Bisbee daily review., 1915-10-14
At. THOMPSON
TELLS Of THE
TROUBLE IN
Cliff
Assistant General Manager OF
the Phelps Dodge interests
Gives Out Statement Concern
ing Clifton Matters.
REClTES CONDITIONS
LEADING UP TO STRIKE
Tells Of History of Cheap Labor
in District and Its Necessity;
Tells of Labor and Matter Of
Wage Scale.

~ Glo lGA cliiA ITO lNSNSSSlNy
Tells of Labor and Matter Of
Wage Scale.
A. r. Thompson. who for many
years was a resident of Clifton, for a
long time as secretary Of the Arizona
Copper company and later as general
manager Of the Detroit Copper com
uany. al Morenci now assistant gen
eral manager Of Pheips-Dodge CO.. has
arrived .at El Paso to consult with the
Clifton managers who are now max
ing their headquarters there. on
Sunday morning the FL Paso Times
carried the following statement from
Mr.. Thompson concerning conditions
i'm the district where the strike trou-
bic has occurred. before and since the
trouble began
Stripping the whole situation OF all
its trimmings and sideplays and re-
viewing the matter from the opera
tors standpoint the following state
ment may be helpful to the mind Of
the general public and of interest TO
them. particularly to those either di-
rectly or indirectly interested in the
copper business i'm, Arizona or other
states.
Character Of Labor.
"Since the opening of what is known
as the Cliuon-Morenci district the la
hor employed in the various camps
for underground and general work
Oot mechanicaD has been Mexican,
Italian and I'm later years quite
number of Spaniards have been en-
ployed
"The cheaper class of labor was
sought on account of the character of
the ore its formation and the higher
cost of extraction and treating it.
This condition is more emphasized to-
day than AT any previous time on ac-
count OF the decreasing size of some
of the ore bodies. a further drop in
the grade of the ore and in resultant
higher cost per pound of copper
ITO get down quickly to the pres
ent situation: AT the commencement
OF the European war when the de
mand for copper fell off practically
altogether and nearly all operating
companies reduced their output and
at the same time the wages and sala-
ries OF an employees and officers and
were obliged TO store the greater part
of the copper they produced, the sit
uation i'm the Clifton-Morenci district
r-,. tlfls Tho ebonv,D Foppor ann
pany had to shut down entirely as to
operate at all was to operate at a fl
nancial loss and no company can do
this and meet IT'S obligations unless il
has large surplus of cash or credit
TO fall back on. and the directors or
trustees consider it advisable to use
up such surplus or credit in that man
ner.
Detroit Remained Open.
"As regards the Detroit Copper
company. it was serious question
with their board whether or not they
should continue to operate. Notwith-
standing all statements to the con-
trary, one of their main reasons for
their continuing to run was TO avoid
tlt suffering uOuuQ 10 result from a
shutdown. Furthermore. instead of
cutting down their forces and working
as small force as possible they EN-
ployed as many men as they could,
cutting down the hours Of work there.
by enabling the greatest number 10
earn at any rate sufficient 10 live on
while the extreme hard times lasted.
The Arizona Copper company Cthe
largest operator i'm the district was
Obliged 20 shut down its entire Met
calf property and Clifton concentrate
ing plant, as otherwise this section
would have been run az a loss.
Whenever the forces We're reduced
the managers gave preference to their
married employees.
Prior 10 this action and this reduc
tion in wages. the men had been re,
ceiving a wage scale granted them
when copper was selling around II
and IS cents and not reduced until the
European crises although copper in
the meantime had fallen as low as be
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