c/t 
 
 > 
 
 50 
 
 F 
 
 3 
 
 m 
 
BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 4- 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
SUTRO TUNNEL. 
 
 MINORITY REPORT 
 
 MR. 
 
 REVIEWED. 
 
 In his minority report, covering less than two printed pages, Mr, Sar- 
 gent refers to the Sutro Tunnel fifteen times as "the corporation," 
 while the Bank of California is spoken of thirteen times as "the 
 miners." 
 
 The fact is, that the Sutro Tunnel Company is largely composed of 
 the laboring miners, all of whom warmly support the measure, while the 
 Bank of California is well known to be the most gigantic, unscrupulous, 
 and oppressive corporation within the United States. 
 
 WASHINGTON, 1). C. 
 
 M'GILL & WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS. 
 1873. 
 
SUTRO TUNNEL. 
 
 MIJSTOEITT EEPOET 
 
 BY 
 
 M:R. 
 
 REVIEWED. 
 
 In his minority report, covering less than two printed pages, Mr, Sar- 
 gent refers to the Sutro Tunnel fifteen times as "the corporation," 
 while the Bank of California is spoken of thirteen times as "the 
 miners." 
 
 The fact i, that the Sutro Tunnel Company is largely composed of 
 the laboring miners, all of whcm warmly support the measure, while the 
 Bank of California is well known to be the most gigantic, unscrupulous, 
 and oppressive corporation within the United States, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 M'GILL & WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREO TYPEKS. 
 1873. 
 
c<*o" 
 
THE SUTRO TUNNEL. 
 
 ARGUMENTS DISPROVED BROUGHT FORTH AGAIN MINORITY 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON MINES AND 
 
 MINING REVIEWED. 
 
 For the last seven years the Bank of California, as shown 
 by the following extracts, has waged an unrelenting war 
 against the construction of the Sutro Tunnel, the most im- 
 portant and interesting work now in progress on this conti- 
 nent. The work being of a highly laudable, meritorious, 
 and national character, such war could only be successfully 
 carried on by willful misrepresentations and misstatements 
 a thousand times repeated. In order to set these finally at 
 rest, a commission was sent out to examine and report the 
 facts ; and these commissioners even, by the strenous efforts 
 of the agents of the Bank, were misled in some important 
 particulars. This induced the Committee on Mines and 
 Mining to examine the commissioners, as well as other 
 experts, in person, for the purpose of getting at the whole 
 truth. The examination lasted during several months ; the 
 testimony, embracing 800 pages, has been submitted to 
 Congress, and proves conclusively that the allegations made 
 by the Bank of California are not based upon facts. The 
 views of the majority of the committee, consisting of eight 
 members, are embraced in their report. The minority re- 
 port is made by Mr. Sargent alone. 
 
 THE MINORITY REPORT ANALYZED. 
 . Mr. Sargent says: 
 
 I. "The bill agreed upon by the majority is prefaced by a pre- 
 amble, containing six distinct recitals, some of which are 
 untrue, and all of which are immaterial." 
 
 The following is the preamble, which speaks for itself: 
 
" Whereas our public lands contain mines of the precious metals which are 
 unsurpassed in extent, and can, with proper development, be made speedily 
 to enhance the value of all property, and thereby relieve the burdens of the 
 people; and 
 
 " Whereas a wise policy indicates that the revenue derived from our mineral 
 lands should, to some extent, be devoted again to the much-needed develop- 
 ment of that important interest; and 
 
 "Whereas Congress, by an act approved July twenty-fifth, eighteen hun- 
 dred and sixty-six, authorized the construction of a draining and exploring 
 tunnel to the Comstock lode, in the State of Nevada, and granted to Adolph 
 Sutro certain rights and privileges, which have been assigned, transferred, 
 and set over to a corporation, duly organized under the laws of the State of 
 California, and known as the Sutro Tunnel Company ; and 
 
 " Whereas great benefits will accrue to the people of the United States from 
 the construction of said tunnel, which, as a great geological survey, penetrat- 
 ing into an argentiferous mountain to a greater depth than has yet been 
 reached by any similar work in the world, will establish the value of our 
 mineral domain ; and 
 
 "Whereas the principal wealth of our mineral regions consists in low-grade 
 ores, which can only be utilized by means of improved reduction, concentra- 
 tion, and smelting works, for the erection of which extraordinary facilities 
 exist at the mouth of said tunnel; and 
 
 "Whereas this work bears a national character, and its magnitude is beyond 
 the capacity of private enterprise, and the security offered to the Government 
 is ample for the repayment of any sums to be advanced under this act: There- 
 fore, be it enacted," etc., etc. 
 
 2. " Congress has already granted to Sutro and his corporation 
 
 franchises that for speculative purposes he claims are 
 worth over six millions of dollars a year." 
 
 Congress has granted certain franchises, which are of 
 no value unless the tunnel is completed ; and if they he then 
 worth six millions of dollars, they offer most excellent secu- 
 rity for a loan of two millions of dollars. 
 
 3. "These grants were made on the assurance that the corporation 
 
 would go on and construct its tunnel, and thus develop all 
 there was to be developed of the Comstock lode. This 
 has not been done." 
 
 The most persistent and strenuous efforts were made for 
 years to carry out the work, which would have been com- 
 pleted long before this time, had it not been for the con- 
 tinued, unscrupulous, and powerful efforts of the Sank of 
 California to prevent it. 
 
(See Prof. Newcomb's testimony, page 137.*) 
 
 "Q. (By Mr. SUTRO.) You spoke of Mr. Sharon a moment ago, the agent 
 of the Bank of California. Did he ever say anything to you about being 
 opposed to the tunnel? 
 
 "A. Well, he expressed himself very strongly when I first saw him in 
 the street in connection with the other commissioners. 
 
 "Q. When you were introduced to him? 
 
 "A. He did not address himself to me, but he expressed himself as very 
 strongly against the tunnel? 
 
 "Q. On what grounds did he state he was opposed to it? 
 
 "A. The grounds were not given, only he would crush it, or something to 
 that effect. 
 
 " Q. Did he make any remark to the effect that he would break it up, or 
 oppose it, if he could? 
 
 "A. Yes, in very strong terms. I cannot use the very words he did, but 
 I know the expression was very strong." 
 
 (See Major General H. Gr. Wright's testimony, page 
 210.) 
 
 "Q. (By Mr. SUTRO.) Did Mr. Sharon in his intercourse with you express 
 any violent opposition to the tunnel? 
 
 "A. He expressed an intention of opposing it certainly, as being in oppo- 
 sition to his own interests. 
 
