Year: 1866

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Doa IN THE MAxeER PoLIcY.-0ver two years
since Congress passed bill providing for the
establishment Of U. S. Branch Mint at the
Dalles. The bill included appropriation of
500 900 for the erection of the necessary out
buildings So far all was well, and had it not
been for the opposition of parties who should
have favored the measure, the Mint would have
been built and in operation before this time.
faction, who by no means represented the peo-
ple of Portland, determined that there should
be no Mint at all unless it was located at the
"emporium," ;" and through their opportunities
the measure has been delayed from time to time
until at last Congress has repealed the law, and
in lieu Of Mint we are to have Government as
say offices at Portland and Boise City. If insti-
tutions Of this kind are desirable, the country is
already well supplied, and any expenditure in
this regard the part of the Government is
money thrown away. There is not one-horse
town in the whole upper country that does not
boas: one or more assay Offices, the assays OF
which. pass the test of the San Francisco Mint.
So far as liabilities for assayiug the precious
metal are concerned we are already abundar:-
ly supplied, and the addition of one o. tvs Uoy-
erumeut assay Offices will serve little better than
FIFTH wheel to a WAGON. In this country we
use gold almost exclusively as circulating me-
dunn, and for this purpose dust is inconvenient,
and bars as ;ney come from the assay Offices are
even worse. To ship dust even assayed bars


rNoI int
coin, and then again returned to the place of
production, involves a heavy expenditure all Of
which eventually falls upon the producer. To
relieve this cass-the men who produce all our
wealth-we require a Mint that will as nearly as
may be convert upon the spot the yield of our
gold fields into coin. Who would think of send
ing the grain crop Of this country to San Fran
cisco to be converted into flour, and then return
ed here for consumption, and yet this is quite as
reasonable as to compel US to send our gold
crop TO San Francisco to be coined With re-
gard to the question of location, believe
large majority Of the miners and those engaged
in the mining trade would have preferred place
even more ccntra. than the Dalles, but Congress
having fixed upon that point there was geners
al disposition to acquiesce in the decision thus
made. What we complain Of is, that Portland,
in her anxiety to further her own selfish purpo~
scs, has deprived tie whole Northern country
Of the advantages that would have resulted
from the establishment Of a Branch Mint. Her
policy ha; been that Of a Mint at Portland or no
Mint at all, thus reproducing the fable of the dog
in the maugcr. In hi5 annual report for 1864,
the Secretary of the Treasury stated that the
preliminary arrangements were being made and
the work on the DalleE Mint would be proceeded
with as soon as these arrangements were COM
pleted. Right the heels of this official
nouucement, Senator Williams and Representa-
tive Henderson reached Washington, and at the
instisation Of their Portland friends, went to
work to undo what their predecessors had ac>
c)nplishcd. Their labors unfortunately were
crowned with success, and as a result the North
ern country has lost the Mint she SO greatly
needs, and Portland has gained-an assay oficeI
10 this instance grasping selfshness has over
reached itself The misfortune, however, is that
the whole country is made to suffer, and all on
account Of the Jealousy Of little Willamette
town. With another session of Congress, we
trust that this Branch Mint question will be ta-
ken up and satisfactorily adjusted. 1t is ques-
tion that mainly interests the gold producers
living east of the mountains, and in its solution
it is not necessary to consult the Willamette
apple growers. With the butter and apple trade
of Oregon we have no disposition to interfere,
and on the same principle we ask that those who
produce the gold shall be consulted and deferred
to in matters relating to its coinage. Nevada,
with not one-tenth our gold yield, is even now
having Mint built Let the Delegates from
Washington, Idaho and Montana unite in press
ing this Mint question at the next session of
Congress, and we are quite the response
will be favorable. We have suffered long enough
tie igyauyeaiocSe and loss attending the use OF
gold dust as q currency, and the time has come
when yHr Importance warrants u IN demanding
that tIc Government furnish us with facilities
ios converting our gold dust into coin. No Other
gold producing community of half our import
snee has been denied this favor, and there is no
reason to apprehend that our own Just claim
will be ignored.


The PHILADELPHIA CoSvENTIoN.-The call for
the Philadelphia Convention struck terror to the
hearts of the radicals in Congress. For months,
Stevens, Sumner, and the whole band of con-