Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1880-06-16

A Conservative New England Jour
nal makes . Striking Companion.
What little distrust OF mining enter.
prises still fingers in the public mind, re-
marks the Boston Economist, will inevita-
bly, disappear before the increasing knowl-
| edge of mining properties and methods,
| and q comparison Of both with railroads
and their management. The railroads are
sometimes thought safer as investments for
capital because they are above ground,
while the mines have the misfortune to be
situated below. But management is capa-
Bile Of entirely reversing their relative po-
sition in the public confidence. 1t is pre-
cisely as easy to tell when o mining prop
erty actually exists as when arailroadd does.
After that point is reached the rest depends
upon skillful and faithful management.
From being the second il has almost be-
come the first desideratum in connection
with o mine. We do no SO much mean by
this the original placing Of . mine on the
msrket and the skillful manipulation Of 1t
as a property, as the enterprising, faithful
and steady working Of il Afterwards. The
San Francisco methods cannot be followed
with any hope Of permanent success ct the
East. Investors here are in the habit Of
looking for regular yields OF dividends
rather than strategy with the shares and
surprises on the stock market. Reliability
Is the cornerstone of our conservatism this
way, and if aught better has yet been dis
covered for the purposes OF an honest and
legitimate business we have utterly failed
to hear Of it.
1t is admitted that there is q varying ele-
ment Of uncertainty which enters into the
business Of mining, but 1t is likewise in
sisted that it is possible to reduce that ele-
ment to q minimum, Just as is done in
every other branch Of industry. Absolute
certainty attends on no form Of enterprise
to which the human mind consents to de-
vote its energies. Honest and faithful
management, after q property has once
been awarded q status, may be confidently
relied on to bring down the risks to the
lowest practicable limit. But it is also to
be remembered that this same element OF
uncertainty, which is in q greater or less
| degree inseparable from mining enterprises,
u just as likely to prove advantageous to
investors as the contrary. There are two
sides to the question when it defects at all
from the path Of certainty and strikes of
into the by-ways Of luck. But comparing
mines with railroads as reliable properties,
and Allowing that management in each case
governs the result, 1t will have to be ad'
mitted that at the very worst or best, min
ing offers far stronger inducements to cap
ital than railroading does. As for the raid
which are made on the share market, II
wonld be q very difficult matter to show
that mining shares show any more reckless
methods Of slaughtering than railroad
shares do. 1t is stated that the latter hays
suffered in the New York stock market, 1
depreciation of not less than $119, 600, 00t
since last October. Where can q wors'
showing be got out of the market for min
ing shares?
So that it is idle to speak Of the mining
market as a purely speculative one, and o
the railroad market as o certain and re
liable one which the speculative spirit can
not at any time control. As q habit, rail
road securities are bought for speculation
rather than for investment and an income
If there is any advantage on either side
whether in respect to certainty or profits
it is assuredly on the side of mining. 1t j
no exaggeration of the truth to say that til,
widest and maddest experience Of Sai
Francisco in mining share speculation
never reached the height or the depth o
New York's experience in speculation il
railroad shares. II we look carefully owe
the history Of the railroads Of the countr,
for the past twenty years, we shall be forces
to admit that the uncertainty attending
their ownership is vastly greater and NOR
involved in peril than any which has &C
companied the possession of mining prop
critics during the same time. Thousand
of miles Of railroads nave been co~nstructe,
without any demand for it; territory ha
been entered from which traffic return
were impossible for long periods Of time
and railroad management has displayed
combination of ignorance, stupidity AM
recklessness, which has no parallel in tn,
care and conduct of any other enterpris
recorded in the stock market. Whereas
on the other hand, mining yields solid
tangible, visible wealth all the while. s.
much labor produces 80 much money
What comes to the surface is OF o fixed an,
certain value, for which there is o read,
market, and which belongs at once an
exclusively to the producer.