The New Student's Reference Work/United States Steel Corporation

United States Steel Cor′pora′tion. This corporation is the world's greatest combination of capital. It was organized under the laws of New Jersey in March, 1901, being formed from ten large corporations, each of which was itself a consolidation of several smaller companies. Its total capitalization is $1,404,000,000, or nearly half of all the money in the United States; it represents one sixty-seventh of the total wealth of the United States in 1900. The corporation, when founded, exercised direct and positive control over 213 manufacturing and transporting plants and companies and over 41 mines in 18 states. One hundred of the manufacturing plants were in Pennsylvania, 51 in Ohio, 15 in Illinois, 12 in Indiana, 12 in New York and the rest scattered from Connecticut to California. Its mines furnished more than half of the total production of iron-ore in the United States, four fifths of the bessemer steel and two thirds of the steel rails. It controlled 1,000 miles of railroads and a lake-fleet of 112 vessels, one third of the tonnage on the northern lakes. By “community of ownership” it controlled the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, thousands of miles of railroads and an ocean steamship line. It has rapidly increased its holdings. The company controls steel interests in America. Our steel exports in 1900 were valued at $130,000,000. Manufacturers of other countries look upon this concentration of interests as a strengthening of American exporting capacity.