The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-01-11
MINING MAKES A MARKET FOR
ALL PRODUCTS OF STATE.

We hope the people of Idaho, those
outside the mining sections, will give
serious attention to the report of Rob-
ert N. Bell, state mine inspector, for the
year 1916 There has been and is now
a feeling antagonistic to the mining
industry among large element Of the
population particularly among those
engaged in agricultural pursuits. This
we believe is due almost wholly to the
wide publication of the large profits
earned by the mining companies Gre
atng total misconception of the min
ing industry in the minds of agricul-
turists and those engaged in kindred
occupations. who fail to grasp the
vast expenditures made by these
same companies in order to earn the
dividends. AS an inducement to at
tract capital for the development Of
mines, the dividend record is of course
all important, but from the stand
point of the state the dividends are
important chiefly as a tangible argu-
ment to encourage exploiting the min
ing resources. The mining states of
the west are still young and are de-
pendent to a great extent upon OUT
side capital to develop their resources,
a situation which explains why the
greater part of the dividends from the
mines go to non resident stockholders.
This situation has led to the adoption
of a superficial and wholly wrong view
Of mining in its relation to the state.
The value of the product of the
mines of Idaho last year in round fig
ures is estimated to be about $4,000,
600 out Of this vast sum the high
est estimate of dividends is $11,500,
600, a little more than one-fifth Of the
total value, What became of the ball
ance? Probably half of ii went to the
railroads and smelters for freight and
treatment charges and for the pur-
chase of machinery and equipment,
while the other half was probably con-
sumed in the payment of wages to an
army of employees, the purchase of
mining timbers and lumber and the
numerous other expenses that enter
into the operation of mines These
figures apply to the productive mines.
To gain a correct idea of the disburse-
ments incident to mining the hundreds
Of prospects under development EN-
ploying from . to % men must be TAX
en- into account, for they are the mines
of the future
All these mining operations support
a large population through their pay
rolls and their enormous dlsburse-
ments enter into every avenue Of
trade. The people of the mining dis
tricts must be fed, as also must their
horses and dairy stock. and the very
nature of their situation renders this
impossible through their own re-
sources. They therefore present a
great market for the products of the
farm, the orchard and the range, a
market that is open every month in
the year and which pays the highest
price for everything 1t consumes With
the growth of the mining industry
the farmers, the fruit growers and the
stock raisers Of Idaho become more
and more independent of foreign mar
kets and are assured of better prices
in the market created by the mines.
Instead Of endeavoring to devise
laws for the purpose of holding up the
mining companies for more taxes, the
people in the agricultural sections Of
the state should study the mining re-
sources with the view to determining
the value of their development to the
permanent prosperity Of the state. Ig-
more dividends. They are large, Of
course: they must be in order to Sc
cure the large capital necessary in or
der to explore new districts and open
new mines. Consider the enormous