The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1922-09-13
FINANCIAL And BUSINESS SURVEY

Once again the country has been
subjected TO grave economic injury
through interference with essential
services-the provision of fuel and of
railway transportation, states the cur
rent number of the Guaranty Survey,
issued by the Guaranty Trust Com
pany, of New York. The time has
come not merely to recognize pas
sively the dependence of the general
welfare upon coal and upon railway
transportation, but to provide positive
safeguards against 2 repetition of
such conflicts as have recently arisen,
the Survey continues.
Government regulation of railway
rates is an established and accepted
feature of public control of the rail-
ways. To an increasing number of
the public there seems to be a CORE
spending justification for authorita-
tive regulation of wages and work
ing conditions affecting employees of
the railways. President Harding's
insistence upon the duty of employees
and managers alike to accept the de-
cisions of the railroad labor board is
timely.
There are reasons scarcely less
compelling which seem to many to
justify subjecting the coal industry
to such a degree of governmental
regulation-but not government own
ership or control-as would prevent
a repetition Of existing conditions.
All such regulation of industry is
necessarily irksome in some degree to
those whom it restraints in the inter-
est of the public; but the alternatives
r harmful in greater degree. In
services essentially public in their
nature, strike settlements which
bring only temporary relief do not
suffice. Measures, proposed by the
president, to assure an uninterrupted
fuel supply are necessary.
While it is difficult to estimate how
~far-reaching are the effects Of the
strikes, to date the curtailment of in
dustrial production because of scare
ity of fuel is shown primarily in the
output of iron and steel. During
guy Ak4OAG AAtdn IL pei ACib u Vic
pig iron furnaces were shut down;
there was a net loss of 81 furnaces,
the majority of which were blown out
in the last week of the month-and
this followed about six months of
steadily increasing output. The av-
erage capacity of the I'll furnaces in
blast in August /, was about $4,000
tons per day, as compared with 81
845 tons daily from the 1872 furnaces
in blast on July l. Moreover, steel
ingot production during July fell off
approximately 5 per cent from that
Of June. Many furnaces were obliged
to bank, as the railroad strike pre-
vented the transportation of coal to
the ovens.
Despite a measure Of hesitancy on
the part of the steel companies in ac-
ceptlng new orders because of the un-
certainty due to the coal and rail
strikes and because Of increased costs
of operation, the untitled orders on
the books Of the United States Steel
Corporation at the end of July totaled
~5,777,000 tons, equivalent to 5R
months production at rs per cent of
rated capacity, which is approximate
" the rate at which the Corporation
has been shipping in the last few
months. During July, the gain in UNI
filled tonnage, which amounted to
141 1000 tons, was an increase of about
2h per cent over the total for June,
and 1876 per cent over the total for
July of last year.
In spite Of the seriousness of the
coal and railway strikes, Improvement
in fundamental factors in the business
situation continues.