The Courier. (Genoa, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1903-01-02
Carson Letter.


Company, with perhaps two or three
others, own practically all the stock OF
the company, and they constitute its
board of directors. The company's
real estate is bonded for more than it
is worth, and the same parties own
practically all the bonds, which secur-
tiles must first be satisfied by any pur-
chaser at Sheriff's sale under execu-
ton. We thus find the President and
Secretary and confreres getting into
debt in their capacity as directors and
owners of the stock of the Comstoek
Tunnels Co., and owning and holding Sc
curities in excess of the value of the
property in their individual capacity.
This is working" the corporation act
forabout all it's worth. To illustrate: A
man changes his individuality into a
corporate body, and his individual
body loans his corporate body money
and takes all of his corporate body's
property under bond as security to
pay his individual body the money
loaned, and then he runs his corporate
body into debt, and the creditor can't
reach the property owned by the in
dividual body, and the corporate body
has no property that can be reached
without first paying the individual
body a debt which may or may not be
due at all. So, in order to collect a
debt which the Comstock Tunnel Com
pany owes me, l first have to pay the
owners of said company a prior debt
which it may or may not owe them.
Now, these are practically the same
men and same interests that propose
to the mine owners of Silver City to
extend the Sutro tunnel under Gold
Canyon. | fear there is more danger
of the old hole being squeezed in than
likelihood of. the new one being exca-
waited.
They have organized company
which they call The Gold Cannon Tun-
mel Extension Co., which is simply an
other wheel within the Comstock Tun-
mel Company's whirligig, and they
printed contracts and spread them
around amongst the mine owners of
Silver City, and solicited signatures,
and widely advertised it's manifold
blessings and benefits, and adj
vertised every one who failed to
sign as a croaker and a knocker. l
failed to sign, and my friends failed to
sign. l managed to see copy of their
proposed contracts, and | thought |
could detect batchful of niggers peer
ing through. the fences. One provis-
ion was to the effect that mine should
be considered drained whenever the
tunnel got within 500 feet of any part
of it, whether it was actually drained
or benefited at all by the tunnel or not.
Another feature was to the effect that
no mine owner who did not also own
mill should be permitted to hoist his
own ore or waste rock, but would have
to send it through the tunnel at ten
cents ton per mile, making charge
of about 80 cents a ton to take out
waste rock. Finding very few men to
sign such contracts, the company now
broadly advertises that no royalty will
be charged unless the mines are
drained, and that their transportation
and milling features have been modi-
fled SO as to leave it largely" optional
with the mine owners whether they
will be permitted to hoist their own
ore and mill it or not. But there are
many other Objectionable features left
to the contracts. However, the COM
pany having tried to force the mine
owners to pay royalty whether their
mines were benefited or not, their pres
emit promises will bear the closest in
vestigation. They make a great blow
about having the necessary funds un-
derwritten, and are ready to commence
excavating the moment the contracts
are signed. 1t is a sufficient answer to
say that with such contracts signed,
no one ought to have any trouble in
raising the necessary funds, as it is but
another way of buying the mines very
cheap.
desire to add here that l am most
ardently in favor of the proposed ex-
tension, and ready to sign contracts,
but want exactly similar contracts as
the Comstock mine owners now enjoy,
with the single exception that the Sill
yer City mine owners should pay a
little more royalty proportional on
the greater distance for hauling.
Work has proceeded admirably under
those contracts, and there is no excuse
to change them now to suit the vaga-
ries of man that no one can contract
with.
believe | am entitled to further
add, that while have been damned
up and down for my opposition to the
contracts as drawn, the willing signers
can thank me for the two exceedingly