Gilpin observer., 1913-08-21
SENATOR THOMAS
SHOWS UP TRUST

Our Senator Thomas, in debate on
the proposed reduction or elimina-
ton of tariff on ores carrying lead
and zinc has clearly shown that the
Smelter trust is the sole beneficiary
by virtue Of the present duties on
this class of ores, with the result
hold on the miner and producer. He
hit the nail square on the head in
his statement that what the mine
; owner of the west needs protection
countries, but from the American
Smelling & Refining Co., the only
customer he has for his ores, the
concern to which the ores must be
sold If they are sold at all, and which
therefore pays, generally speaking,
what it must pay in order to obtain
the ore, giving a small bonus by
way of profit for the sake of keep
j ing the mines going, and themselves
reaping an enormous and stupend-
Gus profit upon $1OO, 1000, 600 of social
ed capital"
He also shows that the purchase
of lead and zinc conterts by the
trust on. the basis of st. Louis or
New York quotations was merely a
clever spbterfuge to rob the miner;
as they allow but a price of y cents
to two cents per pound on the quo
tation of s4.OO or $500 per hundred
pounds and one cent per unit for
each advance of cents per hundred,
thus absorbing four fifths OF the ad-
vance for themselves.
. Referring to the cry of the protec-
zionist that the wages of the miner
: would be hurt by the removal of the
tariff he proved by statistics that the
, labor cost of mining was less with
high priced American labor. With
J native labor in the mines of India
: at 20 cents per day the cost of pro-
, duction is 1886 per ton. In South
African mines the cost is s2.6S per
ton with labor at 4S cents per day,
while in the United States with lab
or at $3.50 per day, the cost is but
$1.92 per ton. 1t will be seen by this
, that the American labor brings the
highest price per day, but that the
| labor cost per ton is the lowest OF
any of these. The highest labor cost
per ton is the cheapest labor, name
ly, the Indian. -----
r Another fact is that there is no
danger that the wage rate will fall
in the mines of this country-that is,
in the mines of the west and the
) section where 1. live-because they
are kept up by the men themselves
and not by any protection whatsoever
Silver has no protection; its birth
l right has been taken away; it has
been outlawed, degraded among the
, metals of the world; but the wages
of a silver miner, like the wages of
gold, lead, zinc or of a copper min
l er, which is unprotected. is practic-
ally the same. all because of the
organization of the men themselves,
: who demand and receive good pay
| and who give the very best and there
fore the cheapest consideration for
it."
At the present time the smelter
l trust is eXacting a profit of from for
ty to hundred dollars per ton on
every ton Of lead CT zinc contained
in our ores. A total of $500 per
ton charge to cover the cost of the
freight, smelling, refining and metal
7 lurgical losses on lead or zinc ores
should be ample and Legitimate pro
fit for the purchaser of this class
of ores and would enable our mines
. to increase their tonnage tenfold and
employ a like increase of labor that
would result in increased prosperity
for Gilpin county. As it Is, we ap'
pear to be at the mercy of as vile
. and unprincipled bunch of pirates
as ever scuttled a ship in the per-
son Of the A. S. & r. company and
: it's agents. It is high time that the
government took a hand and curtail'
ed the trust from claiming their big
pound of flesh, either by government
: supervision or the installation of a
federal sampler and smelter. Sena
tor Thomas is doing good worl,
and should have the hearty support
Of every mining community.
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