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24 MARINE REVIEW. [June 20, machine and other applications of the Chicago company's devices were looked into and favorably commented upon. On Thursday the party visited Detroit to inspect one of the factories where the tools of this company are made. Taking the boat from Detroit Thursday night they spent Friday in Cleveland at the Globe works of the American Ship Building Co., going from there to the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. They were expecting to sail about June 20 for Hamburg to make their report to the government. It might be noted incidentally that President Duntley of the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. sailed Saturday, June 15, on the Campania for a six weeks' trip among European representatives of that company. : A VERY CAPABLE WITNESS. MR. WILLIS L. KING OF JONES & LAUGHLINS, LTD., DOES NOT LOOK WITH ALARM UPON THE UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATICN. One of the clearest-minded men which the industrial commission has had before it in Washington is Willis L. King, vice chairman of Jones & Laughlins, Ltd., of Pittsburg. Mr. King does not look upon the United States Steel Corporation with distrust, but very frankly says that the great corporation will be a distinct 'benefit to the steel industry by bringing about a steadiness of prices such as has never been known. The tone of Mr. King's testimony was not in the least hostile toward the big rival of his partnership. On a few points his views differed from those of Mr.. Schwab, but the difference was not radical. He agreed with Mr. Schwab that the Connellsville coking coal will be exhausted in thirty or thirty-five years, 'but he insisted that the coal on the Monongahela is just as good, and that it is notorious that Pocahontas coal is purer than either. He thought that the visible supply of iron ore in the Lake Su- perior region would last at least eighty or 100 years. That, however, he did not consider an important point. Like gas and oil, he 'believes more ' ore will be found in that region whenever it is needed. On the subject of the elimination of competition by the organization of the steel corporation Mr. King made this significant declaration: "There is a very respectable minority of the steel industry that is not controlled by the corporation. I think it is big enough to prevent the exaction of unduly high prices. If the steel corporation cuts prices its losses will probably bear the same proportion to its capital stock as our losses would to ours." ; "Will not opportunity to go into the steel making business be denied to small capitalists?" is a question answered by Mr. King in two ways. His first answer was that if farming and steelmaking were the only careers open for capitalists of small means in the future he had no doubt the number of good farmers would hereafter be largely increased. An- other answer to this question was the statement of his opinion that it would cost between $20,000,000 and $30,000,000 to establish a plant so equipped as to enable it to make steel as cheap as the steel combine. But he added that capital was not the only thing to be considered; unless the proposed competitor had the means to supply itself with iron ore and coke it would be useless to construct a plant. Mr. King was a fine witness from every point of view. His answers were direct and altogether clear. He had nothing he did not care to tell the commission. When asked about export business Mr. King said that the Jones & Laughlins partnership does not export much of its product. What it does send abroad is the higher finished part of its product, chiefly cold rolled shafting. "How do your export prices compare with domestic?' Professor Jenks asked. i : "They are somewhat lower," said Mr. King. 'That, however, is not from choice. What we export is surplus product and it is better to sell it at no profit or a small loss rather than impair the efficiency of the mill by. not running it full time." "About how much of a concession do the foreigners get?" "A dollar or two on the ton; that's chiefly on account of the ocean freight. We sell delivered at the foreign port. Freight charges for ocean carriage to the English market are from one and one-half to two times as great as from Pittsburg to the seaboard." "This has all gone in foreign ships?" "Yes." : "Do you employ union or non-union labor?" asked Professor Jenks. "T presume our mill is called a non-union plant. We have no quarrel with union ideas, but three or four years ago we thought we could deal to better advantage with our own men than through a union, so since then we have not dealt with the Amalgamated Association." "Do you employ any union men?" "T don't know. We never ask a man any questions on that score. When the change was made it was a question of wages, not of the so- called control of our works by the union." "How have wages been since 1892?" "They are higher than they were then. They were low during the panic years, but all the reductions made then have 'been restored, I think." "Can you see any advantages in the recent combinations?" "Ves, in the matter of sending from the plant nearest the consumer there is a saving in freight charges. The combination will be able to save in the cost of supérintendence and in the consolidation of the clerical forces." "Have you found any restriction in your business as the result of this advantage in freight charges?" "We have not. Of course the combination is so new yet that we can't tell much about the effect it will have." "Do you think you have any advantage over the steel corporation?" "Ves, the fact that the corporation must depend on salaried managers and superintendents, while ours are part owners, is some advantage. There are some compensations in this life,' he added with a smile. Commissioner Litchman reverted to the question of wages. In ans- wering him Mr. King said: "Generally speaking, I think our wages, on an average, are as high as, or higher than, the scale of the Amalgamated Association." "You place so much stress on average. Why?" "Because, in the past a few skilled men made big wages, while the many received very little. Now, owing to machinery and a change in methods, the average is increased." Commissioner Kennedy asked if the existence of big corporations helps or injures smaller manufacturers. "In order to compete a mill must be well equipped and