The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-09-14
The Business
OF Mining
CONTINUED from page 81

ing the elements of character are Of
supreme Importance and that in the
course of time they outweigh every
thing else and are those things that
make for success in any business man
The technical training is ground
work, and only a ground work. II We
find fault with the product of our tech
meal schools it is for their assumption,
real or fancied, that technical train
ing is the whole thing, that they are
creating professional men, not merely
business men.
Thus | come back to my theme-the
business of mining. Mining Is bust
ness. 1t should be so regarded. You
should consider yourselves as business
men, You are not going to have any
professional dignity to uphold that
the honest stockbroker or the con-
scientious manufacturer of wooden
goods has not got to have In mind.
Both of them may be just as honor
able men In business as are miners
and smelters. There is no greater fall
lacy than when 1t Is told of the miner
that he, like the farmer, is one of the
producers of clean wealth for the rea-
son that coming out of the ground II
does not come out of anybody else,
with the implication that other kinds
ef wealth are more or less tainted The
value Of minerals in the ground is in
herently nil One hundred million tons
of gold ore in Antarctic lands might
rot be worth any more than sand in
Florida. BY the expenditure of work
in overcoming the obstacles of nature,
it might become worth a great deal
All wealth is the result of human la
Dor, generally assisted by capital
which is the result of previous labor
The wealth accumulated by the Stand
adr Oil company by economies in the
manufacturing and marketing is just
as clean as the wealth that the miner
produces out of the ground. The bank
Ell broker or the merchant is just as
necessary and just as honorable
man of business as Is the producer
and men of business who talk in terms
OF profit are just as honorable as pro-
fessional men who talk about fees and
engineers who pride themselves upon
not being concerned with commercial
considerations.
The mistake that is most often made
in business is to suppose that we grow
rich by taking riches from other men,
or that nations prosper by depriving
other nations of their prosperity. That
would be true if riches consisted only
of money, and if there were just so
much money and no more in the world.
But that is not so. Nations grow
rich, that is to say, get a comfort, ease
and luxury, only when other nations
are growing rich too, only because the
other nations are growing rich. And
so it is with individuals.
Consider, therefore, that in going
out into the world from this school,
you are going into business-the bust
ness of mining, which is very inter-
esting business. Consider that you are
going into business to create wealth,
for if you do not create wealth you
will have a hard time of it and might
as we'll not try it, At first you will
probably have to make money for an
employer and a portion of what you
make for him will come back to you as
wages or salary. The cycle may not
be obvious. 1t may be delayed. But
the principle exists and always will.
You will see many things done in ways
that by book they ought not to be.
You will observe many examples OF
crude mining, of muscular metallur-
gy-less now than a quarter of cen
fury ago. But if muscular metallurgy
makes money and refined metallurgy
does not, obviously muscular metal
lurgy is the thing to do, for otherwise
there would be no bank account and
on pay day there would be gloom,
Keep that principle in mind, but OBJ
serve always and think whether by
doing the right thing an improved
metalurgy would not make more
money. Look at things always from
the standpoint of the business man
and not from that of the pedant and
doctrinaire. Rub against your fellow
man. Build up your character. Don't
be afraid to take chances and accept
responsibilities. And when the battle
10 over, let your friends be proud to
read an epitaph like this:
Here lies one who took his chances
In the busy world of men:
Battled luck and circumstances,
Fought and fell, and fought again;
Won sometimes-but did no growing,