The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-25
New York SUM-

NEW lOIh SUM-
The signs multiply that the contest
waged 50 long and bitterly between the
English manufacturers Of refined cop
per and the American producers there
Of is closing. The struggle has not been
dissimiIar to that over raw cotton, al
ready fully explained in the Sun, and
the fact that two such battles have been
precipitatsd has afforded no small cor
roboration Of the opinion held by many
competent Observers that the success
siye failures in sagacity shown by En-
G.ish merchants and manufacturers
raise the question whether or no the
commercial prosperity of their country
ht5 passed its zenith. The British quail
tiles Of conservatism and Obstinacy
Seem 10 have made it impossible for
these merchants to adapt themselves
O. the conditions of modern competitive
enterprise, and to have left them in
The race behind the persistent and stu
dIouS German and the inventive and
energetic American.
As in the case of cotton. there was
Scarcity Of copper, due. however. not as
IN cotton, TO reduced production. but to
greatly enlarged consumption. English
manufacturers declared that the rise
IN the value of copper, as in the case
OF cotton, was not due 10 normal and
proper causes, but to speculation and to
American manipulation an corners"
Now they have mad to confess them
selves mistaken and to accept the nat
urai punishment of their error.
The rise in the copper market has
progressed with various fluctuations
many years production had greatly out
run consumption, and a large quantity
OF the metal stored in reserve exercised
constantly depressing influence upon
prices. At the period named the use
or copper as the base of the modern in
duN.tal development Of electrical heat
ana power began to dawn upon the
INNING and manufacturing world. The
-lI' mass Of reserve supplies of copper
a'NF diminished, while the price of
III" article slowly but steadily rose. All
''HN.r-u~iDC interests were Skeptical
ABOUT the advance at first. but in the
course of TWO or three years people
Na' looked M the matter with their
u.--.' standing and not with their preju-
u-..s became CONVINCED of two great
Id..s- FIRST. shat the new use of cop
per was not Of an Experimental and I'M
certain nature, but meant a vast per
IlaAent increase iu the consumption of
me article, and. secondly, that the
sources 0f copper were. comparatively
speaking. limited.
\ great development of the conner
mining business began in the United
> aI'5 ar soon as the new use of the
metal became apparent. and in 1898 we
M-fe exporting considerably more than
LalI OF the raw copper used in the
"'rlc, giving us control of the worlds
N.tkeI Iae manufacturers Of Trance
ana Germany gave up the fight after q
'.'- struggle ana began 20 buy enOr-
h'I5lN. But the English manufacture
es wouldn't buy. I'm England. unlike
-e United States. raw copper is an ar
D'- or speculation. The cash article
anu options for thu future delivery of
are dealt i'm, in much the same man
''r nat grain, cotton and similar com
''-tieS ara in our own country. The
...-..e n manufacturers still asserted
N-at the rise in price was due ro a o-i-
e--...i American corner. exactly SINH
af '' that which NJ Seureyan at-sror+
Ell OBJ form in France some yaars se-,
ana hey held that the slime c0IIapsa
would ~ little while come on il T[e,-
r--re-ore entered into extensive .spacri-
,-.'t operations for the decline i'm rba
...r or options In copper Moreover
---s refused 70 buy the actual metal
- NE preFaHnS prices and allowed
.-- business Of manufacturing If In on
=, 9,-er lands chiefly to our own conn
The charge that the rise in conner.
- Cue TO corner was. of course
,=fl'.erouS but the EngIisbuen ~
famed II with all stubbOrnDeSs II
--I -Ir Americans TO understand how,
~ am idea could have lodged in bl1si-
- men minds when the figures
s. Fl The actual enormous Increase
a. world consumption of copper
r-,-s orlore them, and it was un5iss-
Gu mat in 1888 the exports of Am,sr-i-
~ upper We're 800 1000. UC0 pounds al
f--.- t-lr times those Of the wear he
An Inc Englishmeu declared thar
e7---'sdh copper concerns had bought
!ng -.llSly in the English market. TAX
rss,|pper back 20 Americl and then
pr--tPlihS II 10 England agair for the
CON- or confusing tn. statistics Of
Is to- manufacture and imports' Il
o. eor- mat large American purchases
nsrsas.peI We're made in the English
Of It's Dut this was chiefly because
nass development Of American bnsi-
prs and the decay Of English enter
neD5. II meant simply that $40 tre-
iDr-Ous had been the advance in fba
srrsi,.e, eInents Of copper refining and
Rera -. IN America that our refinAy.s
Oe 10 buy the crude copper