The evening world., 1912-05-10
Of STEEL
BOOSTED GREATLY
BY Combinations
But When Competition Began
to Assert Itself Trust Was
Founded by Leaders.
CHARTS SHOW INCREASE
When Prices Reached Lowest
Ebb u. S. Steel Corpora
ton Made Its Appearance.
CHARTS SHOW INCREASE

How the prices in steel products
Jumped after the formation OF various
pools By the manufacturers vas told
to-day At the hearing hsid in the
Custom Houss In the suit Of the Gov
eminent to smash the United States
Steel Corporation. The witness who
gave the Testimony was 4. l. Fndlsy.
editor Of the Iron Age MI. Findley
brought with him . lot Of charts from
which he read OF the prices from 1888
I'd to the present tims and showed
their fluctuations.
Previous TO i0e there had been cut
throat competition between the steel
concerns. Prices dropped until tho
trade was demoralixed. Then came the
combinations.
r'oiiow,ns the forming Of the various
communities Of indust1es. steS rails.
for instance jumpsd from $3.50 . ton
IN November. 1853. TO Is q ton In
November. 1850. The prices ran along:
~ In February. 100. and eS IN March.
1900. Then there was Q slight drop
until the formation Of the United States
Steel Corporation In 1901, when the
price was 81 II has remained the
Same ever since.
The price % barbed wire. which was
$s7.6o . ton IN December. 1898. jumped
to El.so IN Mafch. iNs. It went ~
hieh a. SsS.S IN January. 1900. Wire
mans Jumped from tes.O in December.
1895, TO S71.n in January. 1900. Steel
beams, from Sso.6o In 1895. isapsd to
)ss.SS In October. 1890. Cut naih. from
)sl.so In loe. became - In 1880. Tin
plates. from es.7B . boz In ISIS. be-
came St.os . bog IN March. 1893. and
SI.Sa in September Of that year..
Il wNs noticeable that the highest
prices obtained around 1850 and 1900.
the banner years eor pstoss N the steel
trsde. The lowest prioss reached were
just before ths formation of the United
States Steal Corporation In April. 1901.
II was n this time that wasak has
been referred TO ~ me ''battis Of the
steel iants" was on. Competition. which
had been stined under the combinations
Of isA bsgan 70 assert itself. Tho lead
srs In the stesl industry feared the over
throw Of the monopolies they had sstAb-
iishsd. Il Wal these coalitions. the oov-
eminent contends. that led to the for.
nation Of the 0ig corporation which
took under It, Wing. - subsidiaries. the
biz combinations that we're making waE
among themselves.
ADVANCES m PRICES
cogvAL WITH COMBINATIONS
Richs<d v. Landabury. chief counsel
1t the hearing for the Steel interests,
brought out 6gurss from Mr.. NndIsy'i
charts 70 show that ~ . general ruhc
prices Of steel products are lower DOW
than they were at the time Of the form
alton Of the United States steel corpor.
alton. Wire nails. for instance. had
dropped ts . ton and the price Of beAmi
had been reduced from tSs.7s In iSU Il
ST.x In Octobsr I'M.
Jacob N. Dickinson. conducting the
case for the Government. asked the Wit
ness n great steel combinations wer,
engineered In loe and 1900. Mr.. Dickin
son referred 70 the formation Of IN,
CaFnsgas company Of New Jerssy. Thu
American Steel and WIRE company AM
the American Tin Plate company ant
others. Mr.. Flndiey's recollection wa,
that those combinations we're forme,
At that time. '
ut IL the purpose Of the Government.
said Mr.. Diclinaon, TO show that tn,
ADVANCE in prices were coeval with tn
birth Of these combinations"