 "Q. Did he say he was going to break it up if he could? 
 
 "A. I do not think he went so far as that. He said he meant to oppose it. 
 
 "Q. Now, General, let me quote here from a speech of Governor Blair, of 
 Michigan, in the House of Representatives, in which he uses the following 
 language : 
 
 "Mr. SUNDERLAND. I would like to have that whole speech taken down. 
 
 "Mr. SUTRO. All right; we will take down the whole of it: I want to ask 
 General Wright whether that agrees with his view or experience over there. 
 
 "Mr. BLAIR. The tunnel was not then begun, but when I was there I heard 
 a very diligent discussion of the question. The gentleman whose name has 
 been mentioned in this discussion, Mr. Sharon, the agent of the Bank of Cali- 
 fornia at the Comstock lode, took me in his buggy, and carried me to his 
 crushing-mills, and showed me the line of the new railroad he was building, 
 or rather got the people to build for him. He took me to his "mines to the 
 very bottom of them showed me all about them, and told me he was deter- 
 mined the Sutro tunnel business should be stopped." 
 
 Then, in closing his speech, Mr. Blair said: 
 
 "Sir, this Bank has waved its hand over the Comstock lode and ordered Sutro 
 away. That is the whole of this transaction, as it seems to me. 
 
 "Q. General Wright, did you, sir, in your intercourse with Mr. Sharon, 
 hear any similar expressions to that? 
 
 *A11 references are to official edition of the Testimony, printed by order of Congress. 
 
6 
 
 "A. I heard Mr. Sharon express, over and over again, his opposition to the 
 tunnel project. 
 
 " Q. Did he say he was going to stop it? 
 
 "A. I have no recollection of his saying that. 
 
 "Q. Did he say he would try to break it up; or didn't you arrive at that 
 conclusion from his statement? 
 
 "A. I arrived at the conclusion that he would do everything in his power 
 to prevent the project being carried out. 
 
 " Q. Do you think, then, he would try to set aside a law of Congress? 
 
 "A. I certainly do; but how he was to proceed about it of course I do not 
 know. I had some conversation with Mr. Sharon upon the subject, but I 
 never asked him a question in reference to his views. These were rather 
 casual expressions." 
 
 THE DEBATE ITS CONGEESS, MAECH 23, 1870. 
 
 "Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on Mines and 
 Mining, I have given the bill which is now before the House some reflection, 
 and I have come to the conclusion, with eight of my colleagues on that com- 
 mittee, that the bill ought not to pass. Only one member of the committee 
 (Mr. Sargent) can be found to advocate its passage. It is true that the judg- 
 ment of the eight members of the committee may perhaps be at fault ; but I 
 think if the House will carefully investigate the subject, they will come to the 
 conclusion that the bill is an outrage upon the rights of Mr. Sutro and his 
 company. 
 
 "Now we see, sir, the very superintendents of the mining companies, who 
 had subscribed, together with private individuals, the aggregate sum of $600,- 
 000 toward the construction of this tunnel, telegraph to the Senators from 
 Nevada that they are opposed to the Sutro tunnel ; that they want it defeat- . 
 ed ; and that they repudiate their subscriptions. How, then, could Mr. Su- 
 tro go on with his tunnel? He was not a man possessed of great fortune. He 
 had raised the amount of $600,000, and these very identical men, who had 
 subscribed for the purpose of constructing the tunnel, turned round and tele- 
 graphed to Senators STEWART and NYE the former of whom was actually, in 
 1865, the president of the Sutro Tunnel Company that they did not want 
 the tunnel, and wished it defeated." 
 
 4. "And now the corporation comes again and asks Congress for 
 three million dollars, with which to construct its tunnel, 
 and the committee propose to appropriate two millions." 
 
 The work is being pushed ahead by day and by night, 
 at an expense of $3,000 for every twenty -four hours; and 
 the committee recommend a loan of $2,000,000, with the 
 strongest restrictions, and with the most ample security. 
 The work in its results being of national importance, and 
 in its magnitude beyond the capacity of private enterprise. 
 The proposed loan is but a small proportion of the total 
 
cost of the work, and is asked for mainly to secure a sub- 
 stantial recognition of its national importance, 
 
 5. "Neither the Government nor the people have any interest in 
 
 this scheme. They will not be benefited by it in the 
 least, if it should prove financially successful." 
 
 Both the Government and the people have the deepest 
 interest in the execution of this work. It will practically 
 demonstrate the continuance of mineral lodes to greater 
 depths than have ever before been reached in the world, thus 
 contributing largely to science, and at the same time in- 
 creasing the value of our mineral domain to the extent of 
 thousands of millions of dollars. 
 
 6. " While the Government is asked to furnish the money to 
 
 construct the tunnel and assume the risk of its failure, all 
 the benefit will accrue to the corporation." 
 
 The Government assumes but a very small proportion 
 of the risk, if there be any. One million dollars has been 
 expended on the work during the year 1872 alone, and 
 under the bill an equal amount must be expended hereafter, 
 before any advances whatever are to be made. If the suc- 
 cess of the work places millions in the coffers of the nation, 
 the fact that the individuals undertaking it will derive bene- 
 fit therefrom does not weaken the argument in its favor. 
 
 7. "It is not denied that the construction of this tunnel will 
 
 render valueless in fact, destroy- over twelve million 
 dollars of private property. The property of every in- 
 habitant of Virginia City and Gold Hill will we rendered 
 valueless, if this tunnel proves a success." 
 
 The construction of the tunnel will not destroy any 
 property at all. If it should depreciate the value of some 
 town lots at Virginia City, it will be on the same principle 
 that stage coaches depreciate in value after the introduction 
 of railroads. The depreciation which will take place in the 
 value of some property has been assumed to be about one 
 million of dollars, while the value of the mines on the Corn- 
 stock lode alone will be increased to the value of one hun- 
 dred million dollars. The inhabitants of Virginia City and 
 Gold Hill should be the best judges of their interests. At 
 
8 
 
 the late election the issue was directly made upon the tunnel 
 question, and the Hon. Chs. W. Kendall, in advocating the 
 measure, was 800 votes ahead of his ticket in that locality. 
 
 8. " The tunnel is a mere private speculation, and has no claim 
 whatever upon the Government for aid." 
 
 Construction of the tunnel was authorized hy the Legis- 
 lature of Nevada and the Congress of the United States. 
 The President appointed a commission to examine the 
 same, and calls special attention thereto in his late mes- 
 sage. The great national importance of the work has been 
 recognized by the Legislature of Nevada, and by every 
 committee which has examined the subject in the 39th, 
 40th, 41st, and 42d Congresses. 
 
