Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1907-09-13
COPPER DEADLOCK
TEN THOUSAND MINERS LAir
OFF IN BUTTE.
.oyERpRoDuCTloN IS CAUSE
Until Enormous Accumu'atsd Stocks
Are Sold Great Butte Plants
Will lie idle.

New York, Sept. ia crisis II
the copper situation due to a dead
lock between the producer and the
consumer has resulted in q trenen
dous over production of the meta
and the Amalgamated Copper com
pany, the largest producer Of coppei
in this country. will soon shut down
its mines In and about Butte, Mont
News Of the intended suspension Of
operations there was made known to
day by an interest closely identified
with the company. Amalgamated
stock fell over four points on the
stock exchange when the news be-
came known, and the shares OF tha
company sold down to $60.25, whtcL
Is sixty.one points under the high
record rise of the year.
1t is said that the suspension al
the Butte mines will throw 10000 men
out of work. The Amalgamated com
pany has had difficulty in obtaining
an adequate supply of fuel At Butte
and this Is said to be a contributing
cause for the shutdown. The Anal
gamated Copper company along with
other copper companies has been pill
ing up a large surplus of copper for
several months and it is authorita-
lively stated that there Is a surplus
of 100000 pounds Of refined cop
per in the United States.
The present situation developed
from the seeming inability of the
producer and the consumer to reach
q price for the metal that would prove
satisfactory. The selling price OF
copper has been steadily reduced IN
the copper markets of the world, but
the consumer has steadfastly refused
to purchase when needs were press.
ing. The official price for copper has
been lowered from rs cents to 10
cents a pound by the United Metal
Selling company. Copper producers
on the metal exchange in their efforts
to tempt the buyer have gradually
cut the price of copper to 15A for
electrolytic, which figure was reach
ed today.
AS consequence of this acute
situation copper stocks have accumu.
lated rapidly. The production of re.
fined copper in September, 1t was
stated today, will be 100000 pounds
less than last month. There were re-
ports in the financial district this
afternoon that certain banks have
declined to carry any more copper
metal in their loans.
How '1ng it will take to dispose of
this vast surplusage of copper Is
problematical and cannot be deter
mined until a price for the metal has
been reached which will cause heavy
buying. When work at the mines Is
resumed there may be readjust-
ment which wass put into effect some
time ago when copper was selling for
over 20 cents pound. The miners
agreed that if the price of copper fell
below 20 cents they would agree to a
reduction in wages.
Henry H. Rogers, president of the
Amalgamated Copper company Is now
Ill at his summer home in Fair Ha-
ven, Mass. J. w. Beck, counsel for
Mr.. Rogers, announced in court In
Boston yesterday that Mr.. Rogers
had been i'll since July and that he
would not be able to appear in court
for at least three months.
London has been a heavy seller of
copper stocks for some time. Prices
of the metal in England have been
steadily reduced. Copper stocks in
Boston were also under, heavy pres.
sure yesterday.