The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-09-01
THE WORLD OF AMUSEMENT.
coPPER-L'ANsE-LAKE SUPERIOR.
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.

/ r W 1857 ACttCh 1CIJ JuO Z IGG duQ EASY
Club at Houghtop, and in closing that
letter took occasion to remark to you
that copper was no longer king, and that
Houghton, on the one side of the river,
and Hancock on the other, although
built upon everlasting and exhaustIess
mountains of copper were both dead. It
is no difficult task'to write the obituary
of copper. It's epitaph would read
/" Died of protection The stupid ut
tempt to regulate the price of this metal
by an import duty, in country which
always has had a surplus for export, has
killed it Of course. Look at this record !;
In 1912 copper was free. In 1916 duty
Iof per cent was i'm posed on copper ore
and pigs, and So per cent on sheathinp
for ships In 1851 ore was per cent,
pigs and bars 2 cents per pound, and
sheathing 2 cents per pound. In 1864 8
ore was cents per pound, pigs and bars
l2H cents per pound, and sheathing 81
cents per pound Importation was
checked, especially of the CHILEAN ore
which was principally useful for the
large percentage OF, fux, it contained,
witch, in turn was OF the utmost value in
resolving pure copper from our own ores
The prices went up rapidly, but the sur
plus was all the time increasing; and, as
the prices went up, consumers either pur-
chased where they could get it cheaper
or used other metals as substitute. and
thus gradually got out of the way of u.s.
ing copper, when they found something
else would answer equally as well. Be
tore the war. we all used turpentine.
During the war We couldn't get it, and
used substitutes We found they an
swered al our purposes, and now we can
get along without turpentine. The cop.
per kettles OF our mothers are curiosities
now. How many ships have been sheath
ed with copper since the war. Copper,in
1864i5, was drug. There was no de-
mand for it. The copper docks were
overloaded with the metal. But the in
terests OF copper must be promoted and
this promotion of interests meant that
the companies who owned these mines,
bssing their capital on $4,000, watered
their stock up to $10O, 900, and were try
ing to make their capital pay per cent
on their stock. or, in other v ords, to make
$4,000 pay $4,000 instead of 5000, its
legitimate product There was man
once who tried to extract sunbeams from
cucumbers It is not related that he sue
ceeded however. The condition was sub
stanially as follows An exhaustless sup.
ply Of copper in the earth; an immense
surplus on hand; imports prohibited :;
prices low; $4,000 trying to pay $4,000;
nobody using copper nobody wanting
1t. Something must be DONE Prices
must be raised. Put on another turn of
the screw. In 1869, "to promote the
interests OF copper" Congress fixed tax
OF cents per pound on fine copper, 4
cents per pound on all coarse copper, and
3 cents per pound on plates and bars. Of
course now copper would rise People
would use It'll Copper-bottomed A No.
clippers would once more scour the seas
Copper tea kettles would hiss upon the
stoves, anc copper wash boilers once more
expel their tin successors OF course
$4,000 would pay 80 per cent instead of
o! But OF, course, however, nothing of
the kind took place. The expectation of
copper ceased entirely. The great cen
tres OF smelling industry at Boston, Bal
tlmore, and Cleveland closed up and
gradually went where the woodbine
twineth." Serious injury was inflicted
upon various manufacturing interests in
tlmately connected with the use of cop
per, especially upon paper-hangings, byI
increasing the cost of Dutch metal. And
here again we go "down, down, downy.
The market price of ingot copper short
time previous to the passage of the bill
was 26@27 cents; Immediately after the
passage of the bill the price fell to "a
cents, and subsequently to 22@23, at
which point it remains nominal, and every
day copper going more and more out of
use, and every day some mine going out
OF working. Special Commissioner Of In
ternol Revenue Wells explicitly states the
causes OF the failure of the increase of
duties on competitive imports. 1. That
the United States lisa copper-exporting
rather than copper importing country.
From 1865 to 1869, inclusive, exports ex-
ceeded Imports by the sum of $487,990.
During the fiscal year 1868 the exports
and re-exports Of copper in pigs, bars,
and ingots were reported at 1856, IA
pounds, while imports were returned at
1928 pounds! 2. Al examination of
the general statistics of copper production
and consumption since 1868, shows con-
tinued tendency to the disuse of copper
in the arts, and substitution of iron or
other cheaper metals in its place., OF
course the resistance of the use of a cheap
er metal in preference to dearer, is sim
ply absurd. The craziest theorist in cop
per economy can satisfy himself by look
ing at the scores of dead copper mines
around Houghton and Hancock, and the
industry of Negaunee, which cannot get
sufficient transportation to remove its iron
products
These are some of the causes why cop
per is no longer king. All around US is
scene of ruin, and in every direction
the shaft houses like monuments above