s 
 
 University of California Berkeley 
 
STATEMENTS 
 
 RESPECTING 
 
 THE PROFITS OF MINING 
 IN ENGLAND 
 
 CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO 
 
 THE PROSPECTS OF MINING 
 IN MEXICO. 
 
 IN A LETTER TO 
 THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ. M.P. 
 
 BY 
 JOHN TAYLOR. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN AND COMPANY, 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1825. 
 
 OL, 
 
Printed by A. TAYLOR, Basinghall Street. 
 
TO 
 
 T. F. BUXTON, ESQ. M.P. 
 
 Chatham Place, 
 London, 28th Nov. 1825. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE extraordinary revolution in public 
 opinion, with respect to Mining speculations, 
 which we have witnessed in the course of a 
 few months, presents a remarkable instance 
 of ill-advised confidence and temerity having 
 been followed by excessive alarm and doubt, 
 while in reality neither the one nor the other, 
 except in a very few cases, has been at all 
 founded upon a knowledge of the subject. 
 Shares in undertakings of this description 
 have been sought after with the utmost eager- 
 ness, and at prices the most extravagant, with- 
 out much inquiry into the merits of the enter- 
 prize, and this has been followed by an ig- 
 norant or unjust denunciation of the whole. 
 
 B 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 I, as you well know, never adopted the 
 extravagant expectations which once pre^ 
 vailed, neither can I reconcile myself to the 
 over anxious depression which now exists. 
 I believe that reason will be found to lie be- 
 tween the two extremes of indiscriminating 
 confidence and despair. I think it not im- 
 proper, therefore, to explain to you my views 
 on a question which it is important should 
 be rightly understood, and which may be 
 discussed at the present period without dan- 
 ger. I shall avail myself of certain facts 
 and illustrations, derived from transac- 
 tions which concern individuals and may be 
 considered as private, yet I conceive the 
 use of them to be warranted by the occasion, 
 and the interest now taken by the public in 
 the question to which they relate. It is my 
 desire only to convey information, and to sug- 
 gest the mode in which such matters may be 
 considered ; this may conduce to quiet the 
 present feeling of dismay, which I should 
 willingly endeavour to do, although I would 
 have avoided publishing any thing in another 
 state of public opinion, lest it might have 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 tended to abet that rage for mining specula- 
 tion which was then at its height. 
 
 I intend to examine the question so often 
 proposed, whether mining is on the whole 
 profitable or not; and further, whether, if 
 profitable in this country, there is a reason- 
 able expectation of its being sufficiently so in 
 Mexico, for instance, to justify the invest- 
 ments of such portions of capital as must be 
 required to be appropriated to it. 
 
 The conclusion which I shall endeavour to 
 prove is, that mining is profitable, and suf- 
 ficiently so to cover the risk with which it is 
 and always must be attended, provided two 
 conditions are attended to, which are that 
 due care and skill is observed in the selection 
 of mines to be worked, and that in working 
 them the necessary experience, caution, and 
 integrity are employed in the management. 
 This conclusion I shall attempt to draw from 
 the facts and experience which an intimate 
 acquaintance and connexion with mines in 
 England for many years have furnished, and 
 I shall add some of the reasons why, in my 
 opinion, there is just ground to expect fa- 
 vourable results, in applying capital to the 
 B 2 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 mines of Mexico, under the same conditions 
 of judicious selection and well-directed ma- 
 nagement. 
 
 I am not afraid in making this attempt of 
 having improper motives imputed to me by 
 those who know me, and who are acquainted 
 with the part I have taken in transactions 
 of this nature. I can appeal to you, and 
 many others, to prove that I have had no 
 participation in the traffic in shares ; you 
 know that my interest consists in the welfare 
 of the concerns in which I am engaged, and is 
 not likely to be concerned in any high or low 
 price which shares may bear in the market; 
 that I have always refused to accept a larger 
 portion than I thought I could afford to provide 
 capital for, and you have the means of know- 
 ing from many of those respectable indivi- 
 duals who are associated with us in the Real 
 del Monte Company, and who have watched 
 my conduct in the management of mines in 
 which they have been engaged with me for 
 a long series of years, that my practice in 
 this respect has been uniform, and that I 
 should always have thought the value of my 
 opinion reduced and degraded, if it had been 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 influenced by the hopes and fears of a specu- 
 lator. 
 
