The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-29
PLEASED BY JUDGE
 CARTS ADDRESS
By HOLLAND

New York, December 2S.-(Special) Many communications, verbal and writ ten, have been received by the United States Steel corporation that express the qualification which is felt, apparently everywhere in the country, at the recent address by Judge Gary, chairman of the board of that corporation. Yet although it seems almost paradoxical that high wages are to be maintained while at the same time cut in prices is to be begun with the result that activity and prosperity in the steel business will be continued in the view of Judge Gary, for at least five years, yet it is certain that there is confidence that Judge Gary and his associates find nothing like a para dox in that policy.
 The organization and policy of this cor pora tion are frequently referred to by men who are industrial leaders, although not occupied in the steel industry, as the most efficient organization as yet es- tablished anywhere, representing the highest type of organization and effi- cient production of any industry in the world excepting possibly the Standard Oil industry as that was before the mandate of the supreme court caused it to be disjointed.
 So it is also said that today the plants some of which are new, which the steel corporation has established and the ma ckinery to operate in these plants and all of the overhead methods represent the highest peak of industrial efficiency. Unless there be invented new machinery better than any now in use and that is today the best which the manufacture CTS throughout the world can furnish to the steel plants, it does not seem pos sible that this corporation can reach any greater heights so far as perfection of plants and operation is concerned than the one upon which it now stands. The plants most recently established by the corporation, especially at Gary and Du- luth, and in some other places of the west are spoken of as absolutely per- feet Therefore it is not to be presumed that Judge Gary looks for greater eff ciency and more highly perfected plants or more skillfully established overhead charges than those which now dlstin- guish the corporation operations. He must therefore look in another direction for successful maintainence of high wages while at the same time there is re- uuctlOn Tn lHe pliSe Sudi 5cu Aoi SeSSi commodities.
 WAR AND PEACE EARNINGS
 In normal times fair price for steel was this morning said to stand at or about one and a quarter cents pound. Measured by tons $25 ton was the nor nal price in days of peace But since the steel corporation began to be almost exclusively occupied with war work the government being it's chief and in many lines it's only customer, prices rapidly increased. Sometimes the increase was as much as 300 per cent and in some cases even more, and it has been as sumed that the average amount paid by the government to the steel corporation was about S75 a ton.
 Judge Gary, it is assumed. has in CO., operation with his associates, well worked out the methods by which prices can be cut while wages are maintained. It will be necessary to secure and maintain operation to the full capacity of the plants This has been substantially ac- complished while the corporation was selling it's steel to the government In order to be successful hereafter there must be reduction of prices, this being accomplished. certainly, while the price of the .necessaries of life are maintained at high level, without any reduction in the wages and salaries paid to sub ordinate officers and skilled artisans. The assumption is made, however, that in view of the normal before the war prices and in view of the very great increase in those prices when the plants were occupied to their capacity with our own and foreign government work it will be