The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-03-20
The Other Side of the Oil Question.
l PORTLAND, Mar. II, 1866.

/. PORTLAND, Mar. II, 1866.
70 the Editor of the Press:
In your Fridays issue we notice a commu-
mca'ion nom "Spurwink," written from the
oh regions OF Western Canada IT, ia evi-
IDENTITY the writer's purpose TO take a ,beraI
Wow relative to the distinct "On Centres,
known as Boutwell,, Oil Springs and Petrolia.
| we commend this spirit as their interests are
identical; yet it Is as impossible to cbecL ,ha
iocai riVairy between the above places az II
"ouid De to check the rival interests in trade
between Portland and Boston. His cau,;on
to the people of Maine relative to taking stock
In the various schemes offered is commenda-
Die II not time,y, although we have not look
ed upon the mass Of operations, based upon
present rates, as assuming a dangerous
character, from the fact that there is no un-
uue advance or alarming figure attached to
.'ai estate as yet His geaerGIizing we must
lake some exceptions to, whatever NAV have
been his purpose. -'0 :
J., ne makes the sweeping statement that nine
tehths Oh the schemes" offered to the nnblic
are "consummate swindles.n With all ,i,,a 70
spect 70 the writer we must take exceptions
from the fact that "nine-tenths'' of the corn
panies stocked in the State of Maine bave
hardly commenced operating their cla;us
nine-tenths" of the wells in process or con.
temptation have not as yet reached the dentb
OF three hundred feet; and ii we NAV be allov-
ed an opinion without the statistical informa-
ton to back it, we should say that anine-
tenths" of the "drills" destined to be sunk
seven hundred feet or find oil at less depth.
nave not as yet penetrated the bed rock.
mat there are men enough who would
swindie the people in nine cases out of ten is
lamentable fact; and this class of swindlers
Is not confined exclusively to oil operators-
But will the people of Maine be swindled nine
times out of temp Will they buy the one half
acre oil tested land and the ten or twenty
acres of@wild cat" at an exorbitant rate. when
they can get it at its actual value? We have
business men from almost every town in the
STATE, smart, keen, conservative business, men
who have been and are every day going to
the oil regions Of Canada; men who are put
ting their gold into oil mining interests: men
who effect purchase and return to their
neighbors and friends to obtain assistance or
cooperation in working their interests. Are
"nins-tenths" of them sscindlerss
a Your correspondent further surprises his
friends, and would perhaps have surprised him
sell, had he read his own proof, by indiscrimi-
nately advising the people ofMaine to "ienore
oiloperations altogether" He does not invite
epeople of Maine to come and investigate: he
does not sift the wheat from the chat; he doe
not say, accept the good and reject the bad
but he says, ignore it altogether Honorable
exceptions" and ALL We can cite the people
OF Maine to men who are making the buying
and selling OF real estate, the sinking of wells
DC, permanent, legitimate business to men
who have no reason to blush on account of
their avocation men who claim that they are
doing business as honorable and legitimate
as the dry goods or grocery jobbers Of Portland,
and demand to be recognized in business cir
cles as such. That oil mining is not attended
with the usual amount Of swindling, speculat-
ing, hazard and risk, attending all other min
ings would be folly to deny, and perhaps there
is more risk from its being comparatively new.
But that given amount of labor and capital,
expended judiciously and practically in sink
ing shafts for oil viii not bring proportion
ate rewards, it is equally useless to deny.
That oil mining is not so promising and le-
climate as gold, silver, lead or coal mining, it
is also useless to deny. Statistics show that
notwithstanding the high pressure, the ex-
travagance, the swindle, and the speculation
attending this new discovery from its infancy
to date, we have received in the aggregate a
large margin above what we have expended
Now this being the case, with the ruling prices
in Pennsylvania for the past four years-posi-
tive territory running from $4,000 to $4,000
and in some cases as high as $4,000 per acre
what ought we to- do on our present practical
basis, when the best of territory touches but
about thirtieth part of the above figures?
That success depends upon management, up
on attention and effort, upon business capac-
ity, upon common sense, is true. in oil opera
tions as well as in all other branches of trade
or industry. That people who enter it need
to go with both eyes open and "mouth full
of eye teeth" is the best of advice-and we
have got to learn the business that can be
made success without such precaution. Men
have mined for mineral wealth from its discoy-
cry, and will to the end of time, and the in
dividual, be he great or small, who thinks he
can "ignore" great revenue paying staple
so rich and promising simply "snuffs his own
candle" out Yours with respect, CRUDE. @