Show MINING AND THE WEST in financial and commercial centers in the east all eyes are turned to the west A great many whose attention has been directed westward are particularly interested in commercial pursuits in agriculture in farming and in stock raising but the greatest interest by all odds is being taken in our wonderful mining industry in reviewing the history of the west in noting its almost marvelous growth one cannot but be impressed by the fact that it was mining that reclaimed the deserts the valleys and hills and that had it not been for the adventurous spirit of the pioneer miner and prospector the pacific slope today be what it was fifty or sixty years ago an unknown country a barren waste a region beyond the confines of civilization to the mining industry the west owes a debt that can never be repaid and its very existence almost is due to the constant stream of imperishable wealth that has poured from our mines from the day that gold was first discovered in california As a matter of fact california with its genial climate its orchards and its groves the mighty commerce that is making its principal cities and sea ports famous the world over its large and rapidly growing population is but the outgrowth of the boom that was started when it was discovered that in the hills back from the coast there existed great and almost inexhaustible deposits of the metals and the same can be truthfully said of the interior states in this intermountain region gold was the lodestone that first led to the settlement ett lement of california by the amerl ameri can people and the spirit of unrest of enterprise ter prise and progressiveness caused the early pioneers to branch out and seek bonanzas in unknown fields the result being that there is hardly a western state today but that lias its mining camps its business centers and a country that is settled by the farmer the rancher and the fruit and cattle grower when the disgruntled man claims that mining is not a legitimate pursuit he should pause while lethe the net fiet results reul ts th the e benefits ot mining are being enumerated nothing that was great was ever founded on a falsehood or a lie on an insecure and rotten foundation and yet the splendid asplend id empire of the west was built upon nothing less than the mining ind industry and were this to fall fail it would not be long before the material interests of this region would become so demoralized zed that in course of time the whole country would be surrendered to the howling coyote and become again a virtual wilderness money to a certain extent is civilization take money and real values away from a country or nation and in in time it wili retrograde into savagery and as real values are based upon the per clous metals the industry which produces gold and silver cannot be otherwise than legitimate and the regions producing these metals must of necessity be the stepping stone to a growth in population to improvement and advancement on every hand without its mining industry there would be no west today the east would be much poorer and opportunities for safe and profitable investments would not be knocking at the door of almost every american citizen |