Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1920-02-14

mercantile houses, especially tn,
 growing ones, ever reach the stag,
 where their working capital is suffi
 ciently large that they can success
 fully carry on their business without
 substantial aid from the banker, anc
 the larger the firm the larger tht bank loans usually are to tide it ovel its lean and stocking-up periods.
 In many lines of mercantile life there is nothing tangible, beyond gooc will and reputation, on which to make bank loans; whereas, in most mining enterprises, there are also real estate | and plant investments, besides reputa- tion, to furnish security for a bank loan. The vicissitudes and constantly
 changing factors in mercantile life make all mercantile paper more or less speculative, and the watchful banker is never free from anxiety as to whether some of his best customers will be able to take up their notes promptly when they become due.
 To say that no mining proposition can be called an investment-that money put into mining should only be for the purpose of reselling at profit i-is ultra conservation. About fifty years ago, when producing mines were few, and legions of prospects were be- ing floated as mines, there would have been a better foundation for an over cautious attitude toward mining. But with the great strides that have been made onward putting mining on a healthy plane-with the large outlays in development, work to prove up the magnitude and profitable character of ore bodies before attempting to put them on a producing basis-such ex- cessive conservatism is unwarranted.
 A timid investor or speculator would have sold Calumet & Hecla stock, bought as speculation for SIP in 1872, for $25 a share, and thus doubled his money. But the Boston investors who put it in their safes have seen it advance to $1,OOO a share, and have taken out over $1,55O per share in dividends ($1O to S1OO a year), besides being able to sell it today for over $4OO share in the present depressed condition of the copper industry. Yet few mines have been more unfavorably received by the market than was the stock named when it was floated, and few mines have been more conservatively man. aged in carrying large ore reserves and in frequently re-equipping the property with improved plants at the expense of junking earlier machinery.
 The stock of the Homestake mine could have been sold at profit in 1885, but those who locked up their stock have drawn about $6 year in dividends since then, and it is selling around $S0 share today (the par value being $100.)
 Quincy copper stock could have been sold at profit in 1862, when it paid its first dividend after organizing in 1848, but those who held their stock have drawn dividends of $2 to SIS 9 year (par value $25) since then that total over $250 per share, and today can realize over $70 a share.
 The St. Joe lead stockholder who in 1876 had held his stock for about ten years while the property was slowly converted from g prospect into mine could have sold at an attractive profit, but those who held their stock have received 60 cents to $40 annually in dividends that aggregate over $21,- 000,,000 and today can get about $14 for the stock (par value $10.)
 Though the number of mining stocks that could be held for years for their dividend return--held as in vestments for their income returns is large, emphatically disagree with those who assume that any investment of whatever nature-"can be lack ed up in safe for five years" No investment-no matter how seemingly safe and secure,-can be ignored and forgotten for even year, much less five years. New conditions are con- stantly arising in the life of all en-
 terprises are likely to affect their value greatly, and he who thinks that any investment is absolutely safe is