The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-09-26

sumption has Increased somewhat owe
last year; but obviously II could not have
taken care Of the enormous surplus
stock Of copper remaining In his coun-
try as shown by the above figures.
American consumption. 20 have accom-
plished this, would have had to increase
over 50 per cent. beyond that of h pre-
yious year. Il seems certain. there
fore. that large quantities Of unsold
copper are accommodating In our market
az a distinctly surplus product. Yet while
the price Of copper ia Europe has de-
clined greatly. the price here has re-
NAMED unchanged.
No one knows exactly what this amount
Of surplus unsold copper h. IL II said
that IL Is probably not much In excess oil
previous accommodations in the copper
trade, and that the only thing which
gives importance to II now Is the fact
that all. or nearly all, Of II IA In the hands
of one great producer. the A~malgamated
Copper Company, This argument. how
ever, 40 far a. showing that the pres
ent price Of copper is a proper and
normal one. h fallacious. IL the surplus
stock OF copper was scattered In con-
sumers' hands or among n hundred
or more producers, the selling price
OF copper would inevitably be very
much lower than IL - now. In n
deavoring Il maintain the price nj 1911
cents n pound the Amalgamated Copper
Company is "pegging 1t. in the Ian
guage Of the trade, or. in plain words.
is e~ndeavoring to m%easurably corner
the product and TO artifcially maintain
its price.
There Is no doubt that the copper
manufacturing business in this country
u much more fiourishing than IL Is
abroad. and that the demands Of Amer
lean consumers are much more inn
perative. IL h also true that the fall
In the price Of copper in foreign markets
Is not wholly indicative Of a weakness
that should b. also felt in this country. for
the reason that the character OF the
copper sold abroad il very different
from what II II here. II Is a coarse n
unrefned product. while the American
copper h Ia every way superior. Max
ing all due allowances. however. IL must
be said that tho conviction Of American
onsumer has become very decided
that the price now maintained by the
great copper-producing interests Of this
country for their product is altogether
too high. and that these have
determined not 10 purchase copper at
prevailing prices In any greater quanti-
ties than they can help Their buying.
thus. il Of the hand-to-mouth order. and
there Is a practical deadlock between
producers and consumers
This. then. il the struggle that Ia on
in the American copper market. How
IL will end no one can tell. but II must
only b. observed that N Il n a fact that
there Is n genuine overproduction or.
what u saving the same thing. diminish
ing consumption in the copper trade,
the efforts Of any association Of men
Go maintain a fixed price for the article,
while they may be successful for a time,
will fail in the long Tun and will bring
with them not merely failure but IN
mense financial loss. In attempting Ia
hold the price Of copper in his way, the
Amalgamated Copper Company IA depart
ing from the principles which, when the
company was established. 1t declared that
IL would invariably follow, namely. never
To attempt any artificial maintenance Of
copper prices and to sell all Of is prod
uct az the current rate established by
genuine consumption Of 1t. The forces
behind the Amalgamatcd Copper Com
pany are commonly known a. those OF
the Standard oil interests, although IL
is understood that they do not include
the elder Mr.. R~oCKEfELLER. They
comprise very rich and powerful men.
no doubt: but NJ SECRETAS in France
had very great men behind him. and the
collapse Of his copper corner ruined
the great Compile d'Escompte and shook
the pillars of the Bank Of France itself.