 For reference see : 
 
 1st. The act of the Nevada Legislature, entitled " An 
 act granting the right of way and authorizing A. Sutro and 
 his associates to construct a mining and draining tunnel," 
 approved February 4, 1865. (See Book on Sutro Tunnel, 
 
 p. n.) 
 
 2d. The contracts with the mining companies. (See 
 Book on Sutro Tunnel, p. 173.) 
 
 3d. Law of Congress, entitled "An act granting the 
 right of way and granting other privileges to aid in the 
 construction of a draining and exploring tunnel to the Corn- 
 stock lode, in the State of Nevada," approved July 25, 
 
 1866. (See U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. 14, p. 242.) 
 4th. The Comstock Lode, its Character, &c. By Ferdi- 
 nand Baron Richthofen, Dr. Phil, San Francisco: Towne 
 & Bacon, printers, 1866. (See Book on Sutro Tunnel, p. 
 95.) 
 
 5th. Joint memorial and resolutions by the Nevada Leg- 
 islature, asking Government aid in the construction of the 
 Sutro tunnel, 1867. (See Book on Sutro Tunnel, p. 13.) 
 
 6th. Report of the Legislature by the Senate Committee 
 on Federal Relations on the foregoing memorial, 1867. (See 
 Book on Sutro Tunnel, p. 77.) 
 
 7th. Resolutions by the Nevada Legislature, January, 
 
 1867. (See Book on Sutro Tunnel, p. 92.) 
 

 9 
 
 8th. Report to the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco 
 by a special committee appointed to investigate the merits 
 of the Sutro tunnel, April 4, 1867. (See Book on Sutro 
 Tunnel, p. 141.) 
 
 9th. Report on the Sutro tunnel by Hon. Joseph S. Wil- 
 son, Commissioner of the General Land Office, Washing- 
 ton, June, 1868. (See Miscellaneous Documents, No. 156, 
 40th Congress, 2d session.) 
 
 10th. Report of the Committee on Mines and Mining to 
 the United States House of Representatives, recommending 
 an appropriation of $5, 000,000 by the Government. (Pub. 
 Doc. ; see Report No. 50, 40th Congress, 2d session.) 
 
 llth. Proceedings in the House of Representatives of 
 the United States, March 17, 22, and 23, 1870, and in the 
 United States Senate, April 27 and 28, 1870. 
 
 12th. " An act authorizing and requesting the President 
 of the United States to appoint a commission to examine 
 and report upon the Sutro tunnel," approved April 4, 1871. 
 
 13th. Report of the commissioners on the Sutro tunnel. 
 (See Ex. Doc. No. 15, 42d Congress, 2d session.) 
 
 14th. Evidence taken by the Committee on Mines and 
 Mining, 42d Congress, 2d session. 
 
 15th. Reports of the United States Commissioners on 
 Mines and Mining for the years 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 
 1870, and 1871. 
 
 9. "It is simply a huge job, got up by speculators, to tax the 
 miners on the Comstock lode, without conferring any 
 adequate or substantial benefits in return." 
 
 The Sutro Tunnel Company was organized under vol- 
 untary contracts with the mining companies, establishing 
 rates fair, just, and equitable. No payments are to be 
 made until after the completion of the tunnel, when the 
 benefit to the miners will be many fold the rates which 
 have to be paid. 
 
 (See Debates in H. of Rep., March 23, 1870.) 
 
 " Mr. KERR. I think that in the original proposition there was nothing 
 wrong, nothing unjust, nothing oppressive, nothing that in any of its char- 
 acters and incidents is extraordinary, as is intimated by the honorable gen- 
 tlemen on the other side. In addition to what I have said, I desire to call 
 
10 
 
 attention to a further fact, that under the law, which it is now desired to 
 repeal, and under the contract which that law adopts, not one of these min- 
 ing companies or individual miners is required to pay one farthing to this 
 tunnel company in the way of royalty or anything else, until the tunnel shall 
 have been constructed and they shall have begun to derive advantage from 
 it. In other words, the entire obligation is strictly reciprocal ; its burdens 
 and its benefits go together; they run constantly and perpetually in parallel 
 lines. And the whole assumption, therefore, that there is oppression or injus- 
 tice or monopoly in this matter, strikes me as being very far-fetched and purely 
 unfounded." 
 
 10. "Part of the scheme, directly provided for in the bill by an 
 appropriation of half a million of the people's money, is 
 to secure a monopoly of quartz-crushing and smelting to 
 the corporation." 
 
 The waste in the reduction of gold and silver ores, as 
 at present practiced, is a disgrace to our intelligent age. 
 35 per cent., or eight millions of dollars, are annually lost 
 to the mining companies in the reduction of the ores of the 
 Comstock lode ; while it has been shown that concentrating 
 and reducing works at the mouth of the tunnel will save 
 TO per cent., or $5,750,000 per annum of what is now wasted. 
 At the same time it will serve as a pattern-work for making 
 available the thousands of millions of dollars contained in 
 low-grade ores throughout our mineral domain, and which 
 are now of no practical value. The Bank of California 
 and the milling and mining rings oppose the construction 
 of the tunnel, and the consequent erection of mills at the 
 mouth of the same, since these will be able to work much 
 cheaper than can be done under the present system, which 
 will consequently break up their existing monopolies. 
 
 (See Evidence, page 135, testimony of Prof. Wesley New- 
 comb.) 
 
 " Q. (By Mr. SUTRO.) If mills were erected at the mouth of that tunnel, 
 Professor, with the present mode of reducing the ore that is, to crush the 
 ores and amalgamate them and save the tailings do you think that, in run- 
 ning those tailings over concentrating-tables and concentrating-works, a 
 greater saving could be made?" 
 
 "A. I think it is a disgrace to any country that we lose 35 per cent, of the 
 metals." 
 
 (See Commissioners' Keport, page 22.) 
 
 " The loss of precious metals in the reduction by the German and English 
 
11 
 
 methods is represented to be not exceeding 5 per cent., while in Nevada it is 
 not far from 35 per cent, in milling, with a saving of perhaps 10 per cent, 
 more in the subsequent workings of the tailings and slimes, making less than 
 75 per cent in all. The actual loss in reduction, therefore, appears to be 
 more than 25 per cent., which, for a production of $15,000,000 per annum, 
 entails a loss of the precious metals exceeding $5,000,000, or a loss beyond 
 what would result from the methods referred to, by which 95 per cent, is 
 saved, or at least $4,000,000 annually." 
 
