Los Angeles herald., 1908-12-20
HEALTHY OPTIMISM
And What 1t Means in Mining

]
The president of one of the leading
national banks of this city, in the
course of a speech on THE Relation
/ of the Banker to the Miner given re-
Gently at the Alexandria hotel at
Get Together meeting Of the mining
men OF the southwest. stated thai min
/ ing was no more hazardous than any
other class of business, provided min
/ ing operations We're conducted with
1 the same care and strict attention to
/ business principles which is necessary
to make a success i'm any business.
The great southwest is rich in min
eral possibilities. The comparatively
small amount of work already done,
representing only a scratching of the
mineral deposits. is today yielding re-
turns in dollars and cents which show
a very high percentage indeed on the
capital invested i'm the industry, These
returns very thoroughly warrant the
attention of the investing public to
the opportunities for substantial profit
which mining offers. The banker
above referred to. however touched
the Keynote OF the situation when he
said that mining is no more hazardous
| than any other business. provided it is
/ followed strictly on business lines.
The man. therefore, who recognizes
| the enormous profit possibilities which
mining in the southwest offers must
first see that the particular enterprise
in which he proposes to invest his
money is conducted on the same strict
| business principles which he would
look fer in any other form of business
undertaking.
Such man must look for the min
ing enterprise which has back of il
practical mining men With sound bust
ness experience and with the ability
pay for the big amount of work and
for the extensive machinery which is
always needed to open up good mine
and TO place il ON a profit producing
basis.
students of mining history will certainly
agree that the management of a mining
proposition is Of more Importance to the
investors in the stock of that proposition
than are the engineers reports on the min
eIdl possibihties OF the ground itself.
strong management will do all in its power
to select a good property for its opera tions
and having started work on that property
may be relied upon to attend to the differ
ent stages of the development and equip
ment of the mine in a thorough and bust
nessike manner, and moreover it is equally
safe to assume that strong manag cement
will be in touch with sufficient capital to
bring the undertaking to successful issue.
While the path to every goal that is
worth striving for is always Uttered with
obstacles, it is probable that no industry
requires a greater amount of grit, of perse-
verance and of logged determination on the
part of those that follow it than does the
mining industry. There are. however, two
ways two policies two plans on which
any mining undertaking can be taken up.
One is by saying at the commencement that
the obstacles are nothing that a few thou
sand dollars VIII open up pay ore in big
quantities, and that in very few months
the undertaking win be paying enormous
dividends. This plan has unfortunately
nv ~
called optimistic arguments along these lines |
have secured large amounts % money IrOln |
the investing public. and who have sell !
dom secured any apprecablc returns q |
from the ground on which they proposed to I
operate and who therefore have backened |
the great mining industry in the eyes OF |
those who knew better than to blame |
mining rather than the men whose ill-advised |
statements gave them an entirely wrong |
opinion of the greatest industry Of the |
United States.
In its issue of December the Bulletin
of the Manhattan Securities Company OF
New York and Los Angeles contained an ar |
tiele entitled Healthy Optimism" In this |
article the writer makes the distinction be- |
fanaticism. He points out that optimism is
the quality which ali progress must rest, /
and describes the optimist in mining the |
man who recognizes in the undertaking he /
has before him more good points than bad |
points. The man, in short, who knows that |
there are obstacles to be overcome before |
In his ability to achieve that success ult-
mately, confidence in the policy and in the |
plans on which he is working, and is sus- I
tanned by this confidence in his efforts to
overcome all the bad points or obstacles |
which stand in his path.
On the other hand, the rank optimist is
stated TO be the man who cannot any
obstacles in his path and whose plan of
time the capital to overcome the OBJ |
stacle before success can be achieved. Such
a must necessarily be beaten before he |
starts because he has not been businesslilSe |
enough to provide for the contingencies /
which must arise.
The article above referred to is an index |
TO the character Of the Manhattan Seeur- |
ties Company itself, since the record of this
corporation proves that it combines sound
business methods and ample financing |
strength with that spirit Of sane healthy |
optimism which enables it to recognize all |
the obstacles which must be overcome in the |
big undertakings with which this corpora |
ton is identified, and while providing all |
equipment suggested by practical business |
experience to enable 1t to overcome such /
obstacles, still in its undertakings a
sufficient margin of good points and of
sound reasons for expecting success, to en-
able it to push forward and accomplish the
object for which it started.
AT the present time this corporation is re-
sponsible for three distinct mining opera
tons in the southwest, each of which is an
example of strong administration All
jerome, Ariz., there is the Haynes Copper
company, sinking a large permanent work
ing shaft in the great Schist ledge which
continues into the holdings of this company
from the United Verde mine, whose holdings
it adjoins The mine is well equipped for
permanent mining to great depth and Isl
operated by three shifts of men throughout
the twentyfour hours. Although the shaft
has not yet reached a depth at which sub
stantial enrichment might reasonably be
expected because Of the dip of the body.
nevertheless in the 400 and odd feet which
have so far been sunk, many rich punches
Of carrying over IA per cent copper and
nearly 500 to the ton in gold and silver
have already been encountered. The entire
formation in which the shaft is sinking IS
strongly mineralized, and every indication
which engineers expect and investors
ask for points to the development of cop
| per producer in the HAYNES rich and
as big and therefore profitable to its
| stockholders any of the great mines of
| that territory.
| In the Santa Maria district also in Ari-
zona, the Manhattan Securities Company is
/ responsible for the financing and operation
4 hold .,Ff ~ toll 81