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The Commoner
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Doc. 5, 1 90 j.
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Gary's Idea of Competition.
A Steel Trust Magnate Undertakes the In
teresting Feat of Condemning flonopoly While
Justifying the Methods of the Greatest Trust
in tit Country.
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14
AMES CREELMAN, tHo famous correspon-
M .i nn-tnn a tho anopfnl rnnrnsRntJitlVQ
of the New York Yorld, recently visited
TCihnrf w. flarv. chairman of the execu-
A-IAMW W V f
Itive committee of the united states sieui uui-
ration. Mr. Creelman says tnat it was Mr.
ary who organized the Federal Steel company and
that It was "his brain more than any othor Which
limited fifteen great companies wnicn iorm mo
Fnited States steel corporation with its stock and
nd capitalization of $1.322,259,300 the most
ipendous and far-reaching financial creation of
iman ingenuity." Today he is the real director
tfts policies and activities, one of the foremost
of industry in the foremost century or
I? .A
Iptains
idustry.
!" With this description of the trust magnate, it
..&!fftrm be interesting to listen to what he has to say
'SS bis very interesting interview with Mr. Creel-
lan. Mr. Gary pointed to what ho cans tne voiuu-
iry advance in wages made by the Pennsylvania
tilroad company and other large corporations as
inly additional evidence that doing business
a large scale is not Inconsistent with the inter-
of labor. He seemed desirous of creating the
Bpresslon. that these corporations were entitled
: special credit because of this advance, in
fges; and yet one may search in vain through tne
intern 3 w to find any reference to the race
m J.l-.. n II i
iat wil'-in a very tew days auer luesu iuiuuu
jirporations increased the wages of their em-
t 9 . .iAtn1 I'M
ployes, they made preparations -r u uinusiwi m-
:ease in freight rates, thus shifting the burden 01
Rhcir generosity to..their employes from their own
Shoulders to the shoulders of the shippers.
In this interview Mr. Gary said that he could
t apeak for the greatest corporation in the world,.
that Is, the steel trust, in saying that 'our iirsc
concern, is the welfare of our workingmen." "On
this pdint Mr. Gary said:
"Never for a moment do we lose sight of
the Interests of the men who work our steel
mills, mines, railways or boats. We have more
than once voluntarily advanced wages. It is
to our interest to be just to our employes.
"No one understands that better than the
men who are charged with the responsibility
of carrying on this immense business. We em
ploy 166,163 men and pay $120,727,241 annual
ly In wages. We want to pay our. men well
because .it is nece&sary to have the best labor
obatlnable."
It is not hypocritical to say that if the first
concern of the steel trust magnates was In fact the
welfare of their workingmen they would have
given their employes a very much larger increase
in wages than they ha,re yet done. A corporation
that is able to pay its chief officers enormous
salaries and after the payment of such salaries
Is enabled to distribute handsome dividends to
its stockholders, should also be able to pay its
workingmen wages that would make their lot the
envy of all other workingmen under present con
ditions. But in spite of Mr. Gary's fine sentences,
it is yet to be related that any considerable num
ber of workingmen have given the steel trust ex
traordinary preference in their search for an ideal
employer.
Mr. Gary said some things on the question, of
monopoly that are of special interest. He said:
"I am opposed to private monopoly. No
decent man in America can defend it Private
monopoly is not only wro.hg in principle, but
it will not work in practice. The people and
the institutions of this country are opposed
to monopoly. It is an impracticable and uaL
terly unsound idea in business. I know thaSfc''
jthere are men who have advocated it in the
I
industrial world, but they have been dis
credited by experience. After a considerable
experience in the largest affairs, of modern
business I say without hesitation that all
sound organizers of industry recognize tho
absurdity of tho monopoly theory. No largo
industry can last in America unless it is
founded on the basis of competition, that Is,
the survival of the fittest"
. Now, this utterance of Mr. Gary's might soun J
very reasonable to some opponents of monopoly.
In fact somehow or other it reminds one of the
republican platforms and tho reminder becomes
all the more forcible when ono obtains from Mr.
Gary an analysis of this statement After the
steel trust magnate had declared against monop
olies Mr. Creelman asked:
"Do you mean to say, Mr. Gary, that tho
United States steel corporation is not organ
ized and conducted with a view to afepnoly
of the steol industry of America, if not or tEe
whole world?"
Then, as though determined that he would
not abandon the position ho had taken, Mr. Gary
promptly replied:
"I do. If the United States steel corpora
tion, tho most poworful private institution in
the world, is to succeed, it must not and can-
not found its policy on a program of monopoly. ,
Its success Is due to the hignest form of com
petition, competition in brains, in methods, in
work." J
But what is this "competition" to which Mr.
