Bisbee daily review., 1922-09-10
WAGE INCREASE HERE
(Continued from Page one)

the two communities to take a new | lease on life, and served to dispel a great deal of the gloom that has been 1 spread by many of the less optimistic residents of both cities. Coming at a time when the copper market is still | far from stable, the announcements of the wage increases were doubly en- cOuraging.
 Under the new wage scale miners will receive $4.95 and muckers $4.50 day.
 Similar announcements were posted yesterday by the New Cornelia, United Verde, Miami, Inspiration and Old Dominion Copper Companies, making the scale uniform in practically every big mining and smelting district in the state.
 Gen. John c. Greenway, general manager of Calumet & Arizona, and 1 New Cornelia, was not in the district i yesterday. The following statement was issued by P. G. Beckett, general manager of the Phelps Dodge Corpora tion and acting manager of the Cop | per Queen Branch:
 ! Tt must be obvious to all, on the basis alone of price of copper and the money that any copper producer is making these days on a small produc- tion and with high costs, that this ten per cent wage increase can not be | justified
 What does warrant, at least, giving it a trial is the fact that other indus tries in the west, which have not had the misfortune to suffer from the de- precision and absolute stagnation in have, are paying wages on a higher standard. As everybody in the War ren District is fully aware, the copper ] business seems to have received dur 1 ing the last few years especially se- were treatment. As a consequence, when we shut down a year and a half ago, we were compelled to cut wages Other industries more fortunate than ours still had pretty good business and were able to maintain their wage schedule accordingly.
 Now, after our operations have been resumed for six months, we req | liZe that the wage schedule of the Ari- zona copper industry still is lower 1 than that of many other businesses and industries in the west. The ten per cent increase, therefore, that we are giving is with the idea of removing large part of this differential that l now exists and so that our men may
 not feel any cause for regret at work ing in the copper business. It goes ] without saying that all mining com | panies like their employees to feel sat i isfied and not be wishing that they | had chosen some other business rather than copper.
 As l have told our men, the wis dom and justification for this action | depend on a thorough understanding
 on their part of why we are doing it
 at this time and the desire on their 1 part to show us in the results of our operations each month that it was a good move and is justified under the i present particularly difficult copper | conditions.
 There is not very much new in the copper sales business these days I understand that sales for the month i of August were fairly more satisfac- ] tory. The price is slightly under 14c | per pound.
 "The general impression seems to be that with the rail strike disposed of, business in general throughout the
 country will pick up, at least tempo
 rarily. Certainly a large amount of
 new building is going on at the pres | ent time"