The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1881-10-11


make q point agaigpe. Ne dapesenentf theory
on the ground that the a.ockholders Of the
Justice, one Of The Comstock properties, have
paid in assessment 1886, 900. 1t does not
state what would have haprsnsdaothe sack
II the money to perfssa thiasvast snlount Of
labor representsds by these assessments had
to be raised BY mortgage upon The property.
It could not have been done The first
| $4,000 mortgage weuld ahave shut out the
stock. Experience has demonstrated the fu-
tility Of an attempt TO work mines upon
mortgage. The plan Is I bar To- mining eE
tort, and . swindle uapon, men That take stock
in an enterprise they Hiieve win eventually
pay. It furnishes an opportunity 70 design
I'M, men to close out promising properties af
ter they have been developed and made yalu-
able by !. . money Of helpless stockholders,
just as it has reacheda divide nd. paying point.
The man who has : few shares Of stock in a
mine upon which 1 large mortgage exists, has
no remedy for his original Investment but to
pay of the mortgage. He cannot form a syn
| dictate for the purpose With hfs feilow-stoek-
holders, for the reason that . majority Of the
stock is generally interested in the oreclo-
sure Of the mortgage and she elimination of
the minority of the stock. w.
There would be no difficulty in handling
mines upon either method if humanity
were invsribly upright and just in their deal
ings. The hunilisting confession must be
made that this is not always the case; and II
should be the study to adopt that scheme in
r,;no ~,>nAr~~arN vhinh ehe1 emma
nearest forestalling rascalisy.. Aud in deal
ing with this matter reference will be had ex-
c~lusively to the interest Of the community in
which the mine IL situated r. her than to any
heiicious prices or msnipulations upon ANY
stock board. The assessrnent' system has
been in vogue from the commencement of
mining effort upon The Pacific coast. That
advantage has been taken Of smaller stock
holders under II cannot be denied. The more
powerful management have piled up ASSESS
for theS:recsion Of expensive machinery,
sinking shafts and running levels away from
the ore bodies, instead q taking out the rich
ore they knew to exist, antil some Of the
weaker stsekholders have become heart-sick
and lot 60. To meet this difficulty the
state of California has OF IL ssaaute books a
law compelling the officials Of stock compan-
les to permit . full insl ection Of their books
aud. records and to admit stockholders to an
OK examination Of the, mine At III times, 90 that
they need not sacrifice their stock while there
is ore in sight, which II worked would yield
dividends. Under the assessment plan a
stakeholder eannot be shut on. 90 long as he
chooses 70 pay his assessments; and the time
must certainly come when the mine II, it con-
tains anything, will be worked for what is
in it.
Under the mortgage plan toa raise revenue
to d~evelope the mine, as was be-
fore remarked, the stockholder has
to lift the mortgage at maturity
or lose his entire investment. A stakeholder
of one hundred shares in a mine may not be
much distressed to pay An assessment Of fifty
cents per share TO continue development, and
the assessment on the whole capital stock
may realize All amount as great a. what the
property could be mortgaged for. 1t would
have been an evident impossibility to have
raised the amount reported to have been ex-
pended on the Justice except by assessment.
1t was one Of the Comstock properties, and
gave promise Of pay 1t some depth. Its value
was merely speculative. The men who paid
the assessments during lis history did not
probably feel 1t. The stock was constantly
changing hands, aud the loss at no time to
the seller was more than Z mere percentage.
The loss distributed itself without hardship,
and, il paid by non-resident stockholders,
represented just % much wealth added TO the
circulating medium Of the community whore
the mine existed. A clearer apprehension of
the matter can be had by taking any mine in
this distriet. An ore chute may run At such
an Inclination as 70 he reasonably calculated
o enter another maa6 ground u . certain
depth. A certain . Of capital may be
raised BY the sale of stock to carry = shaft to
the ess imatsd depth. The capital raised may
be insufficient, and then-a mortgage. If the
mortgage fund carries the shaft to pay, and
thedireetors are thoroughly honest, work
will be pushed with . view to lifting the
mortgage. On the ssher hand, on the assess
ment plan, . few cents. assessment to the share
would supply the deficient working capital,
and the shaft would 60 down. II it did no,
reach pay another and still another assess.
ment could be levied, without any danger
from foreclosure, the stock all the while r.
tanning its speculative value based on q pre-.
sumption Of eventually tapping the .r.
chute. 3 a".. q
1 Another consideration, not to be overlook
ed by . mining community, IL that, under tn.
. assessment plan, capital Is continually flow.
ing in, while, under the mortgage plan, in
. tsrest 10 flowing out. 1t 10 msnifestly to TIL
iDtarest of the commnnisu To enlias all III,