 I have laboured long in the pursuit of 
 mining, and I am most ready to avow that 
 I ought to be regarded as an ardent parti - 
 zan; that I have all my life been prompted 
 by an earnest desire for the improvement of 
 this branch of industry, and have been sti- 
 mulated by that measure of success which is 
 indeed essential to a continued direction of 
 effort ; nevertheless, if I proceed now upon a 
 recital of facts, and deduce from them tem- 
 perate and fair conclusions, they will not, I 
 trust, be invalidated by coming from one 
 who may be somewhat ardent in the support 
 of undertakings respecting which there is so 
 little known, and so much error and miscon- 
 ception appears to prevail. 
 
 You, and several of those gentlemen who 
 are the principal Shareholders in the Real del 
 Monte Company, being also engaged with 
 me in a number of mines in England and 
 Wales, know that some of these mines have 
 been worked thus for many years, and that 
 the greater number have been added within 
 the last few years by the increased capital 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 applied to the purpose, which the success of 
 some of these concerns encouraged, and 
 which the facility of obtaining money for 
 such investments rendered easy. 
 
 I have now just completed one of my 
 journies of inspection of these mines, and 
 propose to state the result of a careful exa- 
 mination into the present condition of the 
 whole. No just conclusion can be come at 
 in a subject of this sort, but on a large 
 average ; mines are so different in all circum- 
 stances, some producing large profit where 
 little or no capital has been employed, and 
 others terminating only in loss, even where 
 great expenditure has been made under the 
 best consideration of skilful and experienced 
 men, while others again present every inter- 
 mediate shade, that I conceive it necessary 
 to show that the mines from which I would 
 calculate are both numerous and important. 
 And as I, and those who have entrusted their 
 capital to my disposal, have always consi- 
 dered the risk and uncertainty as diminished 
 by dividing our capital over a number of 
 such concerns, selecting, as I have said, with 
 the best care we could, it remains for me to 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 show what has been the result, taking the 
 mines as they stand at this time. 
 
 These concerns are situated in different 
 parts of Cornwall, Devon, and North Wales ; 
 they are now to be considered as thirty-nine 
 naines, though including what were formerly 
 reckoned at a far greater number, many hav- 
 ing been consolidated or added together, so 
 as to form one undertaking. Each mine has 
 its separate Company of Adventurers, and 
 the number of shares in each is not in any 
 ease more than one hundred and twelve nor 
 less than sixty-four. The interest in each 
 mine is generally different in each individual, 
 and some have shares in one and not in ano- 
 ther, so that the profit or loss, on the whole, 
 will not apply to the case of any one part- 
 ner, but as the whole are much in the hands 
 of the same proprietors, they may be consi- 
 dered as belonging to the same set of per- 
 sons, forming a number of companies, each 
 having such a share in such of the mines as 
 circumstances dictated. 
 
 Many of such proprietors may have pur- 
 chased into the concerns at considerable pre- 
 miums, and therefore the capital which I 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 calculate on may be much less than would 
 be made out by adding such premiums to it, 
 but as this has nothing to do with the capi- 
 tal really invested, and consequently with the 
 profit the mines give on money really em- 
 ployed, I only notice it to guard against 
 error, and to state that I put down that only 
 as capital, which has been paid by original 
 Adventurers. 
 
 In some of these mines I have been inte- 
 rested as manager and partner for more than 
 twenty- six years, others in that time have 
 been worked, some with profit and others with 
 loss, and are now abandoned; the greater 
 number have, however, been undertaken 
 within the last ten years, some being old mines 
 re-opened, some neAvly discovered, and some 
 purchased or taken after being abandoned 
 by others. 
 
 I shall divide the whole into four Classes. 
 
 1st Class. Thirteen profitable mines in 
 full work, and which at present are likely to 
 continue their produce. 
 
 2d Class. Eleven mines, on which a 
 large capital has been also expended, Avhich 
 are in a state of progress, and which are likely 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 soon to become profitable, though the re- 
 turns do not yet balance the expenditure. 
 
 3d Class. Seven new mines with pro- 
 mising appearances, with the usual risk, how- 
 ever, of failure, and requiring yet additional 
 capital. 
 
 4th Class. Eight mines which are de- 
 clining, or the prospect is unfavourable,which 
 are working at a loss, and which, if no altera- 
 tion for the better appears from trials that 
 are now making, will be abandoned in no 
 very long time. 
 
 The particulars necessary to be stated of 
 these mines are as follow : 
 
 1st Class. Thirteen Mines, producing 
 the following annual results, calculating on 
 the present monthly returns. 
 
