The copper era and Morenci leader., 1921-11-25
COPPER INDUSTRY IN : NEW BATTLE WITH 5 WAR SUBSTITUTES

As men come maimed and wreck- ed out of war, so not infreouently do industries emerge with their founda- tlons shattered" This statement hv
 Waiter Douglas, president of the fnelps-Dodge corporation, sn the O<- tober issue of ''1he Mining Congress Journat is used to describe the oEd1tion Of the copper and affiliated industries following the cessation of hostilities in Europe.
 MT. Douglas doubts whether any other of the country's industria, hu,-
 warks got so complete a scorching out of the World war as copper. This was due to the fact that copper was withdrawn almost entirely from the arts Of peace and devoted to the Dur poses of War
 When nations decide to annihilate each other" says MT. Douglas. "cop- per assumes an even greater import ance than gold You might. prob ably could, kill man with gold. but 1t would not be easy; you simply can
 not Kill man in a scientific, up 10
 date manner without copper As a facetious writer once said: The na- t1on that goes to war without a good stock of copper is worse off than it
 would be without a board of strat-
 egy.' '
 20 When the United States entered the war it's first demand, almost, " ki on the copper and brass industries. MT. Douglas recalled. Overnight the great producing organization of the American copper companies were en- listed in the national service Under intensive pressure the mines of Mich igan, Montana and Arizona began
 to pour forth their heavily weighJSi
 ore. the smelters and reEners estah-
 lished new records for output. the
 rolling mills went on a 24-hour-day
 working basis, and there started into the ammunition factories of the couR- l try flow of copper, brass and bronze
 sheets, tubes and rolls, such as the l country had never witnessed before. and in all likelihood never will see again.
 T sometimes wonder" MT. Douglas 1 adds, ''how many people understand
 the fields which copper and brass abandoned in few hours in order to do it's part in war service. In score of industries representing an annual consumption of copper and copper al- 1 Joys running into hundreds of millions
 of pounds an almost disastrous condi- tion was created. There was no cop per for them. The government need | ed it all and none was disposed to | question it's right to all that could be
 produced.
 i Therefore, when copper. brass.
 bronze and other copper alloys joined | the. colors, industry demanded some thing to take their places And here 1 is where a flood of substitutes was turned loose to provide the building
 roofing. plumbing. hardware and
 other industries with the means "r
 continuing operations. But I say un-
 reservedly that it is not good business to continue the use of substitutes
 for copper and copper products in
 the fields where they are pre-emi-
 nert. now that copper is plentiful Hundreds of millions of American
 dollars are invested in the copper | and brass industries. Great plants
 have been reared. Mr. Douglas be- | lieves that it is of national import
 ance that these huge investments be | kept busy. and pending the adjust
 ment of Europe's economic difficult : ies they must depend in large meas 1 ure on domestic consumption.
 MT. Douglas says that frequently
 voiced criticism of the copper pro l ducing industry is that it has not al
 ways followed its product through ! Ike points out, however. that this is
 no longer the case and adds:
 "The copper producer today is vii
 tally concerned in the destiny of the
 metal after it leaves his hands. It is just as important to him to check up
 the consumption of copper. brass and
 other copper alloys in the thousand
 and one forms that they reach the
 ultimate consumer, as it is to the
 fabricator, to the manufacturer or
 cutter of the metals. or to the joh-
 bers and retailers"