Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-08-08
'AMSTER OPT|M|ST
 ON COPPER METAL
Well Known Arizona Operator Says That Consumers Do Not Care to Much for Lower Prices as for More Steady Market--Copper Costs More.

N. l.. Amster, president of the Ari- zona Commercial and Shannon com panies, in recent interview says in the Boston News Bureau:
 "During the past few days I have taken pains to interview some of the largest producing and consuming inter ests in the copper trade in an endeavor to inform myself accurately concern ing the copper situation. As result of my investigations l am led to the conviction that at the present time while the consumption of copper has slackened up bit, the decrease is fully compensated by the declining produc- tion. Butte and Arizona, two of the greatest copper camps in this country, are today considerably behind their output figures of year ago.
 "There seems to be more apprehen- sion regarding the stability of the cop per industry than is warranted by the facts. It cannot be denied that copper is accommodating in small way in the hands of the producer, but this situation is met by the poverty of supplies in the hands of the manufacturer. The aceu- mutation of surplus stocks, concerning which so much is heard is no more than would ordinarily be carried by the con suming interests, but today, instead of the consumers carrying their stocks, the producers themselves are carrying them.
 ''The greatest bugbear that exists today is the uncertainty which exists in the minds of the copper buyers as to whether or not, having made good sized purchase of copper, the producing interests will protect them by refusing to make sales at low prices later on. The copper consumers are today more anxious to see stable market at IS cents, at 20 cents or oven 25 cents than they are to see a fuctuating market from 20 cents down to 15 cents and back again. One of the largest con sumers in this country told me yester- day that he was perfectly willing to buy large quantities of copper at 20 cents per pound or even at higher fig ures, providing the producers would stand together and not later on demor- alize the whole situation by naming lower figure to someone else.
 "There are several important factors in the copper situation which are not generally reckoned with. In the first place, it is costing anywhere from l cent to cents per pound more to make copper than it did five or six years ago, and furthermore the great produe- ing mines of today are steadily exhaust. ing their underground supplies, their raw material as it were, and the pro- dueers of the metal are today justly entitled to demand at least cents per pound more for the red metal than was the case five or ten years ago.
 "The great Calumet & Hecla is each year making hole in it's underground territory equal to about 4S,000,000 GU bic feet. They have just right, as have all other producers, to seek com pensation in the refined copper market for the exhaustion of their underground assets.
 Cooper should not be considered as one of the base metals. It is in appear ance, in conductivity and ductility, sec ond only to gold and silver, and there fore 20 or even 25 cents pound for the metal is by no means too high for it. Copper plays most important part in the world s civilization. What would the business world do, for instance, without the telegraph or the telephone or the transmission of power or intelli- gence by electricitya
 "The copper situation is not going to the dogs by any means and while monetary conditions may for the time being operate to lessen the ability to finance new construction, this situation will be rectifed in the course of time and the consumption now deferred by reason of high money rates will come into into the market with rush."