The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-06-02
Monopoly Practices
In Steel Industry
Encouraged by NRA
Federal Body Charged
Major Firms Control
Policies
BY HY KRAYIF
Labor Research Association

and steel industry has encours
aged monopoly practices was rec
Gently charged by the Federss
Trade Commission.
The Commissions report statFl
that: ID the domination of I'll
policies in the steel industry ind
the code had been placed in the
control Of the major companies:
% sharp price increases and price
fixing had followed; 90 and that
the industry was seeking to find in
the code legality for practices pre-.
viously outlawed by the commission
as opposed to fair competition"
The concentration of control in
the hands of the steel trust is lie
Illustrated in the voting set-up Of
the industry's Code Authority, u.
S. Steel Corp. and its subsidiaries
have about 40 per cent of the total
voting strength; Bethlehem Steel
Corp, has another Is per cent: and
eight other companies have a come
bined vote of 30 per cent of the
total. The other II per cent of
the voting power is shared by 50
companies, the largest one having
one and one-halt per cent Of the
total vote.
Realm of Steel Trust
This evidence strongly confirms
the exposure of the steel trust BY
Horace B. Davis in his recent book,
Labor and Steel, international
Publishers, 381 Fourth Ave, New
York City; popular edition, 81.
In the chapter devoted to tbs
Steel Trust" Davis points out that
U. S. Steel Corp. ruled by the J. p.
Morgan e. Co. interests since its
formation in 1901, is dominant in
the territory between the Rocky
Mountains and the Alleghenies, and
in the Birmingham area through
Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad
Co. Bethlehem holds similar
position in the East. Between them
these companies control the Pacific
Coast area. Together with eight
other companies - Republic Steel,
Jones q Laughlin, Youngstown
Sheet & Tube, National Steel, Inc
land Steel, American Rolling Mill,
Wheeling Steel and Crucible Steel
Co. of Arnerica-they control "a
per cent of the country's raw steel
capacity. And it is estimated that
with ten other companies they make
so per cent of the gross sales in
the steel industry.
Steel Trust Practices
Although led by U. S. Steel, the
steel trust is composed of otha
important firms in the industr
which we have listed above The
do this as a matter of policy, IL
order that no one of them shall
have an advantage over the other
in labor costs. 1t is common knowl-
edge that the big companies also
act together on prices and the
Federal Trade Commission report
shows this practice extended under
MIRA.
Today, the control of each in-
dividual company is concentrated
in very few hands and since tn
lean heavily on banl
for credit, advice and the raising d
additional capital, the f1nanciei
have utilized their strategic posi-
ton. Bankers have taken over OUT
right the management Of certain
companies. The Morgan firm or
ganized- and controls U. S. Steel
Corp. Bethlehem is also, but less
openly, a Morgan concern. with
representatives also of Rockefeller
and Mellon Is terests. Several Beth
lehem directors were on one or
more of the Kuhn, Loeb g. Co. pre-
ferred lists" In most, if not all
important matters of policy, Beth
lehem has acted with U. S. Steel,
as for example in cutting wages,
in export trade, and to a certain
extent in the dividends of the do
nestle market.
Morgan, Mellon Links
morgan Is lllul6CIly Al4ACu 70
several of the independent steel
companies. Morgan banks have,
since 1927, participated in bond
issues for at least two Of them:
Youngstown Sheet g. Tube and Nae
tiona1 Steel Corp. Morgan allies in
Cleveland - the Van Sweringen
group and the strong Hanna inter-
ests-are between them tied up with
Republic Steel Corp, National Steel
Corp, Otis Steel Co., and Youngs~
town Sheet g. Tube.
The Mellon interests are repre-
sented on Bethlehem, Republic
Steel, American Rolling Mill Co.,
Crucible Steel Co., and the smaller
Pittsburgh Steel, Gulf States Steel,
Alan Wood Steel, Mystic Iron
Works, and Dawson Coke & Iron
Co. Jones e. Laughlin is repre-
sented on the (Mellon) Union Trust
co. of Pittsburgh,
The strongest steel magnates out-
side of the Morgan and Mellc
groups, are the Hanna and Math
groups of Cleveland. Most of Il
large independent" are tied to-
gether by q network of cross
directorships, and also by crisis
cross of Jointly owned iron-l1lining