The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-20
cER|lS IB||g
Noes 70 BEAT
1IIeH FREI|eHFs
lYJ. G. RoYkR.

III, 1892, By TAs August
fork, Sept. .z0.-Keen COM
s,S1n and the cost and difaculty
ks111 haul rail freight transporta-
n fostering the marked tend
t11ward consolidation and mer- i
Ectmpanies throughout the !
2SllE This tendency not only IL |
2iaap new markets but is bal.
% some extent the increased |
= Il labor and production end
~ prices In some OF the bnsic |
6o1iss.
III tendency was strikingly IL
fllatsd today by announcement |
~ plans Ct two big new steel
esfs west Of the Mississippi, re- i
~ to-day in telegraphic reports
| - San Francisco and Salt Lake
mn. these plans indicate that the
|fop csmpanies will dispute the mar
- Of the western United States
r. those of the Orient with the U.
i Gbsel Corporation and eastern
|1lapsndents.
Steel Companies Merge.
these two mergers which have
heen formed under the names OF the
Pacific Steel Corporation ana the
Colombia Steel company, tue flrst
capitalized for S4O,oOv, 900 and the
second Tor $4,000, 900 comprise
hitherto indepenat companies
That have been turnlns steel out for
consumption in the western part OF
d the country. The programs OF
each incluue the acquisition and de-
vei0pment sources OF raw material
Ia Ltah and they expect by produc-
4iion OF raw material closer to the
mills and through reduced freight
Elsuls and rates and expansion Of
visiting plants to make their COM
petition effective in markets now
Nominated by eastern manufacture
Rs.
Both companies announced today
That they would begin at once the
obstruction OF coking> ovens and
|tfg iron furnaces in Utah. The Pa
|dac company is preparing to ex-
snd $7,500,000 Immediately In de-
pslopment OF its raw material
bources.
Freight Rates Dominate,
In the states Of Oregon, Wash
|inEton and California alone annual
safes of steel products exceed $780,
|e0o, 900. OF this amount tar west
Un mills have been selling only
shout $4,000, 900 worth.
sThe range of steel manufacture
lon the Pacific coast is entirely
Nominated by freight rates." one OF
Fshe men who is prominently identi-
led with the mergers declared to-
day. AT present all steel mills
west OF the Rockies must pay
freight on all raw materials and
also on great portion OF the scrap
ron which they use from points
considerably east OF the Mississippi
river. With vast quantities OF raw
material made available In Utah,
Eths cut IN transportation costs will
enable western producers really to
compete with Zig eastern plants"
This steel man pointed out fur
!her that population and industrial
Development has increased through
uut the far westHto such a point in
recent years that even with largely
Expanded western steel plants in
operation, there still win be such
an increased demand for steel that
astern products will find a ready
market.
/ The western steel men are tax
ING full cognizance in their plans Of
\ ~ almost unlimited possibilities
markets in the orient and many
b. sighted business men on the
hast predicted today that the
prompt development of iron and
mel deposits iii China by the lead
~ eastern steel makers might fol-
Pow the activities Of the western
aanufacturers. Quantities OF Chin
- raw material have been under
uutrol Of big American interests
lnf many years.
Western steel fabricators de-
slsred today that this new COMPETE