IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I I.I 1.25 iiM m 12.2 IM III m 12.0 1.8 U IIIIII.6 V} ^ /}. "3 c^: d-/. *^ 4 o A n'% > ^ /A ^ w w 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation -^1. •^ iV . F»W) I '*•..>, S.31 « I CD < z < o H (A '71 H Z c ^ u ''i H H 1 < ' h- U. ^ LU LU ^ 1^ c^ ^ =3 02 I z o z UJ > t/) « Z « a ' c/i u 3 a. c 1 z u < a < z r a Of 3 s • z ' l)" ^^ ' .% V 'V^ / iT ^^ THE Nickel -Copper Industry .. IN CANADA The Canadian Copper Company was incorporated under tlie laws of the State of Ohio an(], afterwards given power to carry on opera- lions in Canada by an Act of the Parliament of Canaihi passed in 1SS6, being 4U Victoria, Chapter 'J9. Their object in being incorporated under the laws of that State was to render the stock unliable to assess- ment for launu'ipal purposes. The law tliere provides that while stock in a foreign compiiny is liable to municipal assessment, stock in a company organized under the laws of the State is not. By the Bill as introduce'' the Company asked power to sell the product of their mines iu any part of Canada or elsewhere, and to establish treating or smelting works in (Canada "or elseiohere" as in the interests of the Company was found expedient. (Section 'I.) The Private Bills Committee refused to pass the Bill in thai form and struck out the words '' or theioherp. '" so far as the same re- lated to the erection of treating or smelting works, with the result that while the Act as passed gave the Company the right to sell the pro- duct of their mines outside of Canada it necessitated the erection of treating or smelting works in some part of ('anada. This was done deliberately and with a lull knowledge of its effects, as can be sub- stantiated by the statement of the Hon. W. B. Ives, Chairman of the •:n' ifi I a '\ ■ iCil . '' ■ \ I- ■ ■ '»*U . 't y ■ i" f ■ ' j'i ■:i,* : Mil • M '■-- ,'"> 1^* - .'. "J- .v< - »- i'-iilr- j'rV- a Private BIUh Committee at the time, and Mr. John Bell, Q.C., who prepared the Bill and appeared before the Committee in the interest of the promoter^'. The original copy of the Bill, as introduced, is now on file in the oflice of the Clerk of the Private Bills Committee, House of Commons. In 1891, when the then Dominion Government was considering the imposition of an export duty, Stevenson Burke, President tif the Company, wrote a letter of which the following is a copy ; — ToLKDo «fe Ohio Ckntrai, RAir.WAV. Puksuiknt's Okkiok. Stevknbon Bdkki-:, Esq., PuKHinKNT. Clkvki.ani), Ohio, May 7tli, 1891. 8. J. KITCHIK. ESQ. My Dkak yiK : lU'fciTiiif; to till! Caiiiitlian Co[)|)cr Company and its plans, I would say that it i.- the pnrposu of tlie (Jonipaiiy to sniclt all it.s ort'S in ('aniula and to rotinc all its nickel and coppur there, e.\ccpt riueli as may he recjiiirud for use in ilie United States The Company is now eroetint; Bessemer refineries at Sudbury at a cost of about $50.00(1, by means of whieli it e.xpects to brini; its mutte up to a tinenesin of about !>r» per cent. It is the purpose also r,o erect atSuJbnry works for makinj,; pure alloys of nickel and copper, and akso pure copper and pure nickel as soon as the best works can be cont-idered. The Company has erected no works in tlie Uuited States, and has not even selected a location or site for its works tiiere. We rejiiaid our mines and works as esscntiaily Canadian, and intend to conduct them as such as far as it can be done consistently. As you are aware the tariff laws of tlie United States impose a duty on manufactured nickel but not on matte. This practically compels us to import matte to supply this market but no more. We have on hand at Sudbury at least 7,000 tons of matte and roasted ore in the henpB sufficient to produce about 10,000 tons more. Verv respectfully yours, (Signed,) STEVENSON BURKE, Pi'eaident. P. 8. — Perhaps I should have added that it is and has been the policy of the Company to accumulate matte with tlie view of its treatment before removal. r Tn no (ine piivtioular Imvc tlio promirtes mado l)y .^tevi'iiHon Burk.' in tlR. nl,„vo letter been tnlfill.-d. Within a short time after the letter WiiH writt(Mi the ('(.mpan.v ereeted relinint: works in 'Meveland at a coat of:?l(t(i,(l(l(i. ,>r iriore, lor the pnrpose of refining all their nickel, n..t only that reqnired for the Tnited Staten markets hut for the nnirkets of the world. Since that time they have made an a-reeme.it with the Orford Relining Works, of Now Jersey, nn.ler wliieh the Orford f'ompany agrees to reHne all the product of the C.pper Com- pany's property and the latter Omipany agrees to e..ntrol th.' development of nickel properties at 8udbnry, with the result that these two Corporations now control the total supply and treatment of all the nickel produced in America. In January, iS!i7. when the Dingley Bill was under consideration liy tilt' United States Congress, evidence was given before the Commit tee of Ways and Means In Stevenson Burke, president of the Canadian ('o|)per Company, and H(.l,ert M. Th(anps.m, president ..f the Orford r.efining Works. A mendu'r ot (jongr.'ss from Nevada was urging iip<»n theConunittee the ad visability ol pultingan import duty on nickel matte, the object being to cause a devel()pm^•nt ot an alleged nickel deposit in that State. In order to prevent any action of the Congress in that ilirection. Stevenson Burke and Mr. Thomp.