The daily union., 1846-05-04
EDITORS CORRESPONDENTS.
[FrOm eur regular correspondent. ]


DENT although deserving oil sspeei notice and rsp-
rshenSiOn Cf Us srciiOrs and managers, Sc.-Ths
>, great .hsrean mining mania uheh preratisd IA Lon
don in 1924 and 1925, tuuipaiied for FOLLY and the
ruin Of Shareholders by the Sosh Sea bubble and
LGi0's banking and Mississippi land schema SEQ
eniyJoW heriean mining companies oi,asd and pro
Jected-Sh1ss "a many Of thsn rose 10 t5OO pre'ai
! um--COtton speculation brought On repuision. -
Mining stocks fell 10 par, and continuing 20 decline
} tA IN 1896 and 1927 they reached go E25 per
share !-Ciergynen inoyeys, and all classes and pro
LESSONS dab6ted n them, and reahzed broken for
tsnes-sueh dehasions apparently ineuabis.--Op
900 siOaiiOusd up IN the recent English rail
road Daa1sia.Juning mania ia the United States in
my Hsrt.-.9 ns.S book on .krieo by Waddy Thon,p-
sOn.-GTeGt JaH in IOur.-.Marksi nsSs, SC.
The first canal boat which came through from
Buffalo to tde-water reached Albany last Tuesday,
the 29th ult. ..., ~
In reference to metali decisions, il is not neees-
sary to go further back than 1924 and 1925, when
the Mexican mining fever broke out in London
i The Pubs had passed through tremendous delri-
sion IN France, got up by Law, in his great banking
and Mississippi land scheme. In England, the
South Sea deluson had swept the British peo-
pie like southern tornado prosirating capitalists Of
all sizes and ages. Everybody knows that expe-
rienee is dear school, and fools, }" il is said, 'learn
in no other" and that wise learn in no better.
Yet, in spite of such homely saws, mankind seem
determined 10 be "humbugged.n The ft of delu-
odical retums-if not exactly in reference TO the
same subject, yet at least about something equally
as preposterous.
i In all these delusions, few shIewd knayes man
age 10 NIL their pockets at the expense Of their delu
ded victims. or all means devised for obtaining
money under false pretenoes, none sue
cessfu or honorable than cheating people with
bits Of paper, neatly engraved and signed, pur-
porting To be shares in some flaming mining
company, which is to pour untold wealth into
he LAM. Of Nha .L...Lnld...
magnificent prospects of the Eldoudop mine
never fails augmenting in value as long the in
stalments from the members Of company are
forthcoming But when too late, families find them
selves ruined, on the brink Of hopeless bankrupt
cy Mothers and children are thrown destitute and
helpless upon an Implying world, while few
rogues and swindlers are made suddenly rich, and
deemed highly respectable, from the possession OF
lll-gouen wealth. j am no enemy TO all lawful and
laudable enterprises. am no enemy 10 any mines
or mining operations rich poor, IL they fairly
conducted, whether on lake Superior, in New Jer
sey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, or
anywhere else. Spectators in paper scrip, moi
based sound and available capital, deserve no
sympathy. The protection Of the innocent and
inexperienced against their schemes shall by the
help Of God, and the aid of your valuable columns,
} be my aim in what follows, and the sooner the
better Plans are now in progress, while others
maturing, which If consummated must result in the
: ruin Of great many innocent persons These 1t
TO the merits or dement's OF mines IN any part OF
the word, II will be no part OF my business TO
speak at present; but when Eastern cities being
flooded with the scrip Of scores Of Lake Superior,
Cuba, New Jersey, and other copper mining CON-
panies that are not worth rush, all bearing high
sounding names, and sustained by false exagger-
ated reports Of mineral wealth they purport to re-
present-when we are informed on the best au
; thorty, that the aid Of Mesmerism has been in
} voked to assist in making mineral discoveries in
; New Jersey, and that large party actually
digging for copper ore in that State al present. direct
, ed by clairvoyant female, operated upon by an
eminent professor Of the artit is time to speak out
: to "cry aloud and spare not" TO condemn the
knavish "humbsggery" on the one hand, and to pity
/, the innocent dupes on the other.
As one means eng ghtenng the people Of the pre-
sent day, it be shown that this mining madness
is not without precedent, being similar TO the
! mining madness which sprang up in London in
; 1924 and 1926.
5 When Mexico was thrown open to European
trade generally by being cut loose from Old Spain,
5 an impression seized npon the public mind in
England, that her mines, then partially dormant and
unproductve, only required the application of Eng
!, lish capital and English skill to make them yield
i untold wealth. Humboldt's account Of them had
been overdrawn, and relied upon conclu-
sive evidence Of their vast resources.
The first company formed was the Real del Monte,
| which seemed to have been based some fattering
prospects Of remuneration. The formation of one
company followed another, until they scattered
! over Durango, Guanaxata, Zacatecas, Sombrevee,
y &c. The first companies were generally Anglo
: Mexican in their composition, and founded on con-
tracts made in the country. But number Of ethers
. were formed, based upon no contract whatever.
Each new company organized seemed to enhance
the price of shares held in those previously exist
ing. One plan was to name the new company after
= the district Of country where mines were said to
exist; collect instament two from each share
, holder, send agent to the mining country, desg-
8 mated with view of selecting mining lands and
surveying them. This practice was carried on as
well in reference to st. Domingo as Mexican
:, districts. "The Hispaniola, or ST. Domingo Com
y pany," says McCulloch, "was formed on the basis
q of accounts given by DR.. Robertson, Of mines
Il wrought in that island some three centuries ago
y and yet lawyers cergymen, and even the mobiles OF
the land were candidates for shares in these msera-
BILE bubbles in the hope of finding Tin which luckily
: most of them were disappointed) some dupe TO buy
their shares at premium!' The same game is
o going on at the present time with regard to Lake
Superior, Cuba, and other places, by operators in
the United States.
1t seems some IA mining companies were thus form
ed or projected in England. The commercial crisis Of
1895 found the mining mania at its highest pitch Of
insanity. This brought on tghtness in the money
market-aggravated, if not Immediately produced
by heavy imporations ofcotton, timber, and otherfor
egn articles. Speculation in cotton was the first thing
which set the revusion in motion; as 1t declined
spectators failed, till widespread and universa
panic prevailed, its influence finally reaching the
= = bubble mining companies, which began to burst
like soap bubbles. BY the last of December, 1926
the panic began to act with irresistible force The
shares of the three principal mining companies.
= some of which had been at premium OF t5OOnfel
n to par! That is, fI00 in money was sold at SlOO
3 of the pad-up stock of the company. "This price
(says McCuiloch) they maintained a considerable
time because most Of the parties Interested contn
ued to have favorable impression Of the issue o
!. their undertakings. Demands, however, were made
for additional sums TO meet expenditure abroad
The shareholders felt all the pressure Of these de-
mands after their incomes had been reduced by the
change oftimes and in 1926 and 1897 mining shares
progressively declined, so far that 9100 stock fetch
ed only eco S25 in money!" Shares would, il is
said have allen still lower have led to the forfeit
ure of sums already paid in, had not the members o
the company signed company deeds, which held
them bound for the full amount of the sums called
for on the face Of the scrip. Those who had paid
= ESQ or eco per share, would pay fl0 more rather
}. than make forfeiture; and those who held 200 OF
= 300 shares in most cases, became utterly ruined