New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-02-23
BANCROFT'S NEW TOLTWE.
THE SILVER AND CENTENNIAL STATES.

lJ1O lNrr. rNO., PIP ANNll, 60 an I raw i'''
i49o Church nrchst.. '"0"'' W" VII" ''''''' ~
OF the three histories embraced in this volume,
two are those Of mining regions while thc third
is that Of a stocI-raisng country The histories
Of Nevada. Colorado and Wyoming begin in very
much the same way that Is 70 say. by conflict
between prospectors, explorers and settlers and
the Indians Nor is there in the general course
Of these quarrcls any variation from the course
commonly taken by similar disputes elsewhere.
The Indians, possessing the land, and naturally
regarding all intrusion as unwarrantcd, went on
the warpath against the whites, and while the
latter were few and isolated often inflicted great
loss upon them Then occurred the rushcs of
migration which. like cpdcmIcs, threw into soln-
ton scores of thousands Of the least stable social
elements West and East, and sent them in long
procession across the plains in quest Of new
FL Dorado. or Garden Of Eden. The early en-
plorers noticed 10y Mr. Bancroft left few traces,
and made no impression upon the regions they
visited They were like those Portuguese e.
plorers who two hundred years ago, penetrated
parts Of Africa, only 10 put up some mud forts
and to withdraw speedily. leaving behind them
nothing but the visionary claim which their Gov
eminent has recently 50 unfortunately attempted
to resurrcct and give substance 10.
The DEVELOPMENT Of Nevada was due wholly
70 the discovery of precious metals. and the most
interesting and important part of the annals 81
the State is that which concerns the Great COM
stock Lode TO that lode san Francisco owes an
immense debit though it cannot be said that Tie
shareholders in the mines under any OBJ
liGation TO the Californian metropolis: the ma
nipulation OF the great speculative operators ana
the general influence Of the Stock Exchange
having combined 10 minimize the profits a'crh-
ing from possession OF rich stock. The C"mSt"ck
Lode has cut an imposing figure ~ the history
Of both States, hut there can br NO question th't
H. has ruined q far greater number OF wIsonN l''n
it has enriched. and that il has proved an almost
matchess agency for transferring tie SAVINGS
Of the many - the pockets of the i"w We VIII
borrow from Mr. Bancroft few statistics H.
lustrating the general question Of tie relative
profit Of mining 10 the community II" tells Is
that "the aggregate Weld of all The mines ON
the Comstock down 10 the LIST of january. l7el.
was S50G 600. 600 worth Of bullion extracted from
1000. 600 tons Of ore. There had gone into the
mines besides the unproductivc labor ana Small
means oi prospcctors and pioneers i'm mining and
the timber Of the country. SG2,0oo,oGo ln asNc''-
mcnts. There had been paid back 10 Nh'r'-
holders SIG. 1000 900, and tine small iiC0rpoIat'd
companies had derived profits amounting - rh"'i
-. OO0. 600 morc-Sl 100000. The adherence
r-'N
between the outcome and the costs - the Shafr-
holders was SlG.O000oo, spread over twenty
years certainly not great profit Oh Tie invest
mcut But the other So. 0Uo.OoO, besides enrich
ing a few. had been pended ia ihc payment "I
labor and in various enterprises. Too much. IL
is true. had gone into litigation, costly MACHINERY
in many instances almost without Naue-inio
miles Of mills aud hoistlns works. whoSr usrl"I-
ness in a few yeats had ceased
This is Ly no mean, :u exhaustive statement Of
tbe case I'm order 10 estimate thr benefits and
disadvantage, of the Comstock 10 the com
mu>,y many thin, not mentioned here must
hc taken int, account For example. 900 con
si,le,ir,, ia. o,uoupt maid I'M the wages Of labor
II must lr remembered that % very lar-c pc
ccutage Of this amount was lost 80 Labor com
plctelv. bcin- absorbed in tie rapid tuln, anu
nncruatious of tie stock marirt and n ii' long
run umdouhtcdF going to swell Oh" imm"'''
fortunes amasseI h> I'" I"'.'" OPP i'"'''
Throughout '"e P''''' "''>.'' ~
playing against S'''E'1 ''I"'. us P'''''
profit was represented nY TIC o''''' ''"'' P''"
Of the concessions pol'ir ann h'''S~''N ''' '.'
maintenance OF hope rh""t" u" '"N''' '' ''''
tnuance OF UNr>'mc"'S I''" ''-'''''''- ~ WV
the STOCK marker "'' H." y,
and they ohlF who hh'" "'" ID" '"' 40.
was The l"hb"u- 'P'" IH '"'''''' '''
during the p"u'Il/" P''l"' -" ''''' '' "'
idea OF the extent ana amount ~ I''" "'" 81.
jury caused h} pi"h"'F Inc mos r'N' ~" '"'
shameless W'nIp'A"i'' '''' "''r'"
case III "hi'' H-"I'' 'I' "''P,''' ~
amount 81 prom '''"''' TO
truth Is tli' 'hc non ''''' 90 ,,''
mol 10 me P'"''' ''' 10 wv ''' P'''
tha' coh'ioI'o me P'"''P' "''' - '", '' "
ranged I" nave 'h' H'''i ''''''' VI ''''
suited them. and "ih""i 'h' i'I'I''' 100 inc
actual condition Of the output y most n""'"H'
example Of hi, is the case 90 the N.'T' N''"''
BOOM when the stock OF tnr mihr h''h'' was
carried from > TO over zoe Oh the S'r'h-, "'
ports which subsequently, proved J." "''r "'" w
tprY mcndaClOuS AMI hnsc"sS. rs Nullar iTi'hs