The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-04-06

lead sales policy of the American
Smelling & Refining Co., We tax,
pleasure in giving the following in
formation:
/. We are producers of pig lea(
from our own mines to very con.
DESTROYS of having the price of leat
as satisfactory as can be maintained
legitimately and have the production
of the country consumed without in
jury to the manufacturers. Oul
policy is to look to the general good
over considerable space of time
rather than to operate along specula-
tive or temporary lines.
q Aside from the amount of lead
produced by our own mines, all of the
lead that we produce is received from
mines with which we now have con-
tracts requiring the miner to ship his
and for which the miner is paid daily
in accordance with our quoted price.
Therefore, the lead that We receive in
any month is paid for by us to the
miner at our average quoted price for
the month.
3. Since the smelling and refining
profit per ton of lead is very small,
it is necessary that we should not
pig lead market Therefore, the po-
Icy of the company is to sell as large
a proportion as possible of its pro-
duct at the average quotations of the
company. AS matter of fact, more
than rs per cent of all our lead is
being sold at the present time upon
average price contracts. Therefore,
the amount of lead which the COM
pany has for SALE outside of its con-
tracts, is comparatively small.
4. The policy of the company, in
the selling of this smaller amount, is
to give preference at all times to it's
regular customers. owing to extra
ordinary demands not only domestic
but for expectation, there has been re-
Gently a shortage of lead. We have
thought it advisable, therefore, to de-
except our regular customers for
their normal consumption.
5. We are making our quoted price
Cat which more than rs per cent of
our lead is being sold every day on
average price contracts, and which we
are quoting for the remainder of our
production) at what we believe is a
fair equilibrium between supply and
demand, confined to the domestic con-
sumption. If the price of pig lead con-
tinues to advance, it will result in de-
creasing the consumption and curtail-
ing the lead industries of the United
States 1t is not the opinion of this
company that this would be advisable,
even if the extraordinary demands of
other sections of the world are such
as to warrant their paying prices for
war material that are not warranted
by domestic consumption.
We believe that the public viii be in
terested in this declaration of prin-
ciples, which are governing and have
governed the pig-lead sales policy of
this company.
(Signed) Edward Brush, vice presi
dent, American Smelling & Rein
ing Co., New York, March 81, 1916.
Commenting on the foregoing state
ment, the Engineering and Mining
Journal says:
What Mr.. Brush has stated is
borne out by the reports in our week
ly record of the market during last
month, wherein it has been chronicled
that while premiums were being real
lied on some lead, large quantities
were being supplied at the quotation
of the principal producer, which was
not a merely nominal quotation.
THE other important producers of
lead dispose of their product to q
large extent upon contracts based on
EDUCATIONAL averages in substantially
the same way as is done by the Amer
also, during the recent period Of ex-
tyaordinary demand for export have
sought to protect their regular Gus
toners and domestic consumers gen
orally in filling their requirements in
excess of the contractual, although
they have not all been so consistent
in that policy of late.
ITO those who have not been con-
versant with the conditions, the recent
course of the American Smelling &
Refining Co. in the lead market, which
has now been explained by Mr.. Brush,
has been mystifying. Some remarks
on this subject that we made last week
were either misunderstood or misrep-
resented"
The Engineering and Mining Journal
also has the following editorial dis
cussion on "The Situation in Lead: