Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-10-28
POINTS FOR LABoRERs.
How the Free Coinage of Silver Will
Benefit the Workingman.

/
to yours of October I, 1896, in regard
to the number of miners who would
be employed in the west in case of free
coinage OF silver, conservative esti-
mates by those familiar with mining
resources and possibilities in Montana
and other mining states place the
number at $1,000 in Montana alone,
with an additional $4,000 skilled and
unskilled laborers in other Occupa-
tions in this state, whose labor would
be demanded by increased general
business of all kinds on account of in
creased mining, not only of silver, but
of lead, zinc, copper, coal, iron and
gold, all of which, except coal, are
found in our silver-bearing ores.
For the eleven mining states of the
west we estimate-on a conservative
calculation-5OO, 600 additional miners
and other laborers. But it would be
mistake to suppose that any of the
miners would be producing silver
alone. In the list of dividend and
non-dividend paying mines published
regularly in the Engineering Mining
Journal of New York, you will find
scarcely mine that produces silver
alone. Many mines that begin with
are at the surface develop gold lower
down-as the great COmstock mine,
for example.
Any one can see, then, that free
coinage, which means fixed mint
price of 1.29 an ouuce for silver, means
an enormous increase in our gold pro-
duction, since it will then pay to
work ores containing both gold and
silver which cannot now be worked |
except at loss. For example: Near |
Helena is group of refractory ores,
showing at least 1,OOO,OrO tons, show
ing an average of S13 in gold and six
teen ounces of silver per ton, making
the ore worth at present about $23 a
ton. Smelling and freight charges ON
such ore amount to $40 ton, to say
nothing of mining; so that ore can't
be worked except at loss. But with
free coinage, and $1.29 an ounce for
silver, we would get $4,000, 900 in gold
alone, which cannot be got with silver
at it's present price. This is but one
Of hundreds of such ore deposits.
The same is true of immense de-
posits of silver-lead, silver-copper and !
ther mixed ores. Now consider that |
a large part of that $4,000, 900 of gold |
lying near this city would, if mined,
be spent for farm and factory products /
of the eastern and middle states, to
say nothing of the silver and other /,
metals so used!
Free coinage of silver will there
fore enable our people to dig their own /.
gold out of American mountains, in
steadEof borrowing it from England
and paying interest for its use, besides
increasing our production of other
metals.
AS to employing the surplus and now
labor of eastern and mid
die states, free coinage of silver would
not only from those states at least
100000 laborers of all kinds to the
eleven great mining states, but their
personal wants and the needs of their
would create an enormous
market for manufactured products of
eastern and middle state factories and
mills, embracing everything in the
way of machinery, food, clothing and
of all classes of artisans.
In the matter of canned foods alone
Jhe demand would be enormous.
The local demands for skilled labor
would be enormous.
Therefore, when the laboring man
If the east of the Mississippi valley ,
lsks: "Will free coinage of silver put ,
ne in the way of getting job?" the q
answer is: eyes; either here at home,
)r in one of the mining states." {
The man who now has job should
what effect this win have
IN the unemployed man who is now
,rying to get his job at lower wages ,
Yours very truly, q
w. G. EGoLEsToN. L