Louis H. Bean, United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Ernest T. Weir, chairman, National Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa............ Arthur Robert Burns, professor of economics, Columbia University__ Additional material introduced: Comments on the testimony of Louis H. Bean by Bradford S. Smith. Partial list of products produced by United States Steel Corp.- Hon. Clyde B. Aitchison, Commissioner, Interstate Commerce Com- mission, accompanied by J. Stanley Payne, general counsel. Hon. John A. Blatnik, Member of Congress, Eighth District, Minne- 796 798 819 George W. Stocking, professor of economics, Vanderbilt University, George J. Stigler, professor of economics, Columbia University.... Additional material introduced: Comments on the testimony of Kenneth H. Hunter, Arthur R. Burns, George W. Stocking, and George J. Stigler, by Bradford B. Smith. Letter to Hon. Emanuel Celler, M. C., from Kenneth H. Hunter in reply to the comments of Bradford B. Smith, on his testimony... Letter to Hon. Emanuel Celler, M. C., from George W. Stocking in reply to the comments of Bradford Smith on his testimony----- Aitchison, Clyde B., Commissioner, Interstate Commerce Commission. 849, 875 465, 591, 692 Bean, Louis H., United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Bergson, Herbert A., Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Anti- trust Division, Department of Justice.. Blatnik, Hon. John A., Member of Congress, Eighth District, Minnesota_ Bowman, Ward S., member, subcommittee staff... Boyd, James, Director, Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior... - Brown, Robert K., manager, Kokomo Spring Co., Kokomo, Ind... Burns, Arthur Robert, professor of economics, Columbia University- 897 465 839 69 Cook, Donald C., Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission. 420, 446 177, 465 Fairless, Benjamin F., president, United States Steel Corp- --- 465, 535, 615 Hodge, Edwin, Jr., president, Pittsburgh Forgings Co. and Greenville 181 938 769, 1010 Hunter, Kenneth H., chairman, department of economics, College of Arts and Sciences, American University, Washington, D. C.-- Keegan, Kenneth M., general manager, Independent Iron Works, Oakland, Kerr, John H., secretary and office counsel, Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co.-- 446 323, 818 Lorck, Karl, Elektrokemist, A/S., Oslo, Norway (accompanying Sydney D. Lumb, H. C., assistant general counsel, Republic Steel Corp. (accompany- Lynch, T. F., assistant general counsel, United States Steel Corp... McCue, Frank, Chief, Iron and Steel Division, Office of Domes.ic Com- Martin, James Stewart, former Special Assistant to the Attorney General in Charge of Economic Warfare Section, Department of Justice; former Chief, Decartelization Branch, United States Military Government in Mead, Hon. James M., Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission. Miller, Nathan L., general counsel, United States Steel Corp. (accompany- 750 296 179 100 100 Olds, Irving S., chairman, board of directors, United States Steel Corp. 465 Patton, T. F., vice president and general counsel, Republic Steel Corp. 205 X Peyton, Garland, State geologist and director of the Georgia Department of Mines, Mining, and Geology, State Division of Conservation... Ramseyer, Charles F., Ramseyer and Miller, New York City. Reed, M. W., vice president in charge of engineering, United States Steel 465, 687 Rooney, George, vice president, United States Steel Corp. (accompanying Sanford, W. S., manager, land department, southern district, Republic Stigler, George J., professor of economics, Columbia University 117, 991, 1010 Stocking. George W., professor of economics, Vanderbilt University, Tokoph, Leo G., Leo G. Tokoph & Sons, Chicago, Ill.. Tyson, Robert C., comptroller, United States Steel Corp. (accompanying Waters, Robert S., president, the National Radiator Co., Johnstown, Pa. Weir, Ernest T., chairman, National Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa.. Williams, Sidney D., consulting engineer, Warren, Ohio. - Wiprud, Arne C., Associate Solicitor, Post Office Department.. STUDY OF MONOPOLY POWER DIGEST OF TESTIMONY This digest contains a brief summary of the important features of the Steel Hearings, including witnesses' statements, testimony, and questioning. It was prepared by Peter Chase of the Library of Congress, Legislative Reference Service. HEARINGS, MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1950 In an opening statement Chairman Celler said that the special subcommittee is moving from the general to the particular in its study of monopoly power, and that the focus of the hearing will be on legislation that may be required to maintain free and competitive enterprise. The issue to be faced is whether in numerous key industries firms are of such size as to interfere significantly with competitive forces. In the steel industry one firm controls about one-third of the ingot capacity of the country. Recent congressional hearings have come close to asserting that this industry has passed from the domain of competitive enterprise and must be treated as a public utility. The steel industry is basic to the economic life and military security of the Nation. The subcommittee wants to find out whether the major policy decisions of the industry are arrived at competitively or whether they are determined by a few people in a few companies. The inquiries into steel may also throw additional light upon any deficiencies in the Webb-Pomerene Act, the commodities clause, and the Sherman and Clayton Acts (67–69)1 TESTIMONY OF OSCAR CHAPMAN (69-86) Rapid depletion of iron-ore deposits in the Mesabi Range have forced the steel industry and the Federal Government to look abroad for new sources of the raw material. At the present rate of steel production the Great Lakes region would be reduced by more than one-half in the next 15 years. Development of deposits in Labrador are favored in some circles over those in Venezuela because the long water transportation from the latter country would be vulnerable to submarine attack in the event of war. Mr. Chapman favors development of the St. Lawrence waterway, not only on its own merits but because it would provide a safe inland waterway route to the Great Lakes region for the Labrador ore. If the country were dependent on ore from Venezuela the industry in the West would cease to exist. The witness believes the question of whether there are sufficient raw materials for any companies to continue in business outranks in importance the problem of whether a new company can go into the steel business today and get raw materials. Mr. Michener indicated that the hearings were going rather far afield from the question of whether the United States Steel Corp. was a monopoly (77), but the witness contended that knowledge of basic raw material sources must be obtained before a study could be made of monopoly. (75) The chairman pointed out the difficulties of obtaining finance for new steel plants from financial institutions already connected with existing companies (81). The witness did not think the time had come for the Federal Government to tak? over the steel industry or to allocate materials. If the industry does not expand fast enough, the Government should help competition enter the field (84). In a prepared statement (69–73), Mr. Chapman stated that the relationship of steel and the economy of the country is so close that they seem to have the same coefficient of expansion. The rate of expansion of the Nation's economy is 1 Numbers in parentheses refer to verbatim transcript of testimony. 1 |