-on went before the Committee an. 1 gave evidence ol which the I.JIowing are extracts: Statomont of Mr Stevensou Burke, president of the Cana- dian Copper Company. Satukdav, Jam akv Stii. 18H7. Mr. Burke, said : •■ Mr. ('hairmanand gentlemen ol the lA)mmitlee. 1 am president of the ("aiiadiaii (Jopper Company and therefore nuiy be presumed to know something about it. 1 wish to say this, T!ie Canadian Copper Company, so called, is an Ohio Corporation, incorporated under tho lawsofOhio.witb. possibly, one little stockholder in Canada, holding perhaps 1(10 to 211(1 shares of stock, but it is ab,s(dutely an Ohio Cor- poration and the property was developed altogether by Ohio capital. The mines are owned in fee simple by the Corporation. The land itBolf was purrliftHHil out nnd out atid I wish to May, tlmt for tho very piirpoHo ofhaviii},' the Covcrnmi-nt and the puoph- of th.- [Tiiitod Stat«'H get the hejiefit wliidi wouhl come from the use of nickel as a eonjpouent part olKteel. that I luyHelf, (ui helialfuf this Corporation, sohl to the Secretary ol the Navy, not ore, hut matte, nick.-l matte, at II cents a pound for the nickel contained therein, while within a month of the Nime time l)efor>f that we sold to a French coinpan\ th.' same kind ot iii«-kei at ^2 centn. or a trille ovr, per oound. We desired to havt, the nickel testid lor the purpose of its hein^ used lor armour plate. 1 wish to flay it was our Company which sn.L',;^ested to the Secretary of the Navy thi! use of nick.! steed for armor plate. | wish to say in mlditi(Mi that every pou .d of this nickel is refined and that tiie chief lahor of that IS in tlr . ountry. Tl.i amount of money pai. and ol course, the puitinir of a .luty .»ii either nickel ore or nickel matte would result, necessarily, in the lelining of thisprodiu;t in < 'aiiada.or in (Ireat Britain or in (Jermany. Foi msiance. at the time tliisijui .si i..n came up in ISOOor 18UI, the mailer was invcMig i'- d and the Coini.aiiy with which I am connected was selling its nickel matte at thai time in Genmuiy and Great Britain ; and I wisli lo .say, at tiie present moment we are offered by ;, vi'ry i)romipe!it Flnglishmati, a man who has very great wealth and who has a process of reliniiiir lais niekei, a market tor ever \ pound of nickel matte we havc^ ever;, pound of it. We have preferred to have; liiis work done in this counlr\. We liave preterriul to j,Mve our people the i)enelit of it: and inasinudi as our UKstitution IS ahsidutely an American institution in every respect, an Ohio corporatiim with ()hi.» stockholders, and the property ever there owned in lee simple -anrl we are treated exceedinj,'ly well hy the Canadians so far as I liave any reason to know —we do not see any special use of practically destroying as far as possible the Investments of Americana in (Canada. Of course, if a duty should be put uposi nickel ore or nickel matte, why that is the end of its coming to this country. Instead of that, it goes to England, Germany, France and elsewhere to he refined." statement by Mr. Robert M. Thompson, of New York, President of the Orford Copper Company, one of the largest refineries in the United States : "I am a nickel refiner and have refined all the nickel that has been delivered to the Government. In my business of refining I am anxious to buy my supplies in the cheapest market. I have had all the mines this gentleman (Congressman Hermann of Nevada) referred to examined by experts. I am familiar with all these deposits in these various States to which he has referred. There is not one of these mines to-day where they can be made to pay at any reasonable duty. If they were I would be in the ownership of them. These Oregon ores are a silicate and refractory nickel. The fact is, these ores cannot be treated economically. xMr. Whortei!, of Camden, N. J., is another nickel refiner, and both he and myself, and he especially. have been in anxious pursuit in America of nickel, and if such a thing could be found, Mr. Whorten would be here to advocate an increased duty as owner of that deposit." The chairman — "You have examined personally these Cali- fornia, Nevada and Oregon deposits?" Mk. THOMPSON—" I have had them examined by experts, not personally. 