The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-05-01

were speculative, as is suggested by
the fact that these successful ones
are a few of the survivors from the
much larger number that were start
ell at about the same time and proved
disappointing. l may remind you, to
make my point quite clear that many
0 fthe famous mines of the world
broke those who first attempted to
bring them TO financial success. If
today you were to advise widow to
put her savings In any one of the
three magnificent mines that I have
instanced, you would. in my opinion.
! be an unwise counselor, because look
ing forward. not backward, for ten or
twenty years, they would represent a
] speculative use of the widows say.
ings. You might be sagacious in
using your own money for such
purchase, because you could take the
relatively small risk FOR. the sake of
the probably large gain but the
widow would be better advised to buy
Liberty bonds.
AT this stage of my argument I beg
you not to be annoyed at my .appar-
emily over-cautious attitude; you will
preciate the industry in which you
Iand / alike are so deeply interested. |
shall hammer my point home by one
further suggestion. You would not
n NH, ft,ur
stock in safe for five or ten years, as
you might do with first class bonds
you know that in the course of five
years the fluctuations in market value
are likely to be so wide as to compel
you in your Judgment either to cut a
loss or take advantage of a market
profit, on the other hand, a mine is
not a gamble, because the risk it in
wolves is not unreasonable it is dim
finished by knowledge and experience,
1t is lessened by the skill you can APP
ply both to the finding and to the
treatment of the ore. A miner always
needs some luck, Of course, but his
luck is friendly sprite, not the
grinning devil that sits by the roulette
wheel. Every business involves one or
more indetermnate factors and there
fore contains an element of risk
without risk there Is no gain, but
large gain usually involves large
risk. There are people in mining, of
course that take big odds, that like
a reckless bet; they are real gamblers
even if they are unaware of it; but
the risks taken in legitimate mining
are under some measure of control
they are met by scientific knowledge
and by trained intelligence. A blend
of pluck and Judgment is required
You will recall line in Kiplings
poem. "The Merry Gloster"; "And I
tC ok the chances they wouldn't and
now they're calling it luck" That is
why I insist that mining properly
other hand no man of experience in
these matters would expect to escape
all the risk. The idea of eliminating
risk from mining is both contrary to
the spirit of the business and false to
the history of it. TO understand min
irP-to appreciate the principles
guiding legitimate and successful
speculation in mines-which is my
subject-you must revert to the old
Cornish word for shareholders: they
were called adventures, that is, men
willing to take a venture.
Indeed the idea of avoiding risk in
mining is a pathetic fallacy; puerile
endeavor to escape the inevitable. The
attempt to find mines that would in
volve no risk to the capital sunk in |
them has tended to cripple the indus
try; the refusal of sundry so-called |