The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-02-14
WEAK START ENDS
WITH BEST PRICES
sTEEL AND CoPrERs CONsPICloUs
IN TRADING WITH READING
AND ERIE
STEEL is INDIFFERENT
TARIFF REFORM WILL FIRST AT
FEET INDEPENDENTS AND IN
THIS WAY HELP BIG
COMPANY.
is INDIFFERENT
By THOMAS G. sHoTwEIL.

NV IOnn t.p. Although
formal sIIlne notices were scrved to-
gay oy se,erai tnousanu coai miners
"a 1If eat rTil4an Coniiuenuai aoftoSs
from Aonoon tontgnl stated that 40
asreelueul mad nesn reacaed that
wuaAu prevent the national miners
strlAe announced Tor March /. 1t liz
oct expected that the iapoT troubles In
the American anthracite coal helds
will &c even as far as English trouble
has gone. 1 mas is not n goou ear Tor
strikes. Pubic sentiment is against
anytnlng OF the KIND. Everybody Is
,oo anklous 10 sc business moving TO
tolerate any unreasonable action by
either capital or labor and both parties
to the gathering dispute In the anthra-
cite fields viii be expected TO make
concessions that VIII keep business
moving.
In addition TO the report Of settle
u1ent of the labor trouble abroad New
! ork bankers were asursed yesterday
that political affairs had taken bet
ter turn as between England and Ger
many urthermre United States
Steel stock was lending today at Ia
per cent. which was rs per cent. un-
DER the call money rate. This indi-
Gated the existence of a large short
Interest Standard OH sold at high
record price.
President Taff's conservative speech
and the pessimtstic utterances OF per-
sons high In corporation affairs led
keen observers of the market 10 be-
lieve that the time had arrived for
buying stocks for turn at least.
Therefore after show OF weakness at
the opening the market turned strong.
gathered strength as the DAY progress.
ed. and closed active at the best prices
OF the session.
Steel and the copper shares were
conspicuous In the trading with Read
ing and Erie. Erie has been accumu-
lated for weeks. and the results Of
good man cement are becoming ap-
parent Placing OF Southern Railroad
preferred on dividend basis has en-
-nanragaG- haraAss preferred
stock 10 expect some dividends soon.
Republic Iron and Steel was weak
throughout the session. Tobacco stocks
continued highly erratic-
Steel Trust Is Indifferent.
Attention has finally been attracted
TO the fact that the Steel Trust is not
atem nting 10 ~~event tariff reform at
Washington Under ordinary cfrcum=
stances a powerful lobby would be
~ work In Congress. The indifference
is exclaimed by a director. who Gays
that II the tariff is reduced II will hurt
the Independent steel companies so
mnch more seriously than Ii Will hurt
the trust that the trust will really be
benefited. The low prices OF steel now
prevailing are making II certain tina,
some OF the independents will have
10 reduce dividends The weaker the
indenendent become, the more bust
pess fails into the hands of the big
corporation.
The lease on the Hin ore lands il
not d serious matter for the trust, for
the trust will always be the big con-
sumner of ore and when the time comes
that II needs this ore II can get II
at least as cheaply as its strongest
competitor. The only advantage
sought i'll taking the lease was to pre-
vent other companies from shutting
the trust out Of constant supply.
Since the government proposes that
nobody shall have this advantage. a
lease liz of no value to anybody.
While the decrease In the surplus
Of copper metal on hand February
i, In surprising to the general pub
lie, there Is simple explanation. The
Copper Producers Association keeps
reporting as surplus all metal in
original hands regardless of whether
il is sold or not. The sales during
the last few months OF 1911. were
January many consumers who had
bought copper and left ii in pro-
dueerg hands, needed the actual
metal and called for delivery In large
volume. The January deliveries.
therefore. represented more than the
January sales.
Heavy exports OF copper metal in
1911. were made by producers. and
particularly by the United Metal Sell
ing Company. in excess OF sales. The
shipments were probably made under
the theory that with business abroad
Increasing rapidly II would be unwise
to conilne shipments TO actual sales.
Months supply OF Copper.
~ a esss,Ta.,s; 10 ag&TeS asw !ssssed or
cially and covering the whole world
the surplus of metal is under $780,
GEO, geo pounds. which In less than
a months supply. Reputable interests
gouch for the correctness CT the
American figures. and In the last ten
years experience has proved tina, the
European figures are correct. The
together IN Europe, America barely
holding its own In normal times
Europe takes only 40 Per cent. Of
ttsa AsssYtaan sTaaactasE, but In 1910
Europt took IS per cent, and in the
last year has been taking more than
90 per cent If under these condi-
tons the American consumption
should rise To the normal the CON
dition Of the copper metal market
would be surprisingly good.
Another peculiar development in
connection with copper has been the
great mechanical improvements that
have enabled mining companies TO
operate with thousands fewer men.
and still do more work than ever. In
the Butte camp alone the number OF
miners is perhaps 5000 lexs than 1t
YVES I'VE years ago. In those days
numberiess steam engines were ern-
pioyed. and hundreds of small tram
cars, Now the camp is using thirty
thousand horsepower OF electric cur
rent The interior workings have been
SO readtuyted that ore can be nIned
from the twenty eight foot level In
competition With surface mining.
Methods OF reduction have been 10
improved that lower grade Gree can
be taken Everything 10 taken now
down TO two per cent And. fur
tharmore, IL has been proved that
tbs Butte deposit Ia primary so that
NO man can tell nor engineer guess
how deep the depostt really runs.
Numbee OF shares sold today. Ao6..
300: year ago. 303.3s4.
Par value Of bonds sold today, ST.
s.l.00e: year ago. s3.sss.000.
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