The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1897-10-19

portraits in the palace of the
Danish Queen. A quaint old
painting, distinctiyely English
in composition, hangs in the gal
lery of the mineral industry of
the world. 1t represents Great
Britain encouraging mining
within its domains. Some feat
ures of the picture are striking.
In New South Wales %, ,207 men
are engaged in mining. although
the hardships are great and the
country comparatively new. A
reward of 50. 500 is given by the
government for the discovery of
a new gold field, or any section
of the country containing pay
deposits of copper, silver, dia-
monds or opals; a reward of
s., 900 for the first discovery of
pay ore at a depth of 1000 feet.
In 1896 the government expend-
ed S125, 900 worth of opals for
the markets of the world. In
one corner of the picture is
British Columbia, with revis-
ion of laws calculated to discour-
age Americans from rushing in
to absorb the mineral advantag-
es that rightfully belong to
British subjects. John Bull
stands with one hand to his
brow peering over an area of
800 miles by 100, full of rich
silver ore, and with the other
hand he signals to the bank of
Englan to give the white metal
a boost that will keep the world
from losing interest in it as a
money metal. He knows that
France will soon be ripe for
British Columbia silver, although
it has managed to get along with
out absorbing much OF the Unit
ed States product; and that India
poor heathenish India-must
again have the white metal or
! perish. British C0lum bia silver
will do for India what foreign
silver was not permitted 10 do
save the land from utter com
Imercial ruin and its people from
starvation. Moreover, the en-
couragement of silver will
people British America with a
sturdy citizenship that will en-
able the government to view less
alarm the aggressive spirit mani
tested by the republic OF the
United States. Withal. the pic
ture reflects the policy of British
statesmanship-a policy of self
protection that has challenged
the respect of the world if not
It's admiration. Another inter
esting picture that attracts d
great deal of attention represents
the irrepressible conflict between
the government of the United
States and the mineral industry
of the republic. Here the God
dess of Liberty is seen in the act
of running the silver industry,
by surreptitiously working a de-
monetization act through the
American Congress, as the result
of filtration which the old lady
had with foreign capitalists.
After destroying silver as money
she still insists in compelling the
owners of silver properties to
pay an outrageous tax each year
in order to hold the claims upon
which they have expended their
money and time for many years.
Unlike her moonlight lover,
John Bull, she offers no bonuses,
no premiums, no rewards to the
toiling miner. but on the con-
trary, robs him of the fruits of
his labor. Her mining laws are
vague and indefinite, leaving to
the tendeI mercies of the local
courts their Interpretation and
application. The great army of
paupers, whose fortunes have
been tied up in silver properties,
must live on bread and water to
protect their holdings from the
jumping proclivities of the men
sent out by British syndicates to
absorb the silver interests of the
world at small expense. The
Goddess of Liberty is standing
on one side of the picture in the
attitude of a housewife shooing
o recalcitrant flock of hens into
the back yard. What she is
really doing is driving the Amer
lean silver miner out of the
country that he may become
good loyal citizen of some nation
that will him decently. After
having gone to the north pole to
escape the rigors of the Ameri-
can republic the silver miner is
in about the humor of Kipling's
small boy
There w9s once small boy Of Qleoec,
Who WAS buried IN snow TO the neck