The Montana post. [volume] (Virginia City, Montana Territory [i.e. Mont.]) 1864-1869, 1867-05-04
ROBBING PETER TO pAYpAUL.

In Mr.. Taylor's report upon Montana
he says: " For some years after the Cal
ifornia discovery. the demand for coin
age induced large deposits at the Gov
eminent mints, but fer the last half of
the period since lS4S. great proportion
of the gold and silver product in the
United States has been cast into bars or
ingots by private assayers This pro-
portion may now be stated at fully one
half. Since, therefore, the United States
mints and assay offices report $685.
6S7 so from Montana for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1866, it will be safe To-
double that amount as the probable pro-
duction last year" Upon this he bases
our yield last year at S12,000000. Now
To give Mr.. Taylor credit for integrity
and perfect impartislity, we are necessi-
tated TO believe that he has been i'm
posed upon either intentionally or 9TH
erwise, by parties who furnished him
the data for his report, or, from errone-
Gus statistics in the Government offices.
We happen to know that the gentleman
who furnished him the estimate of last
years yield, spent several months in
collecting and compiling statistics from
the most reliable sources that the low
est estimate was $4,000 600, and this
amount was stated to Mr.. Taylor. He,
however, ignored this data, and on the
mathematical principle of halves and
doubles. in a remarkably novel manner
of estimating the production of bullion,
cut it down to $12,00000S. This was
upon the amount reported to- the United
States Mints, which indeed il was Dery
safe to double. To show the utter
injustice and uureliability of this basis
of calculation, we have ample proof, and
will cite one instance. We are in Pos'
session cf is receipts from the United
States mint in Philadelphia TO
Messrs. Gurney & Co., of st. Joe. for
gold forwarded from their branch house
in this city, 10 of which were for dust
forwarded from here during three
months of last year, and amounted to
SAC. $50 64. This was forwarded thro'
the banking house of Duncan, Sherman
& Co, n. Y, and eUery dollar Of Il lcds
credited to Colorado. Taking this as an
average of shipment. it would give over
$500. 900 as the amount forwarded from
one house since it's establishment, of
which the agent here assures us.
never n dollar has been credited to Mon
tana. We do not propose to suggest
| that there are other houses in Montana
which forward dust TO the east; that
Colorado finds il remunerative to have
a highly lauditory, paid for article ap
pear every week in the New York jour
nails: that it would be a sharp financial
dodge to allow bankers a nice commits
| sion on gold from other territories which
could be inadvertently credited to Colo
RADIO; that Montana sold and bartered a
large portion ofthe gold in Denver that
helped 10 swell up the yield of Colorado
to $17. .OOO, 900 last year that there are
only seven mills in operation in Colora,
do, and they not paying expenses We
merely called attention to this trihing
difference of a half million of gold dust
shipped east by little shoe shop down
street, TO show Mr.. Taylor that upon
these triaes sometimes depend great re
suits. and express the belief that the
carefully complied statistics of the U
S. Revenue Office in Montana are fully
as reliable as the hAlving and doubling
/ Drocess