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Show Porphyry Coppers Not Likely to Act as Guardian for Unfortunates. THEY WERE BUILT TO WEATHER STORM Investors Demand Return on the Money Placed in , New Coppers. A Salt Laker well in touch with the market conditions, and who has returned recently from the cast, does not take seriously se-riously tho clamor for a curtailment, of copper production heard so often in the land. Ho voiced his convictions Tuesday Tues-day In tho following languago; "We should not ovorlook the fact that tho so-called porphyries were organized to meet low-priced copper, or tho conditions condi-tions that aro prevailing today. Their hope of large earnings Is based on handling hand-ling the largest posslblo tonnage of oro, and to reduco their production would reduce their oarnlngs as well. I can seo where the companies hard hit under the conditions favor an all-around curtailment curtail-ment of production. In your columns this morning you showed whoro only sixteen six-teen out of perhaps fifty copper organizations organ-izations are ablo to puy dividends with copper at 121 cents a pound. Do Investors Invest-ors put their money Into tho porphyry coppers for tho purpose of acting as guardian or nurso for tho unfortunate ones not able to weather the storms us they come along? "And do Investors put their money Into a proposition for tho purpose of suffering suf-fering a loss today in order to leave somothlng for tho investor twenty or thlrtv years from now? The matter was put pretty well a few weoks ago by S. W. Eccles, vlco president of the American Ameri-can Smelting and Refining company. He was discussing the nocd for getting out somo Alaska coal Immediately, and that as for posterity, he asked, what has posterity pos-terity over done for us? That was a humorous view to take of tho matter, but Is capital expected to follow a plan of action today solely for the benefit of the years to come? Is It not conserving conserv-ing today's capital when we make It earn interest and profits? No one can tell what will happen, but when It comes to curtailing tho output of copper It looks to mo as If It will bo a one-sided proposition. Tho fellow who cannot produce pro-duce at a profit Is In my judgment the ono to take his medicine." |