OCR Text |
Show SHOWS BIG INCREASE IN COPPER'S COST Boston Authority Sets Out Tabular Evidence of Big Producers Extra Burdens. If. ay lias been stated, the war industries indus-tries board propose to be guided, in part at least, by copper costs ruling in the Mrs: quarter of t his year, in their determination deter-mination of a fair price to he fixed for tho next three months, the producers would seem to have some ground for anticipating an-ticipating something better than 231,. cents, Bays the Boston News Bureau. The logic of the case is that it 23 cents provided a fair basis of compensation compensa-tion under cost conditions six and nine months ago. anything less than 23 cents now would not preserve the margin of profit originally intended as a matter of equity to the mining companies and as an incentive lo sustained production. To snne companies the excess profits tax adds o cents a pound to operating expenses, ex-penses, or at least reduces profits by that ji mount. Taxes are properly an operating charge under conservative accounting methods. One need only compare costs today with those of 1915- to be impressed with the burdens of present-day operation. In the case of I1 Lah Copper the cost has more than doubled; Ohino lias increased no less U'.it u 1 26 per cent. Wc picture below the increased expenses ex-penses of t he Jack ling" porphyries per pound of copper in the periods mentioned: men-tioned: Quarter ended Tear Inc. Mar. 31. 1915. P. cl. Utah Copper 1 4.09c 6.61c 113 Ray Consolidated .15-. 3 9-42c 62 Chiho lo.2S 6.75c 126 Nevada Con 15.64 8.23c SI |