Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-09-01
MINING THE BACKBONE
or THE NATION.

mining Industry OF tile tinted states
can hardly be estimated. There was
time in It's earlier history when our
only gold mines were those OF North
Carolina and Georgia. aud the min,
marks OF the eagles and half-eagles
OF that day located their coinage at
Charlotte and Dahloncza As for sil-
Yer, there was none. Rhode Island
holds the record OF having opened the
first coal mine, Pennsylvania follow
ing with both coal aud iron. II was
long years before the transportation of
copper from Lake Superior district.
and the discovery OF lead near the
banks OF the Mississippi near Galena.
In lS4S the cry of wonderful dtscoy.
cries Of gold on the Paeific coast be
gan. and in 1858 OF both gold and sill
yer In Rlsseli's Enlcb. Gilpin county.
In that grand state Of Colorado. aud
frcm those dates isis and 1853, the
onward march of mineral discoveries
and mineral production has been
steady and rapid. IN 1900 II passed
the billion mark. and the Official re.
ports for 1901 show to the world that
In cyery one of the more important
minerals and metals the United States
Of America exceeds the product Of any
other country.
Nature has made no mistakes; th,
dcssinics OF one man. or any on. sec
tion OF country. were not considered
any more than another. and ita de
crees cnnnoi be changed Every
man and every region OF country
must get It's portion OF the good things
of this life by labor. and their advance
to the higher plane of prosperity In
nearly every instance depends upon
their enterprise and Intelligence. roc.
ognizlng ms We all must do that Moth
INK comes but through toll
The grand sud lofty mountains
have Tor countless ages continued the
base OF untold wealth. siilI until the
hand of man commenced to drag them
forth. the world was none the Wiser pr
richer because of their existence. and
there rs no place more repIeio with
frutfpi promise for the future than
are these magnificent commemorative
Of the west But their people must
ebihusc more than they do. they must
throw more earnest force into their
Individual consiotionH ns 10 the true
merit oi their possession, build more
railroads and develop more cxtensisc'
ly their great and varied resources
and advantages, hrforc they can fully
realize what nature haH done for them
or enjoy upon the broad plain Of pros
perlty, as God intended they should
do, the yet untold blessings with
which they are surrounded on every
side
Was Then No West
4, wss only few short years ago
that this land beyond the Misslssippi
riys.r wan known, our Inhabited re
pabiic did not reach far westward
from the Aliantic shore. aud during
the session OF the hrst federal con
rr,.ss under the constitution there vas
great opposition 10 the eStabliahmcai
OF land once west OF the Alleghnn
ies. the argument being that II the
weet was populated II would eHtah
lish separate government, We had
moAsy pllinrs then trying 60 rainrd pro
grcsa aud destroy enterprise, and We
have them today aud no further al
vantrd or more liberal IN their ideas
and opinions than waN The distinguish
ed member of congress who luhi 10
years ago. declared upon the foor OF
congress- that hr had Just heard of ak
new states lie firmly believed that
there never conid be ought never 90
be more than W, To him the earth
was Hat. II could not hr round. n
could not move about the sun You
have no authority" cried Josiah
Quincy. TO throw the rights liberties
aud prosperity of this people Into the
huiub potch with tn. Wild men OF
Missouri" Would Americans Tor
whom the revolution was fought look
with paticn.e on representatives and
senators from the Red river Even
the great state OF Massachusetts in In
Icrord M having peiiiioncd congress
10 repeal III. act lay which the hrst
new state was admitted tu the nntnh.
You bright progressive ciiisrus oi
the west, IN this the kind at match
you want TO touch on your powder
WITH II IL is, then encourage those
who would throw every obstruction
they can In the way of The success OF
tilt FAhAht ''hN''t'H "N'
all other enterprises looking to the
development oi the wer, and the great
mining industry oi America. aud stand
ARMY shonlder To shoulder with those
mossy pillars who would forever keep
You locked In the siumb.r OF apathy
aud Indifference
Accomplishments Of a Century.
A study al what we have accom-
plished In the past century -giyes ron
ddencc for that which Is before uH.
Our commerce has In the past 100
years expanded from less than two
hundred million dollars go over two
hundred billion dollars from an ad-
verse balance OF trade ol s. 1000
In 1900 10 a favorable balance of $500,
900. 600 In 1900; from "a nation OF buy
ers of manufactured goods we have
become q nation OF manufacturers. and
from debtor nation We have become
a creditor nation How has this won
derful change been accomplished :
BY the development n; our national re
sources A century ago the great
productive areas lying a few hundred
miles distant from the ocenn, or the
M. -