The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-03-27

and enduring increases in cost. Except
in national emergencies, such as the
present, United States Steels policy has
been primarily to manufacture and sell
steel products for normal, peacetime
needs. But today, In its endeavor to
cooperate fully with the Government
in the national defense program, the
Corporation is proud to be able to
say that every call made upon its
facilities has been met speedily and
completely.
United States Steel is building de-
strcyers and cruisers; 1t is developing
additional armor plate facilities to meet
the requirements of the naval and
military expansion programs, it is pro-
ducing shell forgings, unloaded shells
and bombs of various sizes; it is
senling large quantities of steel to
Great Britain and Canada; it is sup
plying steady flow of steel to manu-
facturers in different parts of the
country who have taken contracts
with the Army of the Navy under the
defense program; and its ocean-going
steamers are bringing strategic mate
rails from distant foreign ports to
meet defense needs"
The Report for the year 1910 fol-
lowing the precedent of the 1899 Re-
port, reduces the years record to its
economic elements and states the
whole record for the year in single
page, not only giving total amounts
but also reducing all payments to a
per employe basis. And in another
table the operations for each year since
the founding of the Corporation in
1902 are broken down into their ele-
ments and the whole financial his
tory of the Corporation is given on a
single page. The operations for 1910
are thus described:
During the year, u. S. Steel en-
ployed 254,000 people on the average
and a vast number of tools, plants
and other facilities of value of about
81 1888 million and belonging to about
PIT 900 stockholders, to produce about
% million net tons of steel ingots and
Is million barrels of cement; to COM
plete Is ships totalling approximately
100000 gross tonnage; to provide mil
lions of rail and water transportation
miles. The public bought and paid
81, O81 million for these goods and
services only because what U. S. Steel
had to offer in price, quality or de-
livery, was as good as or better than
the offerings of competitors. These
goods had to be sold and could be
sold, only to those who had the ability
and desire to buy. The domestic buyers
represented cross-section of America
Users of steel extending over a wide
field of processing and intermediate
manufacturing industries made up the
largest consuming group. Next came
the construction industry, followed in
order by the railroad, container, auto
motive, machinery and tool, oil and
utility, and the Notwithstanding in
duStrieS.
1.-THE wages of the workers as well
as of the owners of the Corporatiin
depend both upon the ability of the
American people to buy and upon the
ability of the Corporation to maintain
its competitive position.
"In order to do business, u. S. Steel
necessarily purchased goods and serv-
ices from others in the amount of $37C
million and retained or spent the
sum of $371 million to cover the wear
and usage of facilities. The wear and
usage item is a vitality important cost.
In so far as tools, machinery and the
like are concerned, it is a kind OF
wearing -out charge for the year, while
in mining it covers the exhaustion of
raw materials.
unless provision were made for re-
placing tools and raw materials used
in the course of production, there
would come a day when u. S. Steel
would have only poor, obsolete tools
and no raw material reserves, and
could turn out goods and services which
the public would buy rather than those
produced with better tools and ade-
quate natural resources. The future
of jobs and wages Is closely bound to
adequate provision for wear and usage
These amounts largely provided the
more than $700 million expended in
the modernization program since 1927
"The Corporation further set aside
$85 million for payment of taxes to
hundreds of taxing units. OF this sum