The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-28
SITUATION REVIEWED
BY EMINENT AUTHORITY

To arrive at a clear understanding of
the present demoralized condition of the
copper trade it is necessary to go back
for a long distance, and to begin with
congratulations of worldwide scope, says
Horace j. Stevens in the Mining World.
The trouble in the copper trade is
merely a local manifestation of a dis
ease from which the entire civilized world
is suffering. The copper trade is in bad
shape because money is tight. not only
in the United States, but in Europe as
well. and money is tight throughout the
world because there has been an unusu-
ally large supply of money during the
past ten years. This may sound paradox
ical, or even nonsensical, but it is true.
By reason of the wonderful stimulation
of business caused by the increasing gold
supply, the amount of money for new
enterprises, while increasing from year
to year, has grown too small for the
demand.
In the past the iron trade was called
the barometer of business. This was due
mainly to the fact that the railroads con-
stituted one of the largest consuming in
terests in the iron and steel trades. The
advanced ground in the field of trans
portatiOn has been taken by the trolley
lines. There are about &C, 900 miles of troll
ley roads, including both urban and
interurban lines, in the United States,
and plans are under way for increases
aggregating nearly so per cent of the ex-
listing mileage.
Owing to the general tightness of mon-
ey. the new trolley lines have not been
able to raise the cash required for their
construction. through bond issues. since
the beginning of 1907. Ina ability to find
cash for building new lines, supplemented
by the necessity for economy on the part
of most of the existing lines, many of
which have large requirements for wire,
resulted in a nearly total paralysis of the
copper wire trade. This led to a great
and immediate curtailment in the demand
for copper, the wire trade being one of
the largest consumers of the American
copper supply.
This caused rapidly increasing stocks
of the metal, and the situation was ag-
gravated by the unusually high price of
copper early in 1907, for which high price
consumers rather than producers should
shoulder the larger burden of the blame.
As a consequence of the paralysis of the
wire trade, with decreased demands in
other lines, supplemented by unduly high
prices the copper industry was caught
in peculiarly vulnerable position, and
has suffered accordingly
The market for the metal has not yet
found sure level, but | look for it near
he present range of quotations The
drastic measures taken by Montana and
Arizona mines in practically cutting pro-
duction in half. are being supplemented,
10 some extent, by the Lake Superior
mines, which. with slightly reduced
forces are undertaking such dead work
as is necessary, with consequent curtail-
ment Of output
L can see no indications of any boom
in either the copper metal trade. or in
the market for shares, for at least year
to come. and possibly not for several
years Some little time will be required
TO work off the accumulated stocks of
copper, winch, although by, no means as
large, relatively, as those accumulated bv
the Secretan syndicate. are sufficient to
chasten the spirit of the producers Fur
therinore. there is a presidential election
coming next year, and this. unfortunateIv
is a year of business under check. the
curtallment ranging from slight ces-
sation of activity to a marked depres-
sion.
The copper industry is fundamentally
sound, for the reason that this product
Is necessity in twentieth century civil
liZation.
general collapse of the COPPER indus
try is not to be looked for, but a collapse
OF overstlmulated copper demand and
prices not only is here, but is likely to
remain for some time.