control the raw materials it needs. A small mill, with a small tonnage, can not make steel at a price to compete because the charges for high skill and superin- core are about the same for a capacity of 200 tons or 2,500 tons a ay. "Then opportunities are restricted?" asked Mr. Phillips. "For the individual, perhaps, but there is nothing to prevent the organization of corporations if there appears to be a need for more mills." "Can mills be run as economically by salaried men as by owners?" "TI should say not; but the salaried managers might be made part owners. There is nothing to prevent that. Independent operators could not expect to live in competition with the United States Steel Corpora- tion unless fortified with plenty of capital, good plants, and control of the raw materials they need. But there is a very respectable minority in the' steel industry that will prevent unduly high prices. I think the chief effect of the organization of the big corporation will be a steadiness of prices, beneficial to al! branches of the industry." "hen you don't think competition has been crowded out," he asked. No. We do not feel alarmed at all." Commissioner Farquhar wanted to know if Jones & Laughlins felt any greater competition when combination first became the practice in - the steel industry. Mr. King said that sometimes the competition was very keen, but generally speaking conditions were not greatly changed after the combinations were made. Commissioner Clarke, who is from New England, wanted to know if the removal of the duty on ore and coal would enable the New Englanders to manufacture steel with the raw products of Nova Scotia, and thereby supply the railroads and machine shops of New England and Texas and the Pacific coast with steel rails and other heavy articles. Mr. King pointed out that Nova Scotia has no Bessemer ore and that the Nova Scotian coal ~has too much sulphur and phosphorous in it to be good for coking. "As a general proposition, don't you think the tariff ought to be let alone?" asked Mr. Litchman. "Yes, as a precautionary measure, I think it ought to be let alone." "Do you think a tariff agitation at this time would be beneficial to the country?' was asked. "Decidedly no," answered Mr. King, who was thereupon excused, as he had no suggestions to make. THE WORLD'S COAL PRODUCTION. The production of coal for the world's needs is becoming a political measure of importance and likely to occupy attention for some time. Dis- cussion upon it was limited when Great Britain was able to supply the coal for the world, or the major part of it; but she no longer holds that supreme position. There is little truth in the stories of the impoverish- ment of the British supply, but the fact remains that it is costing more and more to get it to the surface. The high price opens the door to foreign invasion, and England is now getting some of its coal from France, Nor- way and the United States. Moreover, Great Britain is no longer the great coal producing nation of the world. She has lately been com-. pelled to yield that office to the United States. Following are the figures: United Kingdom, 224,000,000 tons; United States, 230,250,000 tons; Ger- many, 135,800,000; France, 31,000,000; and other nations in lesser totals. Britain increased her output in 1900 by 18,000,000 tons, but the increase in the United States was 30,000,000 tons, or nearly the whole annual out- put of France. The great gain in the United States is due to labor gaving machinery. The United States owes 23 per cent. of its output of coal to the use of coal cutting machinery, but only 1% per cent. was so obtained in Great Britain. Arthur Peel, a British commissioner, in a recent re- port of the coal resources of the United States, said: _ "West Virginia possesses an estimated coal area of 16,000 square miles, as against 12,000 square miles in Pennsylvania and 9,000 square miles in Kentucky. On the one hand the almost unlimited resources of the coal fields of the United States, the excellent quality of the coal, the possibilities of greater economy in the system of mining and greater re- duction in the cost of freight, and, on the other hand, the immense amount of coal consumed in the United Kingdom, are considerations which tend possibly in the direction of trade of such a nature abroad as may result in a great development of the export of coal from the United States." Mr. Peel foresees that the real competitor of Great Britain in the coal markets is the United States. The physical condition is such that the export coal trade of the United States is bound to grow. GERMANY'S RANK AS A SEA POWER. In any estimation of Germany's rank as a sea power the mercantile development of her ship building plants and of her over-sea carrying trade must be assigned a high value. In less than twenty years the progress made amounts to an economical and technical revolution in methods and resources. Today she is able to furnish all the vehicles of transportation and every type of warship demanded by her new ambition as a commercial rival or as an arbiter of war. As late as 1890 Germany was building three- fifths of her trading steamers in Great Britain and only ten years earlier was her most important ship building company in a position to attempt the construction of transatlantic liners. By 1898 the importation of ships from foreign yards had fallen off one-third and a little more than 16 per cent. of her own output was built for other trading nations. In January 1900, she boidly challenged the ship yards of the world and entered a new epoch in the industry by launching, with much pomp and ceremony, the Deutschland, the fastest merchant vessel in the world. Such was the 'pro- gress made in a single decade. Government encouragement has been a potent influence in the development, and this wise oversight may be said to date from 1870 when the duty on ship building material was removed and the corps of practical and theoretical marine architects and engineers created and fostered by the state began to exert its influence. Within her territory there now exist three imperial ship yards and thirty-nine im- portant mercantile establishments for the construction of modern steamers. Five of these are equipped for the supply of battleships, nine others can build cruisers, five can turn out transatlantic liners of the highest type and at least fourteen can furnish passenger steamers of the first class.