The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1883-07-20
What an English Gentleman
Says About American Min
ing Property.

| Gays ADOuI AIIlCIlSdH Mll-
ing Property.
"At present it is just about as diff
cult to sell a silver or gold mine in
England as for the proverbal camel to
crawl through the eye of a needle, and
the principal cause of this apathy is
the unfortunate results which have at
tended most of the mining speculations
that the English people have embark
ed in. Take for instance the Indian
gold mines, and think of the immense
amount of money lost in those value
less properties during the past few
years. Colorado has also received a
fair share of British gold and offered
but little in return, which makes it
difficult to negotiate anything in Eng
land at the present time, it matters not
how valuable or meritorious it may be.
The Robert E. Lee is a case in point.
No one questions the value of that and
the surrounding mines which were re-
Gently offered for sale in London, and
yet that fell through. But these for
eigners have been bitten in mines, and
they have not yet recovered from the
effects of it. Then there is another fail
ing common among the Americans
who go over to England to sell mines.
They are so avaricious that they want
to make fortune of independence in a
single transaction, by asking ten times
more than the article is really worth
and If they succeed, others who offer
similar properties for sale, but who are
more moderate in their demands, suffer
accordingly. Having been bitten as l
have already said, they shun that which
is really meritOrous and recOil at the
approach of an American mining man.
The failure of the La Plata and Hen
riett to continue paying dividends have
also injured Leadvllle in the eyes of the
English people, and make them look
with suspicion upon anything orlgi-
mating in this district. There is not
the slightest doubt but that the English
people paid great deal too much for
the La Plata. The nominal price of
the shares was ten dollars, and the to-
tai capital was two million dollars,
which represented the cash value of the
property in London about year ago,
shares then being sold at trifle above
par. AT a recent meeting of the stock
holders the management was turned
over to the English stockholders, who
in recognizing the company increased
its capital one hundred per cent. so
that it now stands at four million dol
lars. Now comes the query: If the
company were unable to pay dividend
upon capital of two millions how can
they do it upon that amount doubled,at
a time when smelling charges by ad-
ditional competition are becoming less
every day? The Henriette was also
capitalized far above its real value, one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and
this, remember, represents the actual
cash value for which the stockholders
become personally responsible. For ex-
ample if the stockholders paid seventy
five per cent. of the amount for which
they had subscribed, and the directors
required an additional amount to work
the property or purchase machinery, |
they could compel the stockholders to
pay Ethe remaining twenty-five per |
cent; but beyond that their responsi-
bility would cease, and in comparing
the two systems L much prefer the lat
ter.
BY the way. it Is mistake to think
that the Henriette stock was placed in /
England. A company was formed there
but the stock is still held indirectly by |
the original owners, and from what
heard while in London, it is to be for
some time to come. If the English
people owned such mines as the Iron
Silver and Silver Cord, both free from
litigation, there would be no difficulty
in getting English capitalists to invest
their money in Colorado mines to an un-
unlimited extent. But their first ex-
periences have not been happy or pro-
fitable ones, and it will require years
before confidence is fully restored. At
the present time the English people are
investing in cattle ranches, and in
few years they will have secured con-
troll of the stock market of this coun-
try.-Leadvlll Democrat.