Show THE SMELTER S SMOKE MOKE QUESTION in our last issue in these columns we made mention of the fact that the people of salt lake valley at a mass meeting gave an expression of their appreciation of the operation their community of the value to of the smelters shelters sm elters at murray and midvale and that the meeting was practically unanimous in the hope that they would he be permitted to run under the same regulations and restrictions governing their operation during the past few years in the article referred to the attention of the reader was called to the great depression in business that would surely follow the arbi tary closing down of the amel in question and to the financial loss that would result to all classes of bu business giness in the valley towns to the county and to the state at large under normal conditions the closing down of these reduction plants would certainly be a calamity and a foretaste of what the consequences would be has been most forcibly illustrated by the greatly decreased operations caused by the partial obliteration of the metal market because of the european war in consequence of which there is stagnation and demoralization in every smelting smelling sm elting and mining center in the west and every mining man every wideawake business man in this intermountain region is up in arms against this condition and nourishes the hope fiode that it will be of short duration this menace of the war is beyond the control of those interested in the welfare of the west and if the mines and smelters shelters sm elters of this region should be compelled to close down entirely because of its dire consequences quen ces no protest will avail but the closing down of the smelters shelters sm elters above mentioned because of the action of a little handful of protestants can certainly certainly be prevented and doubtless will be when those interested come to a full realization of the serious loss that would be sustained if they were obliged through adverse litigation to draw their fires and retire permanently from this field few there are who fully realize what the smelters shelters sm elters mean to this section and fewer still who have the slightest conception of the vast sums of money distributed by the valley smelters shelters sm elters as a result of their operation but a great drought in the region of the pocketbook would be keenly felt if they were compelled to retire from bus business in this county for instance in then their operation the smelters shelters sm elters at murray and midvale expend in wages in the purchase of supplies pay in taxes in freight and in the purchase of ores making a total of in real mo money ney that is put into circulation I 1 locally and annually by these two great plants in utah alone ac cording to figures carefully prepared 36 people would be seriously affected by the closing down of the smelters shelters sm elters and the mines of these are employed emp loyes of mining and smelting smelling sm elting companies and are dependents while rely upon the continuance of the mining and smelting smelling sm elting industry du I 1 stry for their livelihood in the suit for an injunction against the murray and midvale smelters shelters sm elters there are sixty one complainants who represent hut but 1600 acres of land which at the utmost could hardly produce more than 20 to the acre or an aggregate of and yet for damages in such a pitiable amount the complainants are seeking to kill two enterprises in their midst which annually distribute over twenty seven millions in wages taxes freights and in ore purchases it is unfortunate that a question of such serious and far reaching import cannot he be submitted to the people if such a thing were possible no doubt exists but that the vote would be overwhelming in favor of permitting the smelters shelters sm elters to operate for their closing would be at direct variance with public sentiment and against the best interests of the state at large |