MT. Gary re- piled We don't want,a condition of un- certainty in which we don't know just what we have a right to do" 1 Representative Young of Michigan asked Mr Gary if he thought the national government had a right to fix. prices on commodities in interstate commerce.
 My opinion.' said MT Gary, lis that so far as 1t relates to interstate com merce the federal government has that right
 MT. Gary asked if the United States Steel corporation was in a position to fix prices said that cooperative business methods which had succeeded highly com petitive methods had made 1t possible for the big corporation to influence prices.
 sWe cannot dominate them," he said. 'It is not the big corporations that change prices so much as the small corporations that cut prices and force the big ones to come down.
 Gary Dinner Explained Taking up the subject of the reported international trust and the Gary din- ners, at which it had been intimated prices were fixed. MT. Gary said:
 "At the time of the panic in 1907 there was great demoralizaton temporarily in | the steel business The fear existed 1t would extend and become dangerous The Iiron and steel industry has been recog nized as one of the leading barometers of trade. It was believed highly import ant if practicable to prevent greater demoralization in trade.''
 The situation, he explained, caused job bers all over the country to appeal to the corporation to do something to prevent business chaos. MT. Gary called the steel men of the country together In New York | at dinner to discuss business conditions. He said these dinners of consultation had proved so beneficial in maintaining the stability of reasonable prices that repre- sentatives of the steel interests would l meet at Brussels, July 6, next, to de- 1 termine whether an international institute | similar to the American institute should be organized. He said he would partici- pate in the organization of this institution unless he became convinced morally or legally it would not be well to form such | an organization.
 1 In elaborating the idea of the "Gary dinners the chief executive of the Steer corporation explained that when the panic came the tobbers held large quantities of i material for resale and if prices were re- duced failure were certain and pro- longed panic would ensue.
 Therefore" said MT. Gary, 'it was be- | lieved best by me at least that 1t was not for the best interest of the manufac- | turers or laborers or the public that prices i should be reduced.
 ''The question was how to get between the two extremes-one of securing a mo- nopoly by driving out competition in bit- | ter fight, the other of maintaining prices without making an agreement, expressed or implied.
 "So invited large percentage of the steel interests of the country to meet me | at dinner and I presented to them these views
 q suggested that the only way we could lawfully prevent demoralization and main- l tain reasonable steadiness in business was for the steel men to come together oc- | casonally and disclose to each other all the circumstances of their business. Such interchange prevented demoralization."
 Does Not Control Ore Supply Chairman Stanley directed Judge Gary's attention to the question of the supply of iron ore Gary denied his organization l controlled the ultimate supply of iron ore l in the United States despite his state ment in 1908 to the ways and means com | mittee of the House seemingly to that effect. Independent manufacturers of steel. according to Judge Gary. have large holdings
 Gary's attention was directed to the manufacture of steel rails. He denied the Steel corporation controlled the prices of rails. adding that they could not be sold | for S28 a ton A "In this country?" interrupted Repre- sentative Bartlett. M Here Mr. Gary undertook to show why l steel rails could be sold abroad cheaper than at home. He said that, like the merchant who clears his. shelves once a | year by selling his goods at cost, so the steel manufacturer could sell his surplus abroad at $26, or at cost. The result was the mills were kept running, reducing the cost of production, keeping together a compact organization and bringing to this country large sums of money. The ulti- mate effect he added. was to reduce the prices to the domestic Consumer. All countries practice dumping" MT. Gary declared.
 How long has it been since any coun- try dumped rails onto us?' inquired Chairman Stanley.
 Tn about 1904 and 1so5.'' came the re-