Tombstone epitaph., 1888-06-02
THE 1lN AND COPPER CORNER.

HE AAN AN0 SOfEE SSNtNGN. (From the Engineer ng and Mining Journal
 The break in the tn m .rkel, when n short five days the price collapsed from bI65 to S79I5, per ton. is still the talk of the lown,' of the world in fact. and people who help to boom ,h, nelal up in the facS of large and rapidl, increasing stocks are now astounded al he natural and inevitable result of their own acts.
 The effrct of the high prices which the tin cnrnerer, imposed was, of course, to increase stock in Europe and aAo [, or as our English cou 'ins euphoninusl! term it, "the visible supply" from about S4oo tons, April goth, 1887, to about 22 = 900 tons, Ap il 3oh, 1888. The total supply ofnn increased fro B 8or ton. m the twelve months ending goth of April, 1887 to A sSS tons in he twelve months ending Apri' goth, 1888, while ,h. consump ion decreased from 37,33S tons to 2o773 tons in the same perod. :. These figures illustrate, we'll the eff ct o' abnormally high prices on production and consumption.
 The French syndicate, which of la', vas the cornerer, has for some tune pas been a free seller of futures, and % a- ranged its sales as to make its delivere so rapidly at ,he clo,e C oi the Ideal" tha the metal coul not come back on it hands m any quantit. before it let "tht bottom fall out of the ma,ket." The syn. licate is understood to have unloaded n lh. "boomer-," who are now stand ing agha,t wondering what struck them.
 From many sides come the inquiries, ''ls copper to go the same way? and "when will the collapse come?'
 We do not pretend to report the inner secrets or intentions of the syndicate, but tis very evident thatth copperdeal is of very diff-rent character from the recent tin corner. The copper production oi the world is contr lied for this year at least, and tha' fram nearly every mine now producing is controlled for three years. The mining companies have sold their output for that time to the French ,yndicate, an the sales have been guar anteed by such responsible banking houses as Seligman's, the ComptoI d'E,cnmpte, etc. So far as the mines are concerned, they will, no doub', get a, least the minimum price stipulated (gen- erAlly B cents for Like copper) during the next two or three years.
 If the price of copper be m ,intained at I6H@I7 cents, as at present, the quartlly that will be produced in the next three years will be enormous, and proba- ply far exceed the anticipalions of the syndicate, while consumption will cer- tainly be much less than if the price were, say, I2 cents for Lake, at which dgsre the worlds requirements could be filled at profit. It is certain, therefore, that before the expiration of three years, rhe syndicate will have an enormou, load of copper to carry, load which will con. linuously increase until it would even. tu,ly swamp even the strongest syndi- cate.
 There is little use in speculatirg on the final outcome, which cannot occur for two years yet, and which may be If cted by mod 6c.uons in the presen, tgreemen's should mutual interests cic- ate this necessity. For tome time to come everything tavors the st ,bity of he synd,ca,e and of prices above the minimum basis This, of course, does n It necessarily keep them where they IT, in fact we believe the syndicate wou serve ils own interests best by keeping prices but little above the basis-which was 'o' high, any way and thus en- courage consumption while discouraging my rapid increa e in product,0n.