1 have had them examined by experts, who are more competent to examine them." " I have spent in the last year not less than $5,000 on an expert who has been travelling over the country from place to place all the time in my anxiety to find a supply. I should bo very glad if any gentleman will find it for me.' Mr. HERMANN — " I will ask the gentleman whether or not it is a tact that there is considerable cost in the extraction of copper, which forms a very material part of the nickel of Canada, as against that found on the Pacific Coast, wherein there is very little trace o^ copper ? I am so informed." Mr. THOMPSON—" The reason why the Canadian ore can be sold so cheaply is, it contains such an amount of copper ore — you can 6 call it nickel ore or copper ore as you choose- -and because the copper is a source of material value has been the reason why they couhl s<^ll their ores so cheaply. The United Slates Government when they made their purchase paid for the nickel 11 cents per pound and 4 cents for the copper in tiie ore, and then turned around to the refiner and sold that copper at 6 cents per pound, making a profit on the transac- tion." Mr. WHEELER—" Are the mines of the Canadian Copper Com- pany owned entirely by Americans ? " Mr. THOMPSON— " Yes, sir; and in treating ores I wish to say they use American coke. •'The estate of Senator Payne, the estate ot Cornell, of Akron. Ohio, and Stevenson Burke, Cleveland, are the principal owners oi' certain nickel deposits in Canada. They produce there a matte carry- ing copper and nickel at a cost to themselves of about S2o a ton of matte. All of this matte is shipped to our works in New Jersey for treatment, and ot the railroad freight about one-half goes to the Cana- dian roads, making a total expenditure per month, under present con- ditions, of about $28,000 expended in Canada. On the other hand the expenditure at my wt)rks and at tho.se of Joseph Whorten, of Philadelphia, and to the American railroads tor transportation amounts to about $100,000 per month. Yon will thus see that the interest of the United States is four times as great as that of Canada in the vvorkiu"- of these mines. "Of the nickel brought into the United States for treatment about one-third is consumed in this country and one-half of this con- sumption is by the United States Government direct. The consump- tion in the United States outside of the Government did not last vear exceed 800,000 pounds. The effect of putting a duty on raw material would be to at once transfer the refining of the Canadian nickel mattes to Liverpool, but this would not give the market to American ores as the refined nickel would be shipped back here." The contrast between Stevenson Burke's statement before that Coiumittoo iind hi.s lettiT of Mny Ttli. ls:»l. is. to sav the least, rather strikin- III lS!)i li(. uMs ciilo.iv'ori:.'^^ to Icep tlic Dominion Gov- eniiiu'iit iV.,,u i»iiii;p^r on ai "xpin dutv. In IS'JV his object was to iiKhice I Me Aniericm Cx >V' niii.-ut n tt t > iiuMose an inii)ort duty. It is apparently v-vy eisy Wr: him t ) wit-' a h'tter or make a statement to suit th ' ('ir('iiinst;in('e< To- lay it i-; ehuin.'d tliai. t!i.} i;tii)>)-in-ke's stati'm'-nt.-, is there any question, wlietlier oi L-X[)ort dniy woie put on by CiUiada or an im[)ort dntv [)nt on by th>' Uiiitjd Stales, that tii.- market Tor om- (Janauian niekelores wonkl fail. The i^'oideiit • t the Co!ii{;any \u IS'.M d>.(dMted the policy ot the (Jompany to be !or :he beuL'lit of Canadians, and in iM)7 he tlie United Scales ot the .loiiey of t!ie Com- pany in operaiiim- these mines. Wil! oiu- I oill' law be s:i ainnide 1 1). tile imposition of an export dnty oil idckel ma'te tli:»t Cunulians siiall ihemselves be allowed to reap at least a i)orti m ^t liie larneuse b'.ients, whio'', iVom the stite- mentsof file odicers of this very C>mpaav, i tie United Slates are now enjoying ? Sliall this Compaii V, Can idi in when before Parli unent, American when before Congress, continue to diet.ite to Canada wiiat share of the benefits of our own mineral resources we shall enjoy, or shall Ii 8 Canadiuii,s be given an opportunity of putting ('anadiiin roliinid nickel on the market and Canadian labor and Canadian investment in oin- railways and shipping ol' receiving a larger and fairer share of these benefits than now ".' If an export duty is imposed. Canadian capital for the erection of refineries here can at once be found. The imposition ot an export duty will place Canadians on an equal footing with (his Company, who have so long been allowed to exercise without hinderance privileges never (conferred upon tliem by our Par- liament. Surely the time has arrived for Canadians to insist upon this Company living up to the spirit of tiieir charter and on such legislation as will give to Canadian capital a fair chance of earning dividends from the development of our own resources. If the United States would let relined nickel in free, Canada could compete in their markets. At present the law is all one sided ; they take our matte free and with compratively little benefit to us. and refu.se to let any refined product in except on payment of a duty of 1120 to SltiO a ton. Either they should put refined nickel (m their free list or we should impose an export duty on nickel matte. JOHN PATTERSON.