The Sumpter miner. [volume] (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905, 1901-01-02
VERY OREGONESQUE.
Finance" "Pipes Off" This
States Characteristics.

In the strictly mineral section Of Oregon
there are opportunities which the casual
observer sees, and the casual observer
marvels that the world knows so little Of
them, and that they are so slightly de.
veloped.
Only trifle Of investigation serves to
show the causes for this. They are those
most formidable Of all obstacles to de.
velopment, an inordnate selhshness and
an ultra conservatism.
Foreign capital Is disposed to look as.
kance at what local capital, when there
IS such, does not show any willingness to
be identified with. Nor Is this In any way
remarkable. Indeed, the contrary would
be. There has been bad management of
some partly developed Oregon mining
properties, and there have been promoters
identified with some Of them who could
not claim any close relationship to neces.
sary capital themselves, nor to any un.
usual degree Of integrity or even good
sense. Mining development and the min.
ing business as such, however, has no
monopoly Of those unfortunate attributes.
Even the greatest and soundest and most
carefully scrutanized financial institutions
themselves are not infrequently made prey
for people Of this class, and that the
mining opportunities of Oregon have not
been brought to such state Of development
as they should Is, In part, though we are
constrained to believe perhaps the lesser
part, attributable to the misconceptions
and conservatism Of local financial people.
It Is, we believe, a fact that should any
Portland banking institution, for instance,
he known to lend any considerable sup.
port to a mining enterprise, however wor.
thy and substantial, its heavier depositors
and the monied people whose patronage
It enjoyed would so thoroughly dsapprove
Of such course that not few Of them
would withdraw their accounts.
In this matter Portland is not unlikely
10 commit the same error that Denver did
when It permitted Colorado Springs to
become the great world.wide.known cen.
ter Of mining transactions, though Den.
yer had the advantage Of age, and expe.
rience, aud capital. 1t Is not at all i'm.
possible that when the mining oppOrtuni.
ties Of Oregon shall have further devel.
oped, some community, now small and
unknown, perhaps even unborn, will
spring up In a night and become and re.
main the mining market Of Oregon, with
all that implies.
There Is yet another stumbling block in
the way Of the Oregon mines; and tits the
more formidable Of the two. Human sci
fishness not infrequently kills the goose
that lays the golden egg, and this Is quite
as often exempltied in mining fields as
elsewhere. In these last II does not usu.
ally manifest itself in the earlier stages,
but comes with the advent Of the more
powerful operators and combinations. In
the case Of Oregon, the disease appeared
with the mineral, and no remedy for It has
as yet been successfully applied. The
history OF the so called mining develop.
ment Of Oregon-which has been no de.
velopment at all except In such few iso.
lated cases as only prove the correctness
Of our contentions-has been one Of stumb-
ling upon rich deposit and straightway
gathered In every square foot that could
be seen through long range field glass.
by the utilization Of mining claims filed
by sisters and cousins and aunts. This
accomplished, the bold and intrepid diseov'
erer of mineral wealth sat down and wait.
ed for other pennle To make bis mines val.