 II. " The miners do not want this tunnel. They protest against 
 it. They insist upon their right to manage their own 
 property in their own way, without any interference on 
 the part of this corporation or the Government." 
 
 It is not the miners, but the Bank of California, and 
 the milling rings and monopolies, who protest against the 
 tunnel. The laboring miners, the miners' unions, and all 
 the laboring classes petition for it. They want it built as a 
 great exploring work, giving an unknown impetus to min- 
 ing, employing tens of thousands of people, and securing 
 their health. Overgrown monopolies and unscrupulous 
 speculators oppose the work, while the bone and sinew, the 
 honest laboring miners, support it with all their might. 
 
 (See Evidence, page 83, testimony of Major General J. G. 
 Foster.) 
 
 "Q. (By General NEGLEY.) My inquiry arose from the fact that miners in 
 our coal mines are almost invariably opposed to any innovation or new cus- 
 tom in the old-established rules of mining. 
 
 " A. Now that you have mentioned that, I will say the miners, as far as I 
 could get information from prominent men, seemed to be in favor of the tun- 
 nel. I believe the miners' union is in favor of the tunnel. 
 ' "Q. Did they give you their reason? 
 
 "A. No; they had no reason that I knew of. They had their preferences 
 though. 
 
 "Mr. SUTRO. General, do you know who are opposed to the tunnel, or at 
 least who are charged with being opposed to it over there by these people 
 you speak of? Who is at the bottom of it? 
 
 "Mr. FOSTER. If you want a straight- forward answer, I would say that the 
 property owners in Virginia City, those who have money invested in the 
 mills around there, the Bank of California, through its agent, and the rail- 
 road company. 
 
 "Q. May I ask you who the owners of the railroad are, as far as you 
 know; whether it is owned by the Bank of California or its men? 
 
 "A. I don't know who the owners are. 
 
 "Q. Well, what did you hear over there? Tell us simply by hearsay. You 
 cannot have an absolute knowledge? 
 
12 
 
 "A. I haven't the slighest idea who owns that road. 
 
 "Q. Who has control of it? 
 
 "A. Mr. Sharon seemed to control it. 
 
 " Q. The agent of the Bank of California? 
 
 "A. Yes, sir. 
 
 "Q. Who owns the majority of the mills over there? 
 
 "A. On the Carson river? 
 
 "Q. Yes, sir; and the other mills the majority of the mills? 
 
 "A. A very large number of the mills are owned by the Union Mill and 
 Mining Company. 
 
 11 Q. Do you know whether the Bank of California has anything to do with 
 that? 
 
 "A. Mr. Sharon has a large amount of stock in that, I believe, but I am 
 not positive. 
 
 "Q. Is he the agent of the Bank of California? 
 
 "A. I heard so. 
 
 "Well, then, the opposition to it is by the Bank of California, by the rail- 
 road, and by the mills, which means the Bank of California and by some 
 people who own town lots in Virginia City." 
 
 (See evidence, page 266 testimony of T. L. Kequa.) 
 
 " Q. (By Mr. SUTRO.) Do you know who compose the Union Mill and 
 Mining Company ? 
 
 " A. I do not exactly know. I know who did a portion of the parties who 
 did compose it. 
 
 " Q. Do you not know who compose it now, principally ? 
 
 " A. No, I cannot say that I do. 
 
 " Q. Do you know that Mr. Sharon is a large owner? 
 
 " A. Yes, sir. 
 
 " Q. Mr. Ralston ? 
 
 "A. Yes, sir; he is reputed to be. 
 
 " Q. Is not Mr. Mills president, of the Bank of California? 
 
 " A. Yes, sir. 
 
 " Q. Are not they the owners of the whole property ? 
 
 " A. I think there is no interest outside of that. 
 
 " Q. They are about the principal owners then ? 
 
 " A. So I understood. 
 
 " Q. Then the main owners are the president of the Bank of California, the 
 cashier of the Bank of California, and Mr. Sharon, their agent at Virginia 
 City? 
 
 "A. Yes, sir; that is my understanding." 
 
 (See Evidence, page 138 testimony of Prof. Wesley New- 
 comb.) 
 
 " Q. (By Mr. SUTEO.) How do they show the opposition to the tunnel, 
 Prof. ? Do they exercise any influence over the people at Virginia City, in 
 such a manner as to prevent them from becoming interested in the tunnel 
 and seeing it go ahead ? 
 
13 
 
 "A. Well, we took the evidence of some of the miners in regard to that; one 
 of them particularly specified that he did not wish to have his name given in 
 connection with it in any way; and, in the course of conversation, he stated 
 that if the mining ring knew that any intelligence was communicated to the 
 commissioners, adverse to what was thought to be in their own interests, and 
 in favor of the tunnel, the parties communicating it would be discharged from 
 employment, and he would not like to have his name mentioned in connec- 
 tion with it. He gave us some little information upon the subject, still 
 further in regard to the amount of low-grade ores." 
 
 (See Speech by the Hon. Wm. D. Kelley in the House of 
 Representatives, March 23, 1870.) 
 
 "Gentlemen on the other side have spoken for the owners of mines. I pro- 
 pose to speak for the miners, the men who with pick and shovel extract the 
 ore, and forty-five per cent, of whom die of miners' consumption, which seizes 
 them and penetrates their vitals before they are admonished of its approach, 
 and who die in their youth, or in the vigor of their young manhood, pros- 
 trated by the heat and poisoned by the atmosphere of these mines. These 
 industrious men are subscribing to stock in the Sutro Tunnel Company ; they 
 swarm behind Mr. Sutro, and beg Congress to vest all the rights in him that 
 will enable him to redeem them from the terrible doom to which the so-called 
 miners' friends would still condemn them." 
 
 ******** 
 
 "Sir, I brought with me from one of these mines a bit of blackened ore, 
 blackened by the smoke of a fire that smothered and burned forty- five of 
 these men in the mine. Had there been a tunnel such as Mr. Sutro is con- 
 structing, they would have been breathing pure air while at work ; and though 
 the lumber of the mine might have burned, the miners could have dropped 
 below the fire and escaped." 
 
 1 2. " The miners have bought their lands from the Government 
 and paid for them. The Government has no more right 
 to dictate to them how they shall work their mines than 
 it has to dictate to the farmers how they shall cultivate the 
 farms which they have bought from the Government and 
 paid for." 
 
