Thus it is both good business and good policy for the Corporation to give the wage earner a larger share in gross receipts, and its enormous investment and great capacity enable it to do this without prejudicing interests of stockholders. Further, the very fact that so small a margin of net profit is needed, whether calculated on investment or capacity, to pay dividends, is of itself satisfactory assurance of the safety of the dividend rate. A great steel maker said, some years ago, that the demand for steel, the most important metal of the present age, doubles every twenty years. Experience educates that the actual rate of the growth of demand for the metal is even faster. The needs of the world for steel, as they expand, can only be met by the putting of new capital into the production of more steel, and this capital, to be attracted, must be allowed an earning power of at least 6 per cent. The Corporation, as shown, needs to earn less than 4½ per cent. on its investment to continue the present dividend rate on its common stock. Obviously it has nothing to fear from possible future competition. It can hold its own and be generous to stockholders in the face of any competition that can occur. Another factor of the highest importance in considering United States Steel stock as an investment is that of production costs. Here again the Corporation is in an enviable position. That its production costs are lower than those of most, probably all other manufacturers, is not challenged even by competitors themselves. It is indisputable. Presuming the possibility of a bitter trade war, the Corporation would unquestionably emerge the victor. But a trade war seems out of the question. The Corporation could not, for politic reasons, initiate it, and its competitors could not afford to. It stands in the position of a strong man armed, keeping his house, and, it may be added, its stockholders may be at peace. The immense spread of the Corporation’s activities, the wide diversification of its products, the enormous area over which its plants are scattered, all these are further elements of strength. A company making only a limited line of goods is subject to adverse or favorable influences arising out of the changing demands for these lines. But the law of averages protects the company making a wide variety. A loss here is made up by a gain there, and the general tendency is toward greater stability. Influences that affect one section of the country unfavorably often do not extend to other sections, and the Corporation operates in all sections. In the foregoing discussion of the value of United States Steel stock as an investment the factor of good will has been deliberately ignored, eliminated. Nevertheless, good will is probably the Corporation’s most valuable asset.