Idaho semi-weekly world. (Idaho City, Boise County, Idaho Territory) 1867-1868, 1867-07-10
A WORD TO MINERS.

common cOmplalnG against GnlS DaSln Dy
bs those, who left here for Lemhi during the late
% exciDenent in favor Of that exploded humbng
was that Cinnamon ere taking the dig
sqgings.p We propose to briefly comment upon
& this complaint and kindred matters.
! ~ Agreeably to the laws made by the miners
themselves in, we believe, every district in the
Basin, only white men, or at least 30 China
men, are permitted to take up and work new
ground. AS in many other mining localities, all
over the coast, however, the rule has been to
allow the sale of exhausted claims, or claims
which are deemed too poor for white men to
work, to Cinnamon. If there be any wrong
or evilin this, the white miners themselves are
responsible for it. In this Basin, number OF
claims have been sold to Cinnamon, by persons
who believed at the time that the ground would
mot pay anything. They had become disgust
ed they couldnot sell to white men, or did not
try to, and disposed of their claims to the first
Chinaman who offered. They went off in
search of better diggings, exhausted their
Smeans in the hunt, and have come back here,
Hat broke in purse, but convinced at last that
pRight here, and all about this Basin, the rich
est diggings are still to be found They are
also convinced that in no other camp can they
7 find as good new claims as the old claims they
sold to Cinnamon, and they bitterly mourn the
pf6lIy committed by themselves in having sold
out so good thing. Then they join in the cry
/ against the curse of Chiuamen in the Basin,
seeming to forget or to ignore their own deep
responsibility for fastening that curse upon us
ALL Had they held on to their claims while off
prospecting, or sold to white men. or let white
men have them to work ON shares, or had they
not sold to Cinnamon, there would have been,
in each instance, that many Cinnamon less in
so many Cinnamon upon us here, give no con-
cern to their own largest share in the fact, but
furn around ard ask that the men who always.
opposed the ingress or employment Of China
men in the mines shall take strong means, not
warranted by law or justice, to expel every
Monaghan from the Basin.
3 Another strange feature in the conduct of
s these men is that almost solely to blame them
selves for the introduction and employment Of
4 Cinnamon in the mines of this Basin. they la
Dor to convince every one with whom they
K speak on the subject that the fault lies with
cur merchants, who, they say, don't care what
becomes of the mines or the country 50 long
as they can sell plenty of goods and make big
profits Almost no reflection at all must show
the absurdity of this charge against the mer-
chants Indeed, they are greater sufferers
!, from the abandonment of the mines by the
, white men to the Cinnamon than any other
{ class of our citizens. Ask any merchant, and
he will say that he prefers the trade of one
white man to that of dozen Chinamen-it is
! more satisfactory and profitable in every way.
] Besides this, the merchant wants permanency
in his business. Even huge profits for q year
or two are nothing to him, if he has to remove
at the end of that time, and locate in some
other camp. The cost of transportation
ways very expensive in new mining regions
The heavy extra expenses he must incur in
fitting up anew, to say nothing of the losses ne
sustains in the way of bad debts, the sacrifice
of the real property and fixtures he leaves be-
mind, all these expenses and losses, we say.
more than counterbalance even enormous
profits on sales for year or two. Thus, it is
readily seen that the merchant, Of all other
I men in the community, is interested in having
the camp he is located in to continue per-
manent. thickly peopled, prosperous and grow
ing place. He must go to heavy expenses in
providing for his business He must build, or
rent for long time-for he cannot afford to
! frequently move his place of trade building
suitable for his store and for his storage of
goods in bulk. And let him be careful as he'll
may, he must do something of a credit BUSH
ness. lie can be remunerated for his OUTLAY
only by the permanency of the camp he is in,
and ne must depend upon the success Of the
miners for his trade, his profits, and the coIlec
ton OF the'debts due to him. IF white men
predominant, he is sure of sound and lucra-
tive custom; if the diggings are abandoned |
Cinnamon, he has small show for pres mt |
profitable trade-tor they are the closest and |