 The mining companies, to a large extent controlled by 
 the Bank of California, simply bought a squatter's right to 
 the mines. They held them at suffrance from the Govern- 
 ment, and the title was only conveyed under the condition 
 expressed in the patents, that the rates named in the con- 
 tracts should be paid, in order to secure the execution of a 
 work deemed necessary, essential, and important by all par- 
 ties concerned. 
 
 (See Debate in House of Representatives, March 23, 1870.) 
 " Mr. KERB. It is said that the old law organized a monopoly' in Nevada. 
 
14 
 
 I do not understand that it does any such thing or brings about any such 
 result. This tunnel idea stands upon a very common one in application to 
 various other subjects throughout the country, and it is only by the name 
 that is given to it in Nevada that the people are misled and do not under- 
 stand just what it means. The country is everywhere familiar with various 
 systems of ordinary sewerage and drainage in cities, towns, and the country. 
 The obvious principles of law, of just and fair contributions for common ad- 
 vantages and benefits, on which they are maintained, are well understood. 
 There is no character of monopoly or uncommon hardship about them. 
 
 "Now, Mr. Speaker, the whole of this law consists in this simple proposi- 
 tion, that here is to be constructed a sewer, if you please a drain, that will 
 inevitably benefit every owner whose property is in any way reached and 
 drained and ventilated by it. In this city of Washington and in all the 
 cities of this country it is a common practice to require the persons who de- 
 rive advantage from the construction of such works to contribute to their 
 construction originally and to their maintenance thereafter. 
 
 "But it is very clear, Mr. Speaker, that while gentlemen say here that 
 these people had a possessory right in this soil before this last law was passed, 
 they utterly destroy the value that is in that position when they also say 
 that the mines involved in this legislation have very great value, and that 
 out of these mines these same miners have already extracted $100,000,000 in 
 precious metals. Now, if that be so, it seems to me that for that shadowy, 
 that unreal, that executory it is not that much in law that mere possessory 
 claim of right, they have been most munificently paid, and ought not to come 
 back here and ask for more. But a further answer to their position is found 
 in the fact, that when the original application to Congress was made, these 
 miners themselves went to work and executed these voluntary individual 
 contracts with this tunnel company, by which they agreed, whenever the 
 tunnel was constructed, to contribute these several sums to aid its construc- 
 tion and maintenance. 
 
 "Mr. FERRIS. The gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Fitch) talked about the 
 right which the owners of these mines have acquired Up to the passage of 
 the Sutro tunnel act, as it is called, the third section of which gives a royalty 
 to the constructors of the tunnel in case they drain the mines up to that 
 time there was no law upon the statute book which gave any man in this 
 country a right to one single foot of mining land, with the exception of a 
 sm.all quantity of lands in California, the right to which was acquired under 
 the Mexican title, so-called. In all other cases every occupier of every foot 
 of the mineral lands was merely a squatter. All the title he had was a mere 
 license a mere privilege granted by the Government. 
 
 "Mr. WOODWARD. Well, sir, yesterday we had an extraordinary spectacle 
 on this floor, when the only representative of the State of Nevada denounced 
 that legislation in the most violent manner as improper and dishonest. The 
 act of 1866 looked to the commencement of the greatest work of internal im- 
 provement that has ever been contemplated in the State of Nevada. It was 
 legislation which was calculated to develop her mineral resources to a greater 
 extent than anything else that has been proposed. This legislation was yes- 
 terday denounced on this floor by the Representative of the State of Nevada 
 
as dishonest and corrupt. Now, Mr. Speaker, I say that my eloquent friend 
 from Nevada, in opposing this bill, manifestly does not represent the State of 
 Nevada. He says that he does not represent the 'bank ring.' I do not know 
 that anybody charges him with doing so. But he does not represent the State 
 of Nevada, or else the documents which we had before our committee for a 
 whole year were forgeries." 
 
 13. "Two years ago a commission was appointed, consisting of 
 one civil and two military engineers, to visit the Corn- 
 stock lode and examine and report upon the tunnel pro- 
 ject of the Sutro corporation. *That commission per- 
 formed its duty, and its report is before us. The report 
 is very carefully written, and is adverse to this scheme 
 on every point which the commissioners investigated." 
 
 The report is favorable, except upon such points as 
 were hased upon statements furnished by the agents of the 
 Bank of California. The testimony afterwards taken has 
 conclusively proven that these were made by interested par- 
 ties, and that many of them are false. 
 
 14. "That commission reports that the tunnel 'is not a necessity 
 for ventilation or drainage.' " 
 
 The testimony of the commissioners, together with that 
 of other experts, proves the tunnel to be of the highest im- 
 portance, both for ventilation and drainage. Newspapers 
 have for years been employed to state that there is no water 
 in the mines, while the evidence shows this to be the great- 
 est obstacle in prosecuting mining operations on the Corn- 
 stock lode. 
 
 (See Evidence, page 211, testimony of General W. T. 
 Wright.) 
 
 " Q. (By Mr. SUTKO.) Did you calculate, General Wright, how much the 
 water amounted to in tons in the Ophir mine, taking the average of the year 
 commencing with June, 1870, and ending the 1st of June, 1871? 
 
 "A. The average was lOf inches. 
 
 "Q. How much would that be in tons for twenty-four hours ? 
 
 "A. Seven hundred and eighty-one tons and five one-thousandths (781 T7 5 irg -.) 
 
 " Q. Did you make any figures on the maximum quantity, as stated by Cap- 
 tain Day, for that year, which is 18 inches? 
 
 "A. Eighteen inches gives the weight for twenty-four hours at 1,318 tons. 
 ******** 
 
 11 Q. Wouldn't you think it quite likely? [that in tapping the vein the 
 water would come back to this standard.] 
 
16 
 
 "A. I should think certainly that they would find more water as they go 
 into the vein." 
 
 (For further particulars in regard to drainage and venti- 
 lation see Book of Evidence, pages 364 to 374; also Mr. 
 Sutro's argument, pages 416, 417, 418, 419, and 420.) 
 
 15. "It also reports that the present cost of mining and transport- 
 
 ation of ore is $700,000 per annum less than after the 
 completion of the tunnel and its use for transportation." 
 
 The testimony shows that the comparative cost between 
 the present mode of mining and that through the tunnel 
 will make an annual saving of $9,391,751 in favor of the 
 latter. 
 
 (See Recapitulation in Mr. Sutro's argument, Book of Evi- 
 dence, page 425.) 
 
 16. "It shows that the miners are taxed the enormous rate of $2 
 
 per ton on all their ore after the tunnel is built, for the 
 use of the corporation, whether they use the tunnel or 
 not, thus compelling them to adopt the more expensive 
 method." 
 
