Salt Lake Telegram | 1918-12-18 | Page 21 | Cut in Copper Prince Predicted Conference to be Held Dec. 20 Isolated Bids Made at 24 Cents

Cut in Copper Prince Predicted Conference to Be Held Dec: 20 Isolated Bids Made at 24 Cents ANKW YORK letter says there have been few inquiries In the market for copper during the past fortnight and nobody in the trade anticipates any material change in this direction until after the conference between the producers and the war industries board. scheduled for December 20, ha taken place. At that session will be decided whether price fixing for copper ehall continue, and If ao, at what leveL Today To-day producers do not car to commit themselves into nrxt year. Isolated bids for unimportant quantities quan-tities of copper have appeared during the past few days at 24 cents a pound. Tlie government haa canceled orders for brass discs, which during the psst s ...e. a..,. ...... minae mil. lions of pounds of copper. Whee copper cop-per has been housht It Is understood deliveries will be made and the metal held afiainnl future requirements. "Any Idea of prolonxcd maintenance of copper prices at present nomlnsl level Is simply preposterous. M says the Knelnecrlnj: and Mining Journal. "We have previously expressed the opinion that eventually there is going to be a great demand for melala for reconstruction purposes, for the replenishing replen-ishing of depleted stocks of goods for ordinary commercial purposes, and for new construction for the Institution of Industrial economies, such ar a more general use of waterpower, etc. But before that is to be exected we rexard It as Inevitable that there will be a period nf readjustment, during which there will be lower prices. "Now. the wUr Industries board. In making a new arreement with the copper cop-per producers whereby the latter promise prom-ise to maintain production and not to reduce wanes, the loard reaffirming the price of 2 cents, doee not say that It will maintain that price, which It could do onlv by buying all the copper that j was offered to It, but apparently means on.y that It will not resell any copper mer which it has control at less than that price, and sanctions the producer' concTtcdly asking thst price and get- ting It If they can; whereupon the producer pro-ducer acted accordlujrly. I. e, unitedly aareed to demand and huld out for 26 cents. It will be privrlved Immediately thst the agreement exacted by the war industries board' that the producers shall maintain production dies not mHtch at all with the price program. Washington, however. . seems to be Iti mortal terror In facing any readjustment readjust-ment of lalKir, either as to employment or rates of wages, snd therefore passes the buck to the producers, who will psss It on to the primary manufacturers, manufactur-ers, who will pass It on U the secondaries, sec-ondaries, who will pass It on to the consumers. But while the war Industries' board Institutes this policy, the rallwsy administration, ad-ministration, which Is a large consumer, says that It will not pay present prices! for anything. Including copiier, except labor. We do not think that the copper prod lit ers are under any illusions aa to ttre outcome. They can ece the time' near at hand when slocks of reflrted will tiegin tu pile up. besides the stocks of crude that thev have already; with l three motitha of high cost production .of the minis on the road to them; with a maintenance' of high cost production, and with no buyers In sight. Their teal attitude toward the maintenance of the status quo. including an officially sanctioned asking price, la doubtless that It affords a breath. ng spell, during which everybody will iiave a chance to see more clearly what ought to be done next. W bav previously expressed the ' opinion that even if there had lieen no war the world'a consumption of copper would naturally have tawen aa large as j it was In 191S. This would have been so if the old rule that copiier consumption consump-tion about doubles every ten years bad he.d good. We look forward to a great demand for copper after the period of readjustment, but it will not begin with the puce for the metal at the present nominal level "