Arizona republican., 1917-07-08
The Strike


 B1SBEE, AriZ, July 7-Miners of Arizona on strike during the present month are probably losing the highest wage opportunity that will be available toIhem in some time. The BiSbee wage tfHs month, regulated by the price of copper in June, will be $5.S5 the day. The strike call of last week incorpor- ated demand for $6. The automatic advance in wages came near meeting It. In other copper producing districts of the state proportionate increases in pay also came about automatically be- cause copper sales in June, mostly Of small lots, averaged better than 30 cents.
 What the average price received for copper during July will be- remains to be determined It is mainly up to the federal trade commission and the allied purchasing board. It is understood thar the two are working together and tha. the federal government will fix the same price for copper for the alliees that 1t fixes for the metal it requires It IS the presumption that the price paid for the 60,000,000 pounds engaged by the federal commission last week will be 25 cents but this is yet in the air "A base price in the neighborhood of 25 cents,' is the form the government an nouncement takes The base price means little or nothing of definite char acter under the circumstances How ever, 1t is believed that 25 cents will be adhered to. In such event it will be the purchases of domestic consumers of the metal aside from governmen, contracts who will fix the average price of the metal. They have been pur- chasing something more than half of the production of copper. The price they pay will doubtless raise the average above p cents, but how much is en- tlreiy problematical If metal market transactions for the month should go as now indicated, it is not considered at all probable that the 30 cent mark will be touched. It is likely to shade off cent or two at least
 Investigations in the course of the price fixing conference resulted in de- termination that Anaconda copper has cost 1856 cents this year, and that due to the present strike. together with con- stantly increasing supply prices, the cost of Anaconda metal will advance still further during the balance of the year. In Arizona it is questionable if there is a mine getting it's copper at the present time for less than 15 cents. If excess profit and Super-income taxes are figured. The copper of some OH the producers, the smaller ones, Is run ming over 25 cents. These could not today accept government orders on a 25 cent basis without losing money Agitation and strikes are daily increas- ing the costs for efficiency cannot pre- vail while the air is filled with trouble talk. The greater the degree of in efficiency, the higher the costs of pro- duction.
 nf off rr, |, copper mining districts of the state ap- pears at this time to be possible only through the presence of federal troops in the districts, or at least in most of them. Intimidation prevails that can be overcome in no other way With the intimidation removed there will be plenJy of men available to pull the mines back into efficient production, al though such accomplishment will not be the work of days. It will mean months, during which the state will fall behind the high normal which it had reached early in May and under continuance of which it would have made billion pounds of copper this ynar or half of the entire production of the North American continent
 NO IuIlner effort on the part of the government than the removal of in- limitation is necessary. The high un- desirability of attempt to inlany way take over the direction of the copber producing properties was clearly shown In the investigation by the federal trade commission, in the course of which it gained knowledge of the intricacieS of mining, milling and smelting copper to an extent that has doubtless spoiled the dreams entertained by labor agitators r and politicians of soft federal berths