Business: Steel: Toward October

The best hope for solution to the seven-week-old steel strike lies in the natural pressure of economic forces on the parties involved. But when—and where—will those forces reach impasse-breaking strength? Last week, slowly but inexorably, they began to rise on all sides, starting a steady acceleration that should reach a climax in early October. By then, if the nation's basic industry is still-shuttered up, the alternative to a settlement will be real trouble for the U.S. economy. The key forces:

INDUSTRY. There are only spot shortages. Steel warehouses still have about 3,000,000 tons—just...