Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-10-05
A MINING PROBLEM.
"Distance and Difficulty Lend En-.
chautment to the Viev.o


A startling story of mining find, at.
tended by an advance guard of exclama-
ton points, is going the rounds of the
newspapers. A vein of ore carving
$3.50 copper, $1,000 in gold, and $3.50
in silver has been found imbedded in a
barren island rock in Lake Superior.
The finder is congratulated on all sides
as a acknowledgement, by virtue of
ownership of an undeveloped mining
claim in semi-Arctic region.
Now, in the West Mountain Mining
District, within thirty miles of Salt Lake
City, with railroad connections, genial
climate. and reduction works close at
hand, better-showing veins 60 begging
Tor capital to work them and remain un-
developed. And to-day in New York or
Boston, capitalists will jump at the bare
Incorporated hook of water-logged and
lce-bound mine in Lake Superior, while
| they turn up their noses at better prop
erty IN Utah. What is the reason? You
might as well ask the why, the whence
and the wherefore of a clam at high
water as to ask these sapient capt.
allsts the reason of their discrimina-
ton. Ask the bell-wether of
flock OF sheep why, when he Jumps
over live rail fence with an open gate bv
Its size, every woolly-pated fool of a
flock follows in the footsteps of his de-
mented predecessor. One may say with
some truth, distance and difficulty lend
enchantment to the view" But this
does not solve the problem, for let a
prospect of silver or gold, no better than
many which lie idle in mining districts
adjacent to this city, be found in any
Eastern State, and what a wave of ex-
cltement goes sweeping over the commu-
nifty.
Of one thing we may be sure. that the |
benefciaries of the mining interest in the |
Lake Superior region do not "damn with |
faint praise" nor treacherously state the
imperial industry which directly or indi-
rectly helps them to living. In Utah
it is different. Let capitalist come as
stranger to this Territory, and inquire for
opportunities to invest money. Com
Imenclng under the shadow of the tithing-
mouse, ne Will hear but one answer from
the tlthe-eater and tithe-producer, from
I mormon worker and drone, and it is,
beware OF the minesp' As he energies
from the darkness of priestly oneness
into the Gentle quarter and repeats his
question In professional, mercantile and
banking circles, whose very existence
here is directly or indirectly depend
ent upon the mining outcome, how
much encouragement does he receive
with regard to investing his money in
legitimate mining? Stockholders and :
noney-ioaners will expatiate on the follv .
of putting money into "holes in the .
Sround," and business men whose first !
start came through some fortunate sale ]
d a hole in the ground'' with silver 6
lnlng peculiar to Utah, but made by !
ome other fellow to whom thew had fur ,
llshed supplies, will shake their fool ,
heads with asinine gravity and mutter !;
l thrice repeated falsehood about the :
'lllegltlmate and lottery-like business of =
nlnlng." Even the successful mining -
nen OF the Territory do not assert them n
elves; They do not insist that the Jour !,
ais they sustain should give due atten- -
ION and support to the only productive q
1dustry which lifts this Territory above q
ne plane OF cabbage and carrot garden. h
'hlch lights the fires of every smelter. -
eeps up the clangor of every quartz mill, =
lspatches long freight trains on their
hiding way, fills the vault of every bank
nd sends the financial life-blood cours-
g through every artery and vein of the Sc
ody polite. Where is the Mining Ex- cl
1ange, the mart of trade for one of the pl
,eatest ore markets on this continents ia
mere is the Miners Club, with it's h:
ading room, with its collections of min bl
ais, its library and lectures. practical til
nj scientific? Echo answers whereP ne
Like the patient ass who bears alike dc
e burdens and blows of his dependent so
Vner, the mining industry in Utah has tn
pported and been berated by Saint and BIZ
nner alike. Handicapped like every on
her productive interest in this Territory be
the unmitigated curse of priestlv and up
sloyal rule, it has borne additional thu
rdens laid upon it by Indifferent. faint ,
arted friends and by open foes. In CHI
9 year of depression, as in wears nra- I'D
ing, 1t will furnish seven-eights of our bu
ports, home market for the farmers the
rdsmen and laborers of the TERRITORY lad
commend itself as the most patent sta
TOR In laying the foundations of a pros del
Gus and loyal commonwealth. More 4
n any other material interest on the will
enc Slope, it commends itself to men pal
wealth at home and abroad, as an dol
,nue OF honorable and productive in
tment.