On the other hand, there are mine managers who prefer the presence of some central, labor-controlling body; for they believe that the men who belong to such a large federation or organization will, and do, have less complaint to make and therefore work more freely than is the case with the independent laborers. The argument is that these union men are satisfied because they feel that their interests are being looked after with a sort of attention that they, individually, could not give.
This is not a place to discuss the crimes that have been laid at the doors of both the labor organizations and the mine owners' associations. It is safe to assume that wrong has probably been done by both sides. But it is furthermore right to believe that most of the crimes were not authorized, nor recognized, by the officers or the majority of members of either side. Individual members must not be taken as averages of the membership in any kind of civil, social or political organization.
It seems entirely wrong that politics should enter into the considerations of a mine manager whose operations are apparently so apart from affairs of state; but the fact remains that there are places where mining operations cannot be carried on without the good will of certain officials of the state or national governments. It is not advisable to enter into any compromising terms to gain privileges for carrying on any legitimate business for there are other, better ways, generally, of attaining the justice that is deserved.
One must not omit to investigate the sources of supply for all the needs of a mine and its camp. There are many kinds of materials needed to keep a mine going. Fuel, machinery, timber, water, food for men and beasts, lumber, and all household furnishings and necessities must come from some markets or natural sources. It behooves the cautious manager to see that all these things may be had in ample amount and at figures which will not prove annihilating to his business.
In Utah, there are mines which have all their timbers framed in and shipped from the forests of Oregon, the sawing and framing being done before shipment to save on freight. The fir of Oregon is shipped to distant Australia for mining purposes. The arid camps of Nevada get their supplies of timber from the sister state, California. The Michigan mines are fortunate in being in a lumber region. Colorado's metal mines are more favored in the matter of timbers than are the coal mines of the same state. Most of the coal mines are upon the barren plains, while the metal mines are chiefly in the wooded mountains.
Mill of the Pittsburg-Silver Peak Gold Mining Co., Blair, Nevada.
Water may be too scarce for the needs of a mine or its community. There may not be sufficient to supply boilers or a mill, or for the domestic purposes of the workers. On the other hand, water may be so abundant in the mine workings as to prove a deterrent factor in profitable operation. With shaft mines, having deep workings and low grades of ore, if water must be delivered mechanically, the costs for such drainage are frequently prohibitive of mining. Some mines, in arid regions, have been fortunate in striking such flows of underground water that it has been possible to operate mills right at the mines. In this way, the cost of water hoisting has been more than compensated in the milling benefits which, in turn, have decreased freights and treatment charges.
Machinery is usually purchased at centres of mining supplies and manufactures. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Denver and Chicago are the principal rendezvous in the West for mining men in need of machinery. Mexico City is, similarly, the outfitting point for the mines of southern Mexico. The United States holds the supremacy of the world in the matter of equipping mines and mills, large orders of American-made mining machinery being shipped to even the antipodes.
The nearer a property is to a depot of supplies, the less is bound to be the cost of getting goods onto the ground. It is this last item—the delivery of goods—that must be recognized as a very pertinent, and sometimes a critical, factor upon the cost side of mining accounts. Mines that are remote or in rugged countries are frequently dependent upon animal transportation. In some cases, machinery going to the mines must be so built that it may be taken apart into small portions suitable for loading upon the backs of horses or burros, or even, in the Andes, upon the frail llamas.