The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-08-19
WHICH POLICY

Mr.. ROthWe'i letter, presented elS6WneIe,
we commend to the most earnest c0nsidera-
ton of the miners Of Montana. Standin, as
we arc at the threshold of Montana's real
mining era the present is a fitting time to re-
feet upon the suggestions OF sound business
policy contained in that letter. We have
passed through what may be called the era OF
private mining, the days when mines We're
opened and worked by our own people.
Now comes the stage in which outside capi-
tai is to seek investment in the mines of this
Territory. We are at the critical days Of the
beginning. Is with the young man, es'ab-
fishing himself in life, whose whole subse-
q.enl career may be influenced for good or
bad by Tire start he makes, $" with Montana
as a field Of Investment for outside capital.
If tie tfcst ventures be made in Legitimate
enterprises, in mines which will be found in
the working to com honestly up to the rep
rrseisations Of those who place tlnm OIL the
market, then our young Territory, just start
ing III business for itself, will wih a good
,ssne, and after that disalpointtnents Of
almost any magnitude can lie encountered
without disaster. On the other hand should
the first few large investments he made in
mines of the unnamed feline variety. then
will the fair fame Of cur Territory be
smirched then will it be given a bad name
among mining men, a reputation from which
it is highly desirable we do not lose. With
this understanding Of our situation it is for
US to decide which We are to choose, the
honest or the g smart policy.
In making up our minds we may perhaps
be assisted by the tenor of Mr.. Rothwell's let
ter, Of which tile general drift is to be sum-
med up in the homely old proverbs, 'hones,y
is the best policy" Yes, for the community
as for the individual honesty is the best poll
cy in the long un. Placing a mine OH the
market bears un unfortunate resemblance t"
that department Of mercantile life in which
the '%merchant" never expects to see the
same customer a second time. As the
trader of this class is tempted to make all he
possibly can out Of the customer whose future
patronage he need not try to secure, so ttl.
vendors of q mine are tempted, from similar
considerations, to make the very best possible
''spec" they can out Of thoir property. Their
next mine to be put on the market will he
owned by a different combination Of partners,
and will be offered to different purchasers.
Hence any little crookedness in their present
undertaking will exert no Influence whatever
on their next. Possibly it may not, but the
aggregate effect of several instances of slcl,
crookedness will not fail to bring u whole
mining district into disrepute.
The hest safeguard against this tendency is
a careful adherence totrutl-teling on the part
Of the general public, end particularly on the
part oftie press. The vicious habit of "pufing''
must be abandoned. lndulgingthou ,htlcsslyin
this habit of putting, the editor who holds his
private character above all price, who would
not think Of introducing into the family circle
OF u friend anyone he did not knou to be
woathv of confidence, will nevertheless give
his professional Endorsement to schemes of
which he knows nothing. In private life,
speaking to a limited circle, he is careful to
see that his words possess the merit of truth.
Through the columns af his Journal, speaking
to thousands, he too frequently forgets that
the obligation of t'utL telling should rest on
hin, with il force still more binding than i'm
the h@me circle.
Montana has great Elines, rich mines, hut
her hedges will not .&V pay for working.
INC see that We do not make ourselves
the instruments Of deception in the interest
of THOSE barren loGes. Let the reporter de-
scribe caly what lie has seen, the letter. writer
give as facts only those statements which he
knows to be true. by following this policy
shah a'ave better success in attracting 10
Montana the capital of the mining world
hat would attend us Were we able to employ
In. imagination of Munsclnusen in descrlb-
'tlg ~ facts " which have no existence.