The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-10-25

| OF course the Wisconsin paper
knocks all of sense there is in the in
curry by lacking to it the ridiculous
mention of potatoes. The first propo-
| sition, however, is susceptible of argu-
ment; at least, the question may be
raised in judicially deciding the power
and scope of the government in provid-
| ing the best means to prevent hardship
and suffering through entertainments
of monopoly, like that in Pennsylvania.
The answer to the question of the
| Wisconsin editor, confined to metallic
mines, or mines producing precious
ores, is, that gold, or silver, or copper,
each and all of them do not enter into
| physical life like COAL which has
grown to be a necessity almost as much
as water. 1t would be very incon-
venient, yet the world could get along
without metallic money. Certainly no
man would perish from hunger or
| freeze to death if he possessed some
other token than coin in exchange for
values; and this is the chief function
of money coined from precious ores-a
simple token of value. Secondly, unlike
the railroad and coal operators who
| tripled the value of coal, the owner of
the mine has no power to establish
price value OF his bullion. This is
fixed by the laws of congress,
Or at the United States mint, or by
those shylocks who corner money and
| create panics. The auriferous miner
| or mine owner is not responsible for
| these evils. His contribution to the
| wants of society is satisfied when he
presents bullion to be coined, and not
| to be eaten or burned. No monopoly
of auriferous mine owners ever did or
could provoke distress among the
people.
The United States does not enter
into the business of geld and silver
mining, yet there is nothing to pre-
vent it, no more than there would be
in operating a paper mill and printing
office to produce it's notes. 1t owns
numberless mines already discovered or
hidden beneath the bowels of the earth.
A miners claim is not his own until he
has performed the required assessment
work on such claim or obtained patent
through purchase No advantage
could accrue to the people by reason
of the government operating aurifer-
Gus mines. 1t has never been sug
gested. Therefore, the attempt to APP
ply the same logic for auriferous mines
which aptly fit coal mines is no logic
at all, because the premises are too
wide apart for argument
The soundness of the governments
privilege to exercise its right of emf
nent domain in cases like that pre-
scented in the recent coal strike has
been confirmed by our ablest jurists.
In modified form this law is observed
frequently in condemnation proceed
ings to open highways and streets and
lay railroad tracks. If the city coun-
Gil where our contemporary is pub
lished should decide to continue a
street through his printing Office, the
editor might make a kick and rave
about the divine right of property.
But the street would go through his
shop all the same; and this by reason
of the fact that the aim of popular
government is for the greatest good to
the greatest number. 1t is this idea of
government which is Incorporated in
the New York Democratic platform. 1t
may be socialism, yet it is practical
common sense.