Arizona republican., 1909-03-28

| When a mine operator is caught lying
 about his property he should be pun
 ished. When he is caught "guaran-
 teeing" thing and not making good
 he should be punished. And when
 a newspaper publishes what it knows
 to be false it should be punished
 Actual faking should always be pun
 ished.
 The question is what is faking?'
 and in agricultural communities, the
 idea seems to prevail that if one in
 vests in 'mine and fails to make a
 profit, he has been faked. The people
 lose sight of the fact that. if nothing is risked, nothing can be made, and, per- i haps, it may not be made, anyway In | principle, the same is true with any | investment, the only difference being | that in more conservative investments
 the possible profits are not usually suf- | ficiently alluring to greatly tempt. And why should anybody want mining
 stock? To make big profits as quickly | as possible. If that be the purpose, why shouldn't the investor take | chance?
 Reverting again to the present local | condition, criticism is offered at the
 reports because they are too alluring; | they excite people. That is just what | the people need. so long as the excite | ing influence is absolutely true. So ! far as The Republican is concerned,
 not one fact has been printed concern | ing the big strikes that was not either
 known to be true by observation of the
 writer, or the authority for the state
 ment given publicity in every instance. so that the reader might judge as well as the newspaper. The assays pub lished have been verified, all possible information has been secured as to geological formation and probable eX- tent of the rich zoRe. The values giv- en have seemed almost unbelievable. but that fact has been stated with publication. Ther are facts, just the
 same, and in addition. much of the
 rich ore has been placed on exhibition and speaks for itself. and all possible to learn of its quantity has been printed.
 The criticism is offered that such publicity will lead many people to search for gold who will not find it. | That is true, but how can it be found | if it is not searched for? And who
 knows who will find it. and who will
 not? And, moreover, it is quite true that those who have the nerve to go
 and look are generally the "blooded"
 ones who are willing to take the
 chance. and some of them do find it
 The criticism that it is wrong to en- courage them. because the bonanza
 ground is located, and the later pros
 have m hotter chance than he
 fore the strike, is foolish. The big strikes made in the world at one time
 and another are the mile-posts that
 guide people where to look for gold by
 a study of conditions It is true that
 when a big strike is made. it is i'm
 mediately grabbed by the lucky locator.
 or sold. But it shows the whole
 world that in that particu- lar locality it is possible for gold to exist in some quantity There is more logic in expecting to find more of it close by than in look ing for it in a cornfield or some place where gold was never found before. A man wishing to find a fish will look in the water. A man hunting for a place to raise a crop will get just as near as possible to where some one else has raised the best crop of the same kind. He may fail but he. figures that he has the conditions for possible success.
 Then comes the criticism that the people should be warned that they will probably fail when they go pros pecting; that because one man has a bonanza the chances for another are diminished; in other words that the readers of the paper are fools; haven't got good conservative common sense.
 The reply is. that outside of organs having a specific religious, political or class purpose in view, newspapers generally. if they are worth anything at all are necessarily optimistic. IL is their mission to publish what is. not what is not. It would take a big paper in every community to publish every day, all the things that did not occur. When a gold strike is made it is the duty of a newspaper, if in terested at all, to publish the facts in all their "bigness" so long as they are known to be facts. This is not less true in mining than it is in agricul- ture.
 A Phoenix newspaper publishes the fact that A raised ten tons of alfalfa on an acre last year. It is not con- sSered necessary to call attention to the fact that B, a trifling, good-for- nothing farmer, too lazy to care for his acre, only got four or five tons on the adjoining ranch. Then if A finds gold ore worth two or three | hundred thousand dollars a ton and the fact is published, as it should be, l why should it be necessary to warn | B, in a parallel column, that he is a fool if he thinks he can find any? | Probably he will not find it, for only | one in a great many pick up the real l good things, but he may, and that is | what he takes a chance for, and it | don't encourage him a bit to be told | that the reader has had experience | enough in this world to know that | the chances are against him in every | There are more blanks | than prizes in any game, and he | needs little education on that subject | It is the newspapers place to en- legitimately, wherever there | is a hook to hang the bait on. The | only requirement is that it must be a good hook and a good piece of bait, otherwise it would be falIing.
 The physician summoned to a sick room finds the temperature of the natiant to he 1O2 His first ohSary-a