 The tax of $2 per ton has been shown to be a mere 
 trifle compared with the benefits the tunnel will furnish. 
 The Union Mill and Mining Company, "owned by the 
 Bank of California/' the principal opponents of the tunnel, 
 now exact a clear profit on every ton of ore worked of $5 50, 
 which will be saved after the completion of the tunnel. No 
 tax whatever is imposed, except in case ore is taken out, and 
 the full benefits of the tunnel are realized. 
 
 (See Evidence, page 268 testimony, of I. L. Requa, super- 
 intendent of the Chollar Potosi mine, sent to Washington 
 to testify against the tunnel.) 
 
 " Q- (by Mr. SUTEO.) Then we get 83,775 tons on which your company 
 paid for milling. You say it cost $4 50 to mill ? 
 
 "A. on the river, I think so, at the present rate of working. According 
 to the present modes, under the reorganization of some of the mills, they have 
 increased their capacity very materially, and they can work ores cheaper 
 than they could twelve months ago. 
 
 " Q. Will you be kind enough to figure how much it would come to, mill- 
 ing 83,775 tons, at $4 50 per ton ? 
 
17 
 
 41 A. I think the exact figuring about $376,000 $377,000 nearly. . 
 
 " Q. Taking the price paid at $10 a ton. how much difference does that 
 make? 
 
 " A. That would be $837,750 ; $377,000 deducted from that leaves $460,000. 
 
 " Q. Then the Chollar Potosi Company paid a profit to the Union Milling 
 Company of $460,000 in one year ? 
 
 " A. No, I think not. They did not work it all by water-power. There 
 was steam-power used on a good deal of the ore. We had worked out 83,775 
 tons. 
 
 17. "The Government is asked to appropriate money to fasten 
 
 the yoke of this corporation on the miners' necks for all 
 time, and compel the miners to adopt a more expensive 
 method of working the mines than their own industry 
 and intelligence have created, for the benefit of this cor- 
 poration." 
 
 It has already been shown that it is not the miners, but 
 the Bank of California, who still cling to the hope that 
 they can prevent the completion of the tunnel. If the 
 pending bill is passed its speedy construction will be insured, 
 and hence the violent opposition to its passage by the Bank 
 of California. 
 
 1 8. "Sutro and his company find the miners on the Comstock 
 
 lode taking out ore valued at millions annually. Neither 
 he nor his company have any interest in these mines; 
 but they devise a plan by which they seek to levy tribute 
 forever upon them. 
 
 Parties connected with the Sutro Tunnel Company are 
 largely interested in the mines, and are opposed to the 
 swindling practices perpetrated under the auspices of the 
 Bank of California and its confederates. 
 
 (See evidence, page 186, testimony of Professor Wesley 
 Newcomb.) 
 
 " Professor NEWCOMB. * * * One of the superintendents told me that they 
 were in the habit of taking the low-grade ores, which would not pay the ex- 
 pense of milling, and mixing them with good ores, to furnish the reduction 
 works with material, thus cheating the mines absolutely out of the cost of 
 that reduction. 
 
 "Q. Who was the superintendent? 
 
 "A. I didn't name him. 
 
 "Q. You decline to give his name? 
 
 "A. The statement was made in the presence of the superintendent of the 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 Crown Point. I don't wish to involve the character of any individual; but 
 to me it looked as though he was derelict in his duty. 
 
 (See page 187 of the same.) 
 
 "Q. Is it not common report, and known to everybody, that these mines 
 are managed and worked not so much for the benefit of the stockholders, as 
 for the benefit of those rings who control them? 
 
 "A. Well, it has been so represented, I will not give it as a matter of 
 absolute knowledge that I have myself, but it has been generally understood 
 so; and I have had my views in regard to it for many years, that that was 
 the understanding. 
 
 "Q. Isn't it a notorious fact, known to everybody, that these mines are 
 simply worked for stockjobbing, and in order to bull and bear the market? 
 
 "A. No, I think it is for the bullion as well. 
 
 "Q. Isn't the extraction of the bullion simply a secondary consideration? 
 
 "A. I should consider it so with very many that are following the business 
 for a livelihood. There are many men that follow, as a business, these stock- 
 jobbing operations. It makes it a species of gambling. They really care 
 nothing about the results, if they can buy the stock at a low price and get 
 it up. 
 
 (See page 249, testimony of General H. G. Wright.) 
 
 " Q. Have you heard of ore being hidden in a mine by the managers after 
 it has been discovered ? 
 
 "A. I cannot say ; but I have heard that it has been attempted to keep 
 such a thing a secret. I really don't know whether it has been successful. 
 I have no information upon which to substantiate it. 
 
 "Q,. As far as you know, is not the general opinion over there that these 
 mines are managed for stock-jobbing purposes, in the interest of rings? 
 
 "A. I think they are managed for stock-jobbing purposes. I do not think 
 they are managed entirely, perhaps, in the interests of a ring. I would like 
 to say further, that the impression I got there was, that persons did not pur- 
 chase stock in the mines for the purposes of investment at all, but for pur- 
 poses of speculation, and it matters very little to them whether the ore was 
 found or reported to be found." 
 
 19. "The miners were not represented here, and Sutro succeeded 
 in passing the law of 1866, which ought not to have been 
 passed, and would not have been if the miners had been 
 heard, or the construction since given to it have been 
 obvious." 
 
 The miners were fully represented in both Houses of 
 Congress when the law of 1866 was passed. The measure 
 had the unanimous support of the whole Pacific-coast dele- 
 gation, and they urged its passage. 
 
 (See Debate in Congress, March 23, 1870.) 
 
 " Mr. KEKR. Mr. Speaker, after a careful examination of this question, I 
 
19 
 
 have reached the conclusion that it is the duty of the House to leave the leg- 
 islation on this subject as it now stands, and to deny the prayer of the minority 
 of the committee. I am led to that conclusion, in the first place, by the reflec- 
 tion that this whole subject was referred very properly by this House to one 
 of its most intelligent committees, consisting of nine gentlemen, eight of whom 
 report to this House that this proposed legislation is not to be enacted; and 
 the minority, consisting of only one member, (Mr. Sargent) asks its passage. 
 In addition to that, my own judgment is, that upon its merits this bill ought 
 not to be passed." 
 
 "This tunnel company was organized at the request of these miners; at the 
 request of the Senators and Representatives from the State of Nevada; at the 
 request of the Legislature of Nevada ; at the request of the Governor of Ne- 
 vada ; and of all the people of Nevada, in all the forms in which they could 
 make their wishes known to Congress. I believe that this identical law that 
 it is sought now to repeal was drafted by the hand of Senator STEWAET, of 
 Nevada, and that it was supported two or three years ago by the entire rep- 
 resentation from the State. 
 
