THE STEEL TRUST.

By the decision of the Supreme Court announced yesterday, the steel trust has won its second big victory within six months. The economic strength of Judge Gary and his associates enabled them to stand off the insistent efforts of the employees to get their union recognized; and now the strength of the mammoth combine before the law has been reinforced by the highest court in the United States. Assaulted from one quarter by labor and from another by the government, organized capital ("big business") stands firm and continues production.

Yet the victories of the steel trust do not mean that the steel kings will continue exactly as before. The decision of the Supreme Court contains the seed of a new industrial policy. It is recognized that the trust should not be busted; but it is also made clear that it is only in the interests of the public that it is being allowed to continue.

The force of public opinion never endorsed Judge Gary's intransigeant attitude in the strike. People recognize that trade unions in spite of their drawbacks are a beneficient force which cannot be ignored; an employer who insists that his business "concerns only himself" preaches a creed which died a generation ago. Judge Gary's business concerns not only himself but his employees and the public; and however he may fight back the march of progress, he must eventually recognize this fact.