Bisbee daily review., 1907-10-17
cuRTAlLMENT OF COPPER PRODUCTION.

COPPER PRODUCTION.
 The drop i nthe price of copper has. as anticipated, resulted in an unanimous curtailment of production in the larger camps os the country, even the Lake Superior copper com panies joining in the move on the part of the producers to early exhaust the available supply of the metal and thus force the consumers to buy.
 This reduction in the output began about the middle of the past month, with the resul- tat the Montana, Ari- zona, Utah and Michigan camps, in the order named, ali show a decreased production during September. Unless there is an immediate improvement in the copper market situation, which appears quite unlikely, the present month will show still greater falling off in output. inasmuch as the re- trenchment policy will have been in force longer, says the Mining Report CT.
 The present situation, which is the c,rlmination of consumers oyer-buy- ing in the early part of this year, calls for no lengthy comment from us just now. Undoubtedly the depression in metal prices is also, in large part, at | tributable to the money stringency in the New York and London markets; also, to an oyer-production on the part of the producers who were encour- aged by the consumers early buying at any price through fear of short age in the supply.
 The copper industry i assuredly, greatly demoralized, temporarily; we say temporarily, inasmuch as there is every reason to believe that i'm provement will result from an eX- tended continuation of the inaugural ed retrenchment policy; how long this improvement will be delayed depends ] entirely upon the length of time nee essary for exhausting the unsold ac- cumulated stock and upon the de rnands of the consumers.
 We do not believe the price of the l metal will again soar to so unnatural a height as 25 cents or even 20 cents. It is far better for the copper inter- ests that the market should be estab- Iished on a sound and dependable bas- is-say somewhere around 16 cents. At this price there is ample profit for operators of low grade properties, as is shown by the known earnings of many large companies two and three years ago when the metal sold at un- der Is cents and even as low as Ii cents.
 in conclusion we quote the follow. ing convincing statement, credited 10 NIT. F. Augustus Heinze:
 q am inclined to believe that prop CT selling price has about been reached and that the price of 15 cents a pound will prove attractive to many l persons who have been bolding out. want to say, positively. however. that with copper selling at 14 or 15 cents pound there is plenty of mon i ey in the business for the producing companies.
 ] .sFhe public has forgotten, perhaps, that on the advance few years ago. when the metal reached the price of 1 Is cents a pound, the newspapers be gan speaking about the remarkable rise. and reports were current that the Calumet and Hecla people really did not want to see the metal selling above Is cents.
 But I know that many of the large producers sold the same way, and II that well-managed mining companies were able 10 make a great deal of money at that rate. The reaction the trade is witnessing is natural under the circumstances.
 "The fact is that few months ago ii the large consuming interests became so fearful that they would not be able to buy what metal they required that they bid up the price against one an other and purchased immense sup plies. Of course this demand made tbe producing companies think they had the market in their own hands, , and the result was that they held to