Bisbee daily review., 1919-02-09

lluut1uueu from Page Ollel employers in this emergency is neees- sary in working out plan of read justment whereby the interests of both would be safeguarded to the full est extent possible.
 Delegates En Route Home
 Two delegates were sent from the Warren district and they are now on their way hack from Washington and will brinz with them full reports of conditions and of the action taken in the conference In the meantime. the department of labor has sent out brief statement covering this confer ence as follows:
 Washington, Feb. f. The conference of the workers in the copper mines of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico with the secretary of labor came to an end yesterday. and the representatives of the men left last night to lay the results be fore the wOrkmen in their respective districts Before leaving Washington. the following statement of the present condition of the copper industry was agreed upon to be submitted to the workers
 No market since armistioe was signed, ssles for last 75 days don't amount to 5 per cent of output
 Copper stocks on hand at mill shelter. in transit. and at rsfineries. about one billion pounds. representing over SITS. .O0O.OOO-
 Produced at High ccst-
 The seriousness of this surplus stock of this one billion pounds Of cop per is the fact that it was all pro Guced on the maximum basis Of cost with the expectation of realizing 5e cents per pound
 For every cent less than sS cents the prOd-cc.S viii lose S10- -O0G eco so that IS-celt copper means a loss Of SSO- -0CG- -0(0- ES5ch Is vsrv serious faccCT of 6emOTaiization apart from practically no sales the last Sl days and little in sight Stsgnatiol ex- presses the market conditions today Copper production in 1918 aver aged 20 million pounds per month or about two billion five hundred mil lion pounds for the year against a gre-Tar production of one billion five hundred million pounds Normal con sumption before Ire war. about one hundred and twenty-five million pounds per month. divided nearly equally between home and expert trade. the larger being the export trade
 Anticipa-e Return to Normal
 When peace is proclaimed and the necessary foreign credits are estab- lishcd in this country to finance for sisn sales the normal sales may be recovered and even exceeded. to say, one hundred fiftT million pounds per month. but We can hardly expect the sales tO warrant production Of POO million pounds per month, as during the destructive consumption of the war
 The adjustment of operations in near future will be confined to the more favored operations of IOw-cOst producers with modern equipment
 The problem now before us is hoy. tC best safeguard the industry to in sure continued operations and a liv- ing wage The terms of the various sliding scales automatically regulate wages according to market price.
 Wages Above Scale
 Current wages for January, 1919 on the terms of the sliding scale, are paid on basis of 30-cent to 32-cent cop per. although the December market price for copper was 26 cents as fixed by the war industries bOard-but no sales Wages are. therefore, 50 cents to 75 cents higher on the war basis than they would have been on a peace basis. according to the sliding scale.
 '-The absence of any market neces s1tates reduced production
 "Only the most favored operations could continue operations on the IS cent copper at the present cOst-and then only if a market can be found for production. as all have reached the limit of taeir ability in carrying sur plus stocks
 Both production and consumers representatives of the industry are strenuOusl- endeavOring to improve the immediate market for their prod uct- They are receiving the heartiesi cooperation of Secretary Wilson Oi the department Of labor, Secretary RedfIeld of the department Of com merce. Secretary Lane Of the depart meRt 0f the interior, Secretary Glass of the treasury. and Eugene Myer. Jr. managing director of the war finance corporation: Secretary Baker and Sec retaTy Daniels are being asked to co operate with the industry in the handling of the government supplies of copper and scrap copper and brass
 Tt must be realized that the enC Of the war destroyed the principa consuming market and the building UT of the peace market is being pushed rapidly as possible That necessarilg requires g. little time 4 clear under standing of the existing conditions which is difficult on all sides. will. il is hoped. furnish a basis for mutual underst staEding
 Pile Up Surplus.
 -On the signing Of the armistice the following conditions existed. The copper producers had very little cop per sold ahead. as the needs Of Oul