Rock Products

SEP 2015

Rock Products is the aggregates industry's leading source for market analysis and technology solutions, delivering critical content focusing on aggregates-processing equipment; operational efficiencies; management best practices; comprehensive market

Issue link: https://rock.epubxp.com/i/566624

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 29 of 65

28 • ROCK products • September 2015 www.rockproducts.com W hile production was on the rise in the early 1920s, it seemed that no one could find a way to make a sizeable profit. For instance, the average price of aggregate rose only about 7 percent annually between 1921 and 1923, while pro- duction during the same period rose about 50 percent. The general sentiment was that, technologically, the rock products industry lagged behind many other commercial interests. One quarry owner wrote, "The trouble lies not with the business itself, but with the majority of the men engaged in the business. It is a fact that the world moves, and unless you are willing to move with it you may find yourself thrust aside in a way you will not like. "Whenever the stone and quarry operator, owner and employee get to the point where they believe … that this industry is as important as … other basic industries – then, and only then, will the stone and quarry business take its proper place in our country's industrial scheme." One of the biggest obstacles to progress was transporta- tion. While some producers wanted to invest capital in plant improvements, many were producing at less than capacity because material could not be moved fast enough. Railroad car shortages carrying over from the late 1910s were mostly to blame. Sand and gravel operators in Indiana were working at one-third capacity in 1920. A hearing held by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1922 muddied the situation. The National Associ- ation of Sand and Gravel Producers (renamed the National Sand and Gravel Association (NSGA) later in the year), the National Slag Association, the Portland Cement Association (PCA), and other independent producers were heard. A rep- resentative of the PCA testified that, "Every (one) knows that every industry is bearing an excess burden of cost due to the freight rates. That excess is slowing up all business." Producers had much to gain from a decision in favor of low- er rates – in 1922, 70 percent of product was transported by rail, and only 27 percent by truck. In March 1922, the Supreme Court granted the ICC the pow- er to regulate interstate railroad rates where evidence of discrimination was found. The ICC revoked priority orders giving preferential railroad car service to coal transporters, thereby making more cars available to sand, gravel and stone producers and somewhat improving conditions in some parts of the country. But at the same time, in the Midwest, rates actually went up. In 1923, the president of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroads urged Midwestern producers to load railroad cars to full capacity as a way of getting more for their money. Throughout the railroad hearings (and the coming years), the effects of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act were felt strongly by trade associations. The government, in an attempt to define the legitimate activities of trade associations, announced that such groups could not discuss or handle prices, dis- counts or other factors that would affect profits. Members of the rock products industry felt this unfairly kept them from determining the fairest rates, and thus the percentage of the selling price railroad tariffs should occupy. Changes in immigration laws in the early 1920s also caused the industry some concern. While new immigration laws shrunk the labor pool, the government also pushed for labor-saving machinery. But many in the industry believed there should be a balance; in 1923, F. R. Kanengeiser, vice president and general manager of Bessemer Limestone and Cement Co., Youngstown, Ohio, said, "We feel the effect of the present immigration laws quite keenly … we believe the country could absorb a considerably greater number of immigrants, and that labor-saving machinery will be installed just as rapidly as it is proven." R O C K P R O D U C T S production Year Crushed Stone Sand & Gravel Cement 1920 78 80 18.80 1921 64 N/A 18.58 1922 80 N/A 21.58 1923 103 138 25.84 1924 103 154 28.08 1925 124 170 30.39 1926 136 166 30.93 1927 134 195 32.56 1928 124 207 33.14 1929 141 220 32.08 Rock Products 120th Anniversary In This Special Year-Long Series Celebrating Our 120th Year Publishing Milestone, Rock Products Presents A History Of The Aggregates Industry. In This Issue, We Cover The Years 1920-1930.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Rock Products - SEP 2015