The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

solidation of the various Guggenheim mines which will be an important part of the merger has been practically eff ] fected, although not without friction. Minority stockholders have compelled l important changes in the plan as orig inally mapped out. Among other things, better terms for Nevada Consolidated were forced upon the Guggenheims after a bitter struggle and angry threats to take the matter Into the courts and en- 1 join the whole proceeding. The conces- sion came with i'll grace from the Gug- genheinls, but they had to yield. There Is better harmony among the companies controlled by the Standard Oil-Cole-Ryan combination. which takes in Amalgamated and great lot of prop critics in the southwest. The big pro ducing interests which are to go into tho combine are anxious to have the deal completed for the good effect It will have on the metal market. Producers are discouraged over industrial condi- tions affecting copper and they make no bones about It.
 They say that the copper industries have not kept pace with iron and steel and they do not understand 1t. They want to see the situation brighten and would like to have production held in check until accumulated stocks of the
 
 much money In Recent copper. yet there is small hope of important advance in price until an enlarged demand appears Meantime, the heavy buyers are pur- suing their hand-to-mouth policy l Charles Brooker, who does most of the 1 buying for the Connecticut manufactur- CTS. who use 25o.ooo.ooo pounds year or more, continues to talk sloomily, ern- phasizing his opinion by refusing to take mn day requirements.
 John Hays Hammond has been an ac- tive figure in forwarding the copper merger. The interests which arc behind the scheme have been putting him against MT. Taft in the hope of inducing l the chief executive to admit that the merger will be benenosnt and within | the law-that 1t will come under the l definition of good trusts" He has also been valuable In bringing together dis cordant clements among the mine own. CTS. He is said to have met with suc- ] cess in his missionary efforts in the lat 1 ter direction.
 1 As to his influence with the President, 1 little Is being said and the belief ia our rent that he did not get very far with the big man of the White House. The 1 Guggenheims, by the way, are said to l be $6O, ,000.0 coo better off in dividends and enhanced value on properties they bought during the last five or six years on MT. Hammond's recommendation One of the 1 nuggets which fell into the Guggen- helm lap was the Esperanza mine, 100 miles northwest of Mexico. out of which they take about $30Oo.o00 gold a year. 1 This mine Is in the richest camp in l America. It produces about half the gold mined in the Mexican republic.
 The wits of Wall street arc having l great sport with John W. Gates over that sermon he preached down in Texas | on the evils of card-playinG. horse-rac- 1 ing and stock gambling. There Is none who questions Mr. Gates qualifications | to talk on this subject and those who have heard him in discussion or oratory agree that he Is corker. The rumor is denied that Mr. Gates and Bill Sunday intend to do double team stunt in the l revival field.
 The death of King Leopold might have
 a bearing on the price of rubber stocks. 1 Tho old King was heavily interested in rubber and forced liquidation of his holdings would probably be noticed on the tape. The United States is using l more rubber now than ever before Its | importations this year will approximate t75.00o000, against about $4eo0o,000 last year and $54,o0O.0OO in 1907. At the same time the price of crude rubber has un- i dergone big advance and the outlook for the industry Is iattering.
 The propaganda for . great central bank under governmental auspices seems to be moving in Arctic temperatures. It is encountsring vigorous opposition among the bankers themselves. an oppo-
 sition which is growing stronger every day. There is an element in Wall street which feels 1t can do all the central banking required without any kind of help from the government except the help that comes from being lot alone. l With the west against central bank and the financial center split up over the question. there appears to be small chance of anything being done worth talking about.
 The 5000 or more Standard OH stock holders appreciate as a Christmas offer ing a dividend disbursement this week
 of $10,000, 600. For a concern that has
 been numer0usly and urgently ordered for years to get off the earth, Standard oil seems to be doing quito well, thank
 you,
 The United States raises gold for OK port about as 1t does wheat or cotton
 It plugs along sending out of the oeun-
 try about as much as 1t digs out of the 1t without inconveHisnoe
 The influence of Messrs. Reid and
 Mooys in the A&ain of the Lshigh Val ley railway systsm is turning out to De
 much stronger than most people are
 willing to cencsds, It wns announced in these dispatches many weeks age that