The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-09-21
AN EVIL PRESUMPTION.

We are reminded by nm official cir"
! cular that the Ninth Annual session
of the American Mining Congress is
called to meet in Denver, Colorado, Oc-
tober 16, II, Is and 10. Wo have men
toned this coming session heretofore,
and noted that it seems to be working
towards an exclusively Colorado make
up. Thus, of the committees for the
present year those on building, on trans
portation, on membership, and on mine
drainage districts, are all made up en-
tirely OF Colorado men. Of the commit
tee of FIVE on programme, three are
Colorado men, and of the other two
regular committees, those on mining,
on temple, and on Department Of Mi
ming, Colorado has one member on each
of them. On committee, which is ap-
parently new one, entitled estate
Legislation Against Mining Frauds"
there is no Colorado man; it Is made
up Of Governor Pardee of California,
Senator LaFollette of Wisconsin, Gov
ernor Folk of Missouri, Senator Dubois
of Idaho, and Hon. Edward W. Mar
tin OF Deadwood, s. d. There is not a
Utah man on any one of the eight COM
mittees. There is a Utah man in the
directorate in the person Of Mr.. John
Dern Of this city, good representa-
tive of the mining industry, but in his
position having little to do with the
actual work Of this Congress.
We notice that in this new circular
there is a special leaHet in consonance
with the apparent purpose of the last
committee above mentioned, this leahet
being entitled "To Stop Wildcat Mi
ming" The circular says that bill
providing for the punishment Of all mi
ming fakcrsNand promoters Of illegiti-
mate mining enterprises will be drafted
by the American Mining Congress at its
coming annual session. California is
cited as State which has already
adopted law on this subject, (Which
has worked a complete riddance from
that State Of spurious mining stock and
that lecherous parasite on the mining
industry, the fake promoter
The statement is made that the pro-
posed legislation will be fashioned af-
ter the California law, which provides
that "any person who shall undertake
to sell or assent to the publication, pri-
vately or publicly, of a fraudulently
exaggerated report tending to give any
person or to the public generally the
idea Of greater value or less apparent
value than such stock may really pos
sess, with the intention Of defraudinp
any person or the public, shall be
deemed guilty Of a felony, and upon
conviction shall be punished by impris-
onment in the State prison or in the
county jail not exceeding two years, or
by n fine not exceeding $4,000, or
| both. -
| 1t is, of course, eminently desirable
to be rid of mining fakes and bogus mi
ming ventures, and to suppress fake
schemes in mining and the sale at sub
| stantial values of worthless mining
stock We will go further, and say
| that it is eminently desirable to stop
all fake enterprises, or business ven
| lures that are based upon fraud and
that depend for the money returns to
| the takers on the sale Of worthless or
| fraudulent stock. We do not see, how
ever, the special propriety Of singing
! out mining enterprises in this manner,
any moro than any other fraudulent en-
terprisc. California, perhaps, might in
dulge in this sort Of legislation especial
ly directed against mines, since there is
very little new mining enterprise going
on in that State. \We do not under
stand, however, from the quotation
given of the California law, that this
laM is directed especiallY against mi