 "Mr. FITCH. Will the gentleman permit a correction? 
 
 "Mr. KERB. I will. 
 
 "Mr. FITCH. I wish to state that the Legislature and people of Nevada 
 petitioned Congress for a money subsidy for the building of a tunnel. They 
 did not petition Congress to compel them to pay for it. 
 
 "Mr. KERR. With great respect toward the gentleman from Nevada, I sub- 
 mit that that is an evasion. Whether they petitioned for the construction of 
 the tunnel at their own expense or not, it is very clear that they all wanted 
 this tunnel. They believed it to be a good thing, and if they wanted it built 
 at the expense of the people of the United States, and not at the expense of 
 the people of Nevada, I do not think the people of Nevada gain much by that 
 presentation of the case." 
 
 20. "The pretext that this corporation sets up for assuming to in- 
 
 terfere with the property of the miners on the Comstock 
 lode is, that the miners do not know how to work the 
 mines, or manage their own property in the most profit- 
 able manner." 
 
 The Sutro tunnel does not interfere with anybody's prop- 
 erty. The mining companies were anxious to have the tun- 
 nel constructed, and made contracts accordingly. It was 
 not until the Bank of California found that its construction 
 would put a stop to dishonest mining and milling opera- 
 tions that it commenced to oppose it. 
 
 21. "It is a sufficient answer to this impudent assumption to say, 
 
 that these miners have bought and paid for the mines they 
 work, and it is none of this corporation's business whether 
 they are working them in the most profitable manner or 
 not. But the assumption is not true. The testimony 
 
20 
 
 taken by the Committee on Mines and Mining proves 
 that the mines are being worked more economically than 
 they could be through this tunnel if it was completed." 
 
 The mining companies have obtained titles to the mines 
 under a condition that they fulfill their solemn engage 
 ments. The legitimate owners of the mines will he im- 
 mensely benefited by the construction of the tunnel, as the 
 testimony taken by the Committee on Mines and Mining 
 shows, and as is reported by eight members of that com- 
 mittee. 
 
 (See Majority Report of the Committee on Mines and 
 Mining, Testimony, page 1.) 
 
 22. "The history of mining throughout the world shows no paral- 
 lel to the energy displayed and the success achieved by 
 the miners on the Comstock lode. They have accom- 
 plished more in twelve years than has been done in any 
 other country in a century." 
 
 The history of mining throughout the would shows no 
 parallel to the mismanagement and waste practiced on 
 the Comstock lode. The management of the mines has 
 been half grab, half gamble, and to the great injury of 
 legitimate mining. These mines are known to be the most 
 valuable in the whole world, and if their production has 
 reached the enormous sum of $150,000,000 in the last 
 twelve years, and a yield in the past year of over $17,000,000, 
 it only proved the immensity of the treasure contained 
 therein, and is no proof of their judicious management. It 
 has been nothing but a stock gambling operation for years 
 past, and the men who manage the property grew rich at 
 the expense of the legitimate owners. It has been a search 
 for rich ores, while the poor ores are left behind. Over 
 $500,000,000 of the lower-grade ores have been passed by, 
 and are now known to exist, which will be made available 
 by the great reduction of cost and by the advantages the 
 tunnel will furnish. 
 
 (See Evidence, page 155, testimony of Professor New- 
 comb.) 
 
21 
 
 " Q. Mr. RAYMOND [United States Commissioner of Mining] goes on to 
 state: 
 
 "'At present, however, the tendency is more than ever the other way. As 
 the prospects of mining on the old wasteful plan grow darker and darker, 
 officers, agents, and stockholders bend their energies to save what they can 
 by speculation out of the approaching wreck. We might well afford to leave 
 them to their fate, but for the fact that the effect of the abandonment of the 
 Comstock lode would be almost fatal to systematic and permanent mining in 
 the Pacific States. It would confirm the mischievous feeling that mining is 
 half grab and half gamble ; that the only way to make money at it is to dig 
 out what rich ore you can get, and then find a fool to buy the property ; or, 
 failing that, to make a fool of that collective individual the public, and un- 
 load yourself of your stock.' 
 
 " Q. Would you consider that about the thing? 
 
 " A. The case is very well put there. 
 
 " Q. You would confirm what Mr. Raymond states? 
 
 " A. I would confirm that most emphatically, excepting the remark as to 
 the running out of the material ; I shouldn't agree with him upon that point. 
 
 " Q. Then he states further: ' The Sutro tunnel will do four most import- 
 ant things: It will settle the continuance of the Comstock in depth; it will 
 inevitably unite the mining companies in many respects, and remove much 
 of the expense of separate pumping, hoisting, prospecting, and general ad- 
 ministration ; it will render possible the beneficiation of low-grade ores, abso- 
 lutely the only basis for rational and permanent mining; and, finally, by 
 assuring the future, it will kill that speculation which thrives on ignorance of 
 the future?' 
 
 "A. I assent to that proposition. 
 
 " Q. Would the tunnel open up the mines in such a manner as to lay bare 
 the lode, that they cannot speculate any longer on prospective strikes, as 
 they do now? 
 
 "A. It would have that tendency to a very great degree, but it would not, 
 perhaps, entirely do away with speculation. As soon as the lodes were 
 thoroughly explored to a depth of 2,000 feet, they would acquire a knowledge 
 of their value ; people who deal in stocks would be informed; and, instead of 
 putting in money simply as a matter of speculation, they would purchase as 
 an investment, and instead of continually changing, the proprietorship would 
 remain the same." 
 
 23. "They have already penetrated the mountain to a depth below 
 the level of the proposed Sutro tunnel, and all they ask 
 is to be let alone." 
 
 If some of the shafts have reached the level of the tun- 
 nel, it will save that from being done after the latter is 
 completed ; for it has been shown that the benefits of drain- 
 age, ventilation, and transportation can only be realized 
 fully after all the shafts are connected with the tunnel. 
 
22 
 
 When that is accomplished, all above the tunnel can only 
 he considered as surface ground, while the tunnel level will 
 present a new "basis of operations, to penetrate on the lode 
 an additional depth of 2,000 feet, while without it the limit 
 to which mining can he carried has already been reached. 
 
 (See Evidence, page 156, testimony of Professor New- 
 comb.) 
 
