The Future of the American Iron and Steel Industry

THE history of the development of our great iron and steel industry has been recorded in many publications, not the least important of which are the TRANSACTIONS of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. During the life of the Institute, of less than 60 years, the annual production of pig iron in the United States has increased more than 23 times. Such a rate of growth may seem small when compared with that of the automotive industry, which has increased 100 times in the last 20 years, or when compared with the growth of other industries of recent birth. The comparison appears less unfavorable, however, when the fact is taken into consideration that the iron and steel industry has existed on the earth in some form for thousands of years. The trade journals, the Department of Commerce and technical societies keep us currently informed concerning technical and corporate developments and the statistics of the American iron and steel industry. Merely to describe the high spots of the industry as it exists today would require a book of no small size. It involves the utilization of about 900,000 people, the payment of $1,400,000,000 in annual wages and salaries, the-investment of $14,000,000,000, the mining annually of 70,000,000 tons of iron ore, 15,000,000 tons of limestone, and 120,000,000 tons of coal. It results in the production of 40,000,000 long tons of pig iron and 50,000,000 long tons of steel ingot. In addition, the industry includes ownership and operation of railroads and steamship lines, the production of cement, timber, coke, gas, by-products, and many other activities. The leading part played by the iron and steel industry in promoting the confidence of the public in corporations and corporate management is well known. The industry has also provided worthy examples of vertical integration and mass production. The social activities within the industry have been no small factor in promoting the fuller development and greater happiness of the American working man-and his family. In this connection I advise reading a paper by Theodore W. Robinson,1 which