Arizona republican., 1900-10-15
THE COPPER SITUATION
No Sign of Let-Up in the Demand
 For the Metal.

A careful analysis of the copper sit uation leads to the conclusion that the demand fer this metal for manufact- uIing consumption promises to con tiHue on an enormous Sca.e for a prac- tically indefinite perild. Short sighted individuals took it for gran,e1, months ago. that the collapse of the copper market was only question or time. says d writer in the New York Sun, and supposed that there was something unreal and fictitious about the whole movement which sent the price whirl- ing and soaring from 12i3 in December 1898, to 1914 in April. 1899 Since the latter date copper has never gone back to oldJime figures. It touched 16 nts in February last. but did not stay there long: il shot up to 11i4 the next month. There was d reaction again in May to 161a. and in June to 1Gkm16L. followed by a recovery in July to 16la. For the past two months market values have fluctulted between 161a and 1873. The tone now is positively firm at lGh hd167s for the best commercial quality.
 When the strong upward trend in copper was fully developed foreign op- position became manifest and efforts were made to counteract the adVanc- ing tendency. For many years London has been the at Cf active Specula- ton and gigantic dealings in copper, and among conservative Englishmen especially the impression seemed to take firm root that Yankee ingenuity had simply cOntrivei to indugurate plan for the purpose of making Britons pay a preposterous price for product capable of being eXcavated from the earth and being placed alongside of steamer in a completely refined and marketable state at a total cost to the producer of just about 5O per cent less than what the buyer was required to pay for it. T. the British intellect the thing seemed too absurd to last long. and the Anglo-SaXon spirit felt out I'd sed. and began to utilize the various sources at comman1 to strcnuously op- pose the rising tide in market values.
 The English consumer. however. made a grievous and costly mistake in his calculations on the subject Sub sequent events proved that his theories connict5d sharply with the facts in the casn. While England halted anI hesi- tated. curtailed her purchases of cop Der ana rtStllctet her consumption pi the metal a new era of prosperity had set in on this side of the Atlantic. Am 5rican brass ani copper mInufac lures forged ahead at an unprecedent- ed rate under the impulse of new activ- ities. and this country began to con sume more copper than at any time in its history thereby ma king up for any loss in foreign demand. Instead of an accumulation of copper at the home CenteIs on account of the within DldinG of orders in Europa there arose an a. tual scarcity of the metal here. and domestic consumers were sa rushed with business that they could not get their deliveries of copper quick enough to fill their orders.
 As time Wore on foreign consumers. grew tired cf waiting for a slump in copper. and the truth slowly dawned upon them that the advance in copper was really due to an actual and greatly increas d IegitinItc demand. This year England. Franc and Germany have resumed activity in copper and have irc rc-easaG their purchases of the metal enormously. SimultaneoUsly ui,h the expansion in foreign demand since January last there has been q