Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 4.djvu/220

210 deposits, much time would be saved to the depositor, and much gain and saving to the miner, whereas now, without a branch mint, the miners are forced to sell their dust to speculators, who must be paid for their time; and this payment is kept up till it reaches San Francisco—here from fourteen to twenty days are consumed before the dust is coined—though not more than two days before the value of the deposit by the assayer is determined. The treasurer has always on hand an amount of funds which could be paid out for the deposits made, which deposits, when coined, could replace that paid out, thus benefiting the miner by bringing him directly in contact with the Government, who has eventually to coin his dust, and save him time and "shaving" by the speculator, and to this extent materially benefits the country by distributing and disbursing the money in the very same region where it is dug from the earth. A branch mint for Oregon and Washington, and an authority for the assistant treasurer to pay out at once the value of the deposit as soon as the assay is determined, are two things which, if effected, would materially tend to benefit the miner, and hence the country; whereas now the time consumed in sending the dust from the mines and getting it back in coin must be paid for by somebody, and that somebody ever has been, and, unless these changes be made, will always be the miner. Just as quick as the dust of the miner is returned to him in coin in the minimum space of time and with the minimum "shave"—which in this case would be only the cost of transporting it to the branch mint and back,—then will the capital of the country be in the hands of the greater number, and that number a class of people who are interested in the material interest and prosperity of the country—and thus on [will our] roads, rivers, and works of internal improvement—our schools, academies, and all the elements