<P> In 1907, US Steel bought Tennessee Coal . Four years after its consolidation, US Steel was heavily dependent on convict laborers . When US Steel Chairman Elbert H. Gary discovered the use of forced labor within the company he ordered the practice cease immediately . In 1911, Tennessee Coal President George G. Crawford claimed that the company did intend to abandon the use of forced labor at some point, but could not abandon it now "without detriment to our operations ." Crawford explained that US Steel's "chief inducement for the hiring of convicts was the certainty of a supply of coal for our manufacturing operations in the contingency of labor troubles ." </P> <P> Less than 100 years later, US Steel considers their use of forced labor a dead issue . Assistant general counsel Richard Lerach states, "Is it fair in fact to punish people who are living today, who have certain assets they might have inherited from others, or corporate assets that have been passed on?...You can get to a situation where there is such a passage of time that it simply doesn't make sense and is not fair ." </P> <P> US Steel is a supporter of President Donald Trump, most notably for his promise to' bring back' the steel industry by using only American steel for infrastructure projects during his term; Trump's proposals to lower the corporate tax and implement Chinese import tariffs are also indicators for US Steel's support . US Steel (X) has a composite rating of 38 with a market cap of $4.49 billion according to Investor's Business Daily on 10 / 1 / 2017 . Earnings were recorded at $2.650 billion for 2016 with expectations for big growth in 2017 . </P> <P> Charles M. Schwab (1862--1939) and Eugene Grace (1876--1960) made Bethlehem Steel the second - largest American steel company by the 1920s . Schwab had been the operating head of Carnegie Steel and US Steel . In 1903 he purchased the small firm Bethlehem Steel, and in 1916 made Grace president . Innovation was the keynote at a time when U.S. Steel under Judge Gary moved slowly . Bethlehem concentrated on government contracts, such as ships and naval armor, and on construction beams, especially for skyscrapers and bridges . Its subsidiary Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation operated 15 shipyards in World War II . It produced 1,121 ships, more than any other builder during the war and nearly one - fifth of the U.S. Navy's fleet . Its peak employment was 180,000 workers, out of a company - wide wartime peak of 300,000 . After 1945 Bethlehem doubled its steel capacity, a measure of the widespread optimism in the industry . However the company ignored the new technologies then being developed in Europe and Japan . Seeking labor peace in order to avoid strikes, Bethlehem like the other majors agreed to large wage and benefits increases that kept its costs high . After Grace retired the inbred executives concentrated on short term profits and postponed innovations that led to long - term inefficiency . It went bankrupt in 2001 . </P>

Where did the steel industry grow and why