Arizona republican., 1907-10-28
THE COPPER SITUATION.

To arrive at a clear understanding
of the present demoralized condition OF
the copper trade it is necessary to go
back for long distance. and to begin
with congratulations of world wide
scope.
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 as unusually large supply of
money during the past 10 years. This
may sound paradoxicaL or even nom
sensical. but It IS true.
BY reason of the wonderful stimula-
ton OF business caused by the in
creasing gold supply, the amount Of
creasing 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 rail-
roads constituted one of the largest
consuming interests in the iron and
steel trades. The advanced ground in
the field OF Transportation has been
taken by the trolley lines. There are
about 10000 miles of trolley roads. in
Guiding both urban and interurban
lines, in the United States. and plans
are under way for increases aggregat-
ing nearly so per cent of the existing
mileage. Owing to the general tight
ness of money, the new trolley lines
have not been able to raise the cash
required for their construction. through
bond issues. since the beginning OF
1907. Inability to find cash for Build
ing new lines. supplemented by the
necessity for economy on the part of
most of the existing lines. many OF
which bave large requirements for
wire. resulted in a nearly total paraly-
sis of the copper wire trade. This led
tn a great and immediate curtailment
in the demand for copper. the wire
trade being one of the largest consum-
.ers Of the American copper supply.
This caused rapidly increasing stocks
of the metal, and the situation was
aggravated by the unusually high price
Of copper early in 1907. for which high
price consumers. rather than produce
ers. should shoulder the larger burden
of blame. As a consequence OF the
paralysis of the wire trade. with de-
creased demands in other lines, sup
plemented by unduly high prices. the
copper industry was caught in a pc
culiarly vulnerable position, and has
suffered accordingly
The market for the metal has not
yet found a sure level. but | look for
IL near the present range Of quotations.
The drastic measures taken by Mon
tana and Arizona mines in practically
cutting production in half are being
supplemented. TO some extent. by the
Lake Superior mines, which. with
slightly reduced forces are undertake
ing such dead-work as is necessary.
with consequent curtailment of output.
can see no indications Of any boom
in either the copper metal trade. or in
the market for shares. for at least a
year to come. and possibly not for sew
eral FEARS Some little time will be
required TO work off the accumulated
stocks of copper. which, although by
no means as large. relatively, as those
accumulated by the Secretan syndicate.
are sufficient to chasten the spirit Of
the producers Furthermore. there is
a presidential election coming next
year. and this. unfortunately. is a year
of business under check. the curtail-
ment ranging from slight cessation
of activity to marked depression.
The copper industry is fundamentally
sound. for the reason that this pro-
duct is a necessity in goth century
civilization.
A general collapse Of the copper in
dustry is not to be looked for. but a
collapse Of overstimulated copper de-
mand and prices not only is here, but
is likely to remain for some time
Horace J. Stevens.