 "Q. Now, in regard to working the mines to a greater depth below the 
 tunnel level, Mr. Raymond, in a foot-note, states : ' The direct saving in drain- 
 age is doubled by the fact that the water now lifted at great expense by steam 
 would, if allowed to fall instead, itself generate a motive power to take the 
 place of steam. Hydraulic engines, utilizing this service of power, are com- 
 mon in the deep mines of Europe, but have never been introduced in this 
 country. In the case under discussion the conditions would be extremely 
 favorable, permitting a hydraulic column of 2,000 feet. Fifty gallons of 
 water per second, with a fall of 2,000 feet, create a working capacity of 1,800 
 horse-power. Another way of utilizing the water of drainage would be the 
 erection of water-wheels under ground, by which various operations requir- 
 ing machinery could be conducted. This, too, is very common in Europe, 
 and, like the use of hydraulic engines, may be introduced with advantage 
 wherever there is deep tunnel drainage. In the absence of deep drainage, 
 both these economical devices of science are out of the question. If the Sutro 
 tunnel is completed to the lode, and connected with deep shafts, the conditions 
 for further explorations to still greater depths will be more favorable than they 
 were at the very surface, since the immense power of the hydraulic column will 
 be at the service of the miner.' 
 
 "Can you see any difficulty, Doctor, in utilizing the water in these mines, 
 which is stated to exist in large quantities about the 800-foot level, and car- 
 rying it down in pipes to the tunnel level for driving machinery? 
 
 "A. There isn't any difficulty about it, and I should consider it feasible to 
 accumulate the water upon these levels and transfer it in tubes, to create a 
 power for operating the mines to a lower depth than 2,000 feet. 
 
 24. "The objections to the passage of the bill agreed upon by the 
 majority of the Committee on Mines and Mining may 
 be very briefly stated: 
 
 "First. It proposes to take money from the Treasury to aid a 
 company of speculators in an enterprise purely for their 
 own benefit, in which neither the Government nor the 
 people have any interest whatever." 
 
 It proposes to loan, under the most ample security, a 
 limited amount of money, to insure the completion of a 
 work which will benefit the Government and people to 
 the extent of thousands of millions of dollars, by proving 
 
23 
 
 the downward continuance of mineral lodes to great depths, 
 and thus giving an additional value to our mineral domain. 
 The company is not one composed of speculators, but of 
 honorable, high-minded business men, and to a large ex- 
 tent of the laboring classes of the State of Nevada. They 
 have invested a large amount of their money, have brought 
 the immense work to a great state of forwardness, and now 
 ask such a recognition from the Government as will ac- 
 knowledge the national importance of the work, and thus 
 insure the additional funds still required from private 
 sources. 
 
 25. "Second. In doing this they propose to destroy the property 
 
 of others, amounting in value to over $12,000,000." 
 
 It has already been shown, that not a dollar's worth of 
 property will be destroyed, and that if some is depreciated 
 in value to the extent of one million dollars, the annual 
 gain will be over nine millions of dollars. 
 
 26. "Third. The Government assumes the risk and loses the two 
 
 millions it lends the corporation if the scheme proves a 
 failure, while the corporation will reap all the benefit if 
 it proves a success. 
 
 The Government assumes but a tithe of the risk ; nearly 
 one million and a half has already been expended upon the 
 work, and the bill provides that at least an equal additional 
 amount must be expended before any loan is made. If 
 there be any risk in that, the people of the United States 
 can well afford to share a small portion of it with the enter- 
 prising men who have undertaken this, the most gigantic 
 and difficult work now in progress in any portion of the 
 world, the successful completion of which will be pointed 
 to with a feeling of pride by every citizen of the United 
 States, as a great monument to the enterprise of the age. 
 
 During 3,000 years of mining, the greatest depth to 
 which man has penetrated is 2,700 feet. What is beneath, 
 the human eye has never seen. It remains for the youngest 
 nation in the world to gain access to a point 4,000 feet in 
 depth, upon the greatest and most valuable mineral deposit 
 
24 
 
 known to history., and thus contribute to the science of 
 geology,, practically, more than will ever be derived from 
 superficial examinations ; at the same time, enriching the 
 nation beyond calculation. 
 
 (See Evidence,, page 153, testimony of Professor New- 
 comb.) 
 
 " Q. By the bill now before this committee it is proposed that the United 
 States shall grant, as aid for the construction of the Sutro tunnel and its 
 branches, certain sums of money, not to exceed in the aggregate $3,000,000, 
 the Government retaining a first mortgage or lien thereupon, together with 
 all engines and machinery and appurtenances thereunto belonging, for the 
 repayment of said moneys, and also 25 per cent, of the net amount which 
 shall be collected by the Tunnel Company as tolls for the transportation of 
 ore, rock, and material, or in any other manner. From your investigation 
 and knowledge upon the subject, do you deem it advantageous to the United 
 States to grant such aid; and according to your best judgment, do you be- 
 lieve that such security upon the property, franchises, and earnings of the 
 company, would be ample for the payment of such aid or loan ? 
 
 " Mr. SUNDERLAND. I want to have the reporter note an objection to this. 
 
 " Mr. NEWCOMB. I should deem it a safe investment; and if I had $3 000,- 
 000 to dispose of, I would put it, under these circumstances, in the tunnel. 
 
 "Mr. RICE. And regard the security as ample? 
 
 "A. And regard the security as ample; taking such precautions in regard 
 to it as would insure that the instrument be properly and thoroughly made. 
 
 "Q. Do you or do you not regard the construction of the Sutro tunnel im- 
 portant in its bearings upon geological and scientific research as an exploring 
 work; and if it should successfully demonstrate the downward extension of 
 fissure- veins and the value of deep mining, what, in your judgment, would 
 be its effect upon the mining interests of the United States and their future 
 development? 
 
 "A. Well, as an exploring work, I do not know that any superintendent 
 differed in opinion from me, that it might be of very great value. Some ex- 
 pressed their opinion that it would be valuable. My own opinion is very 
 clear upon that subject, that it would be of very great importance in a scien- 
 tific point of view, and it would lead to similar enterprises, under similar cir- 
 cumstances, with the same character of rock. It would demonstrate whether 
 the ore-bearing character of fissure-veins extends downwards here as it does 
 in other countries. It would lead to further works of a similar kind, to 
 develop the mining industry of the country to a vast extent. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ADOLPH SUTRO. 
 WASHINGTON, February G ; 1873. 
 

 .- 
 
GAYLAMOUNT 
 PAMPHLET BINDS* 
 
 Manufactured by 
 GAYLORD BROS. Inc. 
 Syracuse, N.Y. 
 Stockton, Calif.