COMMERCIAL CONTROL
Under present practice the reduction of quicksilver ores is almost invariably at the mine, both mine and reduction works being under the same ownership. They must therefore be considered together for the purpose of the present inquiry.
The most conspicuous example of commercial control is that exercised by the Rothschilds of London, who do not own the resources that give them this pre-eminence. The yield of the remarkably rich Almaden mine, whose annual output surpasses that of any other mine and in 1916 exceeded that of any country except Spain (whose ore, even when carelessly worked, yields quicksilver at low cost, and whose known reserves are large), enables the Rothschilds, in time of peace and subject to the minimum fixed price in their contract, to determine the price at which quicksilver shall be sold in the world’s markets. Another but much smaller factor in making London the leading quicksilver mart of the world is the control by British capital of the principal mines in the Oviedo district, in northern Spain.
In the United States, the country which ranks next to Spain as a producer of quicksilver, the mines are all owned by corporations or individuals, and so far as known, there is at present no formal combination or understanding between these owners to control output or sales. Some years ago most of the leading producers in California formed the Eureka company, which acted as selling agent and to some extent was able to control prices. Often referred to by those outside of it as the “quicksilver trust,” this organization was abandoned after a brief existence. The firm of Haas Brothers, of San Francisco (distinct from Haas Brothers, of New York), took a leading part in the Eureka company, and since its dissolution has fulfilled many of the functions that the company was to perform. The firm owns stock in the leading mine on the Pacific Coast and acts as selling agents for the New Idria Quicksilver Mining Co., whom it charges 1 per cent.[145], whereas it charges others 2¹⁄₂ per cent. It also buys the metal for itself, usually from the smaller producers, at prices generally much below the current market quotation, and is to supply operators with empty flasks, but only on condition that Haas Brothers shall buy the product or sell it on commission. Other brokers who handle important quantities of quicksilver on the Pacific Coast are Atkins, Kroll & Co., and the Braun-Knecht-Hiemann Co., both of San Francisco. So far as known these two firms have no ownership in quicksilver mines and sell only on commission.
[145] This connection is reported to have been broken in 1919.
The quicksilver mines in Texas are owned by American citizens or American corporations. The ore from each is independently worked and the quicksilver is sold by the individual producers.
The mercury deposits of Mexico are owned, as far as is known, by native Mexicans. British capital is probably interested in some of the larger mines. The formerly productive quicksilver mines at Huancavelica, Peru, have been purchased by E. E. Fernandini, of Lima, and may again contribute to the world’s supply.
So far as known to the writer of this article, patents, secret processes or trade agreements play no part in the control of quicksilver resources.
During the war Germany and her allies controlled the quicksilver deposits of Australia, Serbia, Turkey and probably European Russia. Only the Idria deposit, and perhaps the Zips deposit, in Austria, are important, and the available annual supply for the Teutonic allies was probably 25,000 to 30,000 flasks. The Entente allies controlled the deposits of the United States, yielding about 36,000 flasks annually; of Italy, yielding about 28,000 flasks; and controlled, although they did not own, the deposits of neutral Spain, yielding from 30,000 to 41,000 flasks annually. The Chinese mercury deposits were possibly drawn upon to some extent by Japan, who, like Britain and France, has no deposits of her own that are worth mentioning.