THE ECONOMIC DISTURBANCES SINCE 1873. 785 



in 1880 to 9^ cents in August, 1886 ; and in the case of no otber 

 single commodity is the connection between the decline in price and 

 the increase of production so well established and so significant. The 

 increase in the copper product of the world is estimated by Mr. Sauer- 

 beck to have been 97 per cent in the thirteen years from 1873 to 1885, 

 inclusive ; while according to the report of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, 1886, the increase from 1879 to 1885 was nearly 47 per 

 cent (46*8). The countries which have most notably contributed to this 

 increased product have been the United States, Spain, and Portugal ; 

 the increase in the case of the former having been from 23,000 tons in 

 1879 to 74,053 tons in 1885 ; and in that of the latter, from 32,677 tons 

 to 45,749 in the same period. As in all other like cases, the disturbing 

 effect on the industries involved mining and smelting contingent 

 on this rapid and remarkable fall of prices, was very great, and in all 

 quarters of the world. In Montana, the Montana Copper Company, 

 with an annual product of 8,000,000 pounds of pure copper, entirely 

 suspended operations ; and the Anaconda Company, with an annual 

 product of 36,000,000 pounds, shut down 20 out of 28 furnaces, and 

 discharged most of its hands at the mine. In Chili, production during 

 the year 1885 was diminished to the extent of about 10 per cent. In 

 Germany the great Mansfield mine, which reported gross profits in 

 1884 of 5,675,000 marks, sustained a loss in the operation of 1885 of 

 653,338 marks ; and its managers have since sought relief by petition- 

 ing the Imperial Government for the imposition of a higher tariff on 

 the imports of copper into the empire. For the years 1881-83 the 

 great San Domingo mine in Portugal paid annual dividends of 12^ per 

 cent ; in 1885 the annual rate was reduced to 3f per cent. It is im- 

 portant also to note, as throwing light upon the problem of the recent 

 reduction of prices, that while in the case of copper the increase of 

 product has been confessedly immense, three other agencies one per- 

 manent, and the other two of a temporary character have contrib- 

 uted to its recent decline in price. The first is, that there has been a 

 reduction in the cost of mining, smelting, and marketing copper at the 

 principal mines of the world, owing to improved processes, and reduced 

 rates of transportation contingent on railroad construction. In the 

 case of the Lake Superior mines, this reduction is very striking ; in the 

 " Quincy " mine, for example, the cost of production in cents per pound 

 having been reduced from 10-03 in 1881, to 7*50 in 1885 ; and in the 

 " Atlantic " from 13-80 to 9*37 in the corresponding period. Second. 

 The recent discovery and rapid development of new and rich mines 

 in Montana, Arizona, the Dominion of Canada, and elsewhere, have 

 left a feeling of apprehension in the world's market as to the condi- 

 tions of the supply of this metal in the future. Third. The con- 

 sumption of copper in Europe, for the year 1886, fell off 14,000 tons be- 

 low the average for the two preceding years a result attributed mainly 

 to the dullness of ship-building, and the various metal industries. 



TOL. XXXI. 50 