Gary refers? He explains it in this way:
"There is a tremendous competition going
on all the time between our various mills, a
friendly, good-natured rivalry, but none tho
less eager. It is the kind of competition that
is giving the industrial supremacy of the world
Into the hands of America.
"No, wo know very well that wo cannot
win by the device of a monopoly. We must
win by getting possession of tho best and most u
economical raw products and by using the
most concentrated and highly developed meth
ods of production. This is a competitive, not
a monopolistic, Idea. We win in the markets
of the world because we deserve to win. We
can do better work than our rivals.
"And this plan of industry on a large scale
not only brings better wages and greater op
portunities to our workingmen, but it is raising
the standard of American labor; it is training
men to work with the best tools in the best
methods in tho best -conditions.
"No man need fear that monopoly Is mak
.ing any headway in this country. A study of
the United States steel corporation or of any
' other great and successful industrial organiza
tion in the United States will show that it is
the spirit of unsleeping competition a compe
tition that avails itself instantly of every new
idea or appliance that makes success. Wo
not only compete with our outside rivals, but
we compete with each other Inside the organ
ization." It is difficult to deal patiently with a state
ment like this when one understands that it was
deliberately made with tho knowledge that it was
to be presented to a presumably Intelligent peo
ple. The requirements of tho "competition," which
Mr. Gary says is essential to the well being of so
ciety, are mot, according to this trust magnate, by
the "competition" going on by the various mills
and, among the various employes of a single cor
poration, a competition which would not in any
event benefit the public so far as the prices to the
public are concerned. It is & competition between
the various representatives of one business con
cern, all eager for the favor of the powers con
trolfing the establishment; and because there ex
ists within the steel trust as there certainly does
In every business establishment in tho country in
more or less degree, this kind of a "competition,"
this steel trust magnato says that his institution
is not a monopoly; and in spito of its charactor ho
assumes that "no decent man in America can de
fend a private monopoly!"
In tho courso of this interview Mr. Creelman
asked Mr. Gary: "And do you seo no signs of
danger in this movement toward concentration?
Can you find no signs of waknoss In it? Have
you not alroady reached or ovon passed tho limits
,of working combination?" to which the trust mag
nate replied: "No, there is no sign of weakness
to bo found. This corporation is growing strong
qr. Wo improvo in our methods every month. Wp
are doing hotter work and increasing our earn
ings." But Mr. Creolman, who la an observing man,
appeared to bo insistent and ho asked, "Is thero
no lino of peril visible?" Then this trust mag
nato said:
"Only one. It is tho cry for a change in
tho tariff. If wo. are to bo tho dominant
manufacturing nation of tho world wo must bo
as fully protected aB any other nation. Wo
must have a tariff that will at least mako up
the difference in tho price of wages in Amori
. ca and competing (-untrles. Take Germany,
our strongest rival. Tho man who gets $1.50
a day in our mills gets only GO cents a day in
Germany. Besides, Gormany has a system of
government bounties paid on articles exported
to foreign countries which enabloa her manu
facturers to dispose of their sumlua nrodticta
without loss. For many years my mind was
open on the tariff question, but facts like theso
have made mo a firm believer in protection.
I do not say that tho tariff cannot bo altered
; and improved, but I do say that if sufficient
t protection to equalize tho cost of Jabor is
not retained in tho tariff tho result will bo
disastrous. That is the only cloud on our
horizon."
Statements such as these require no comment
in tho presence of Intelligent men. It is stranga
that theso representatives of tho trusts imagine
that they can palm off upon an intelligent people
such things as these. This representative of the
truste in tho United States In a statement which
ho knows is to be presented to the public has the
temerity to declare that no decent man in Ameri
ca can defend a private monopoly; that tho peo
plo and tho Institutions of this country are op
posed to monopoly; that it is an Impracticable and
utterly unsound idea in business; that although
thero are some men who have advocated if in tho
industrial world, they have been discredited by ex
perience; and this trust magnato further declares
that after considerable experience in the largest
affairs of modern business he would say without
hesitation that all -ound organizers of industry
recognize tho absurdity of tho monopoly theory.
According to this man no large industry can last
in America unless it is founded on the basis
of competition; and In tho same statement thja
man proceeds to justify the methods of the steel
trust and to tell tho people that tho requirements
of tho competitive system aro met by a contest
among the employes, of ono particular business
concern, for the favor of tho employer!
JJJ
Revolt in Maryland.
Tho Baltimore Sun, the most influential of the
democratic dallies of Maryland, has sounded a '
note of protest against the democratic organiza
tion in that state. This is the more significant
when it is remembered that the Sun opposed the
ticket in 1896, but returned and did yeoman ser
vice In 1900. As tho organization of tho Btate Is in
tho hands of men openly hostile to the Kansas City
platform tho Sun's revolt would indicate that tha
reorganizers are not strengthening the party by
their methods. The Sun's editorial will be found
on another page of this issue.
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