Evening star., 1921-05-04
LOOK ON STEEL CUT
AS OPENING WEDGE
Wall Street Believes Move
Will Aid General Readjust-
ment of Wages.
BY STUART p. WEST.

NEW YORK, May THE 20 per
cent wage cut by the Steel Corpora
ton had a stimulating effect upon to-
days stock market for two reasons:
First, while a wage reduction has
been talked of and expected for the
last month, few had looked for so
large decrease. Second. this action
by the leading industrial concern Of
the country will, it is realized, en-
courage other companies which have
been hesitating about the wage Que9-
tion to take the same course.
That the cut in steel wages will
have particularly close bearing upon
evident The railway brotherhoods
will find 1t increasingly difficult to
make a case for the old inflated war
schedules where steel operators are
being required to make a sacrifice as
big as the one involved in the new
problem OF the Steel Corporation.
That the connection between the
the steel wage cut and the proposed
railway wage cut was foreseen the
ct clearly showed
Railway stocks were quite as prom
inent as were the steels, while the
early part of the day In neither
group. however. was the rise at all
marked. Steel common contented it
self with point advance at the start
followed by series of irregular
fluctuations later in the day. The
early gains in the rails likewise did
not exceed point. and the later
movement with them also was vari-
able.
Outside the stock market the main
interest of the day centered in the
bond trading, which reached a larger
volume with a more uniform advance
than at any time in the last month.
Freeport Texas Active.
The strength and activity in Free
port Texas Is due mainly to the re-
placing Of stock sold around SO last
year. The situation in the company's
business has undergone no radical
change recently, but earnings are re.
ported to be favorable both from the
| sulphur and the oil properties. The
ing wells in the Panuco district in
| Mexico. from which 1t takes 1000 bar
| rels daily for it's own use in the
sulphur mines in Texas while the re-
| mainder is sold.
The sulphur industry in this country
practically controls the business OF
the world at the present time. be.
| cause the foreign fields were played
| out during the war. Sulphur is sell.
ing now at $1s a ton. as compared
/ I'LL n pTfCc OI $ES, while
| the Freeport Texas company inven.
tories all Of it's products at SIS a ton
| Another point Is that the newly
elected chairman Of the National CITY
Bank board Of directors is also the
chairman of the Freeport Texas board
Action In the Copper.
| In the fourth of a series of copper
letters q prominent Broadway wire
house referred today to the '.partici-
patton of copper shares in general
market movements"
| The letter says: Necessarily adher.
ing closely to fluctuations in the sell.
ing price of copper metal itself, we
find that copper shares have partfci.
pated in every important speculative
| movement in securities in recent
years. Wholly apart from sensational
advances or declines in particular is.
sues traceable directly to favorable o,
unfavorable developments at the prop.
erty. the average price of representa-.
tive copper shares has moved in the
| same direction and covered about the
same distances as average prices o.
all securities.
Our point Is that the copper in.
dustry is responsive to the sam,
fundamental movements as so-callet
manufacturing Industries and copper
shares fuctuate to the same exten
and for approximately the same dura
tions the shares OF manufacturing
industries. When speculation is pop
ular conner shares are popular"