 Capital employed, ^249,320. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Annual produce, Copper Ore 45,720 
 Tin Ore 504 
 
 Lead Ore 5,640 
 
 51,864 
 
Value of the Ores after payment of 
 
 Lord's dues . . . 462,600 
 
 Cost of working the mines . 327,000 
 
 Profit . . . ,sl 35,600 
 
 (Employing thirty-three steam-engines and 
 water-wheels for pumping.) 
 
 2d Class. Eleven Mines 
 Capital employed, 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Annual Produce, Copper Ore 1644 
 Tin Ore 360 
 
 Lead Ore 2040 
 Cobalt Ore 24 
 
 4,068 
 
 Value . . . 63,000 
 
 Cost of working . . 99,000 
 
 Loss .... ,=36,000 
 (Fifteen steam and other engines for pumping.) 
 
 I do not calculate, however, that this loss 
 will continue for more than six months longer. 
 
C 11 ) 
 
 3d Class. Seven new Mines. 
 
 Capital already employed, ^13,000. 
 
 No Produce. 
 
 Cost to continue the proper trials for 
 
 twelve months . . ,21,600 
 
 (Four steam-engines for pumping.) 
 
 4th Class. Eight Mines, on which loss 
 may be made, if discoveries do not shortly 
 take place. 
 
 Capital employed, ,98,400. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Annual produce, Copper Ore 3240 
 Value . . . 25,800 
 
 Cost of working . . 43,560 
 
 Annual loss, if continued 
 (Twelve steam and other engines for pumping.) 
 
 The whole Capital now employed 
 will appear to be . . . 249,320 
 
 193,000 
 13,000 
 98,400 
 
 553,720 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 553,720 
 To which I would add for Class 2, six 
 
 months cost . . . 18,000 
 
 Class 3 . . . 21,600 
 
 593,320 
 
 Deduct for capital to be received by 
 sale of engines and various stock of 
 Class 4, as the mines are stopt, 25,320 
 
 Total Capital will hereafter be ^568,000 
 
 Result as to the mines in full operation. 
 
 The present amount of profit in Clas si is 135,600 
 The annual loss of Class 4 is . 17^760 
 
 117,840 
 
 It is clear that the loss of ^ 17,760 
 may be made to cease at any moment, 
 by the abandonment of these mines; 
 but in order to avoid any thing of a 
 flattering estimate, let us suppose this 
 loss to continue by the mines being 
 worked for some time longer. 
 
 The present rate of profit may in- 
 crease or decrease. Again, let us take 
 the most unfavourable supposition, and 
 presume that there will be a diminution 
 to the extent of . 4 17,840 
 
 The Balance of Profit will be ^100,000 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 The Capital embarked IE Class 1 is 249,320 
 Do. do. Class 4 98,400 
 
 The amount, therefore, as to mines in full 
 operation stands thus: 
 
 Capital ^347,720. Profit \ 00,000. 
 Rate of Interest 28|; per cent. 
 
 The mines in Class 4 may probably be dis- 
 continued working in the course of six months, 
 and the loss on them be thus prevented; 
 but as in the course of that time a greater 
 diminution in the profit of Class 1 may take 
 place than we have already alloAved for, we 
 will continue the deduction of the amount of 
 the loss on Class 4, as a further set-off against 
 such a reduction, and take the balance of 
 profit on Class 1, as before, at ^100,000. 
 
 There will then be a reduction in the 
 amount of Capital also of ^25?320, by the 
 sale of the engines and stock of Class 4, 
 when the account will stand as follows : 
 
 Capital ^322,400. Profit ^100,000. 
 Rate of Interest 31 per cent. 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 Hitherto we have only considered the 
 mines in full operation. We are next to 
 turn our attention to those which are in a 
 state of progress, viz. 
 
 Class 2, which are approaching to ma- 
 turity. 
 
 Class 3, which are yet in their infancy. 
 The Capital embarked is 
 
 e 
 
 Class 2, . . 193,000 
 
 Class 3, . 13,000 
 
 206,000 
 
 Further Capital to he sunk in Class 2 18,000 
 Do. do. Class 3 21,600 
 
 .s6 J 245,600 
 
 As to the rate of profit on these invest- 
 ments, it is evident we can arrive at nothing 
 more than an approximation to the truth. I 
 see no reason to apprehend that these will 
 produce a less proportionate return than the 
 mines in Class 1 and 4 ; but granting they 
 may be less profitable by two parts out of five, 
 they will still realize a profit considerably 
 above a^40,000 per annum, which, added to 
 the \ 00,000 profit on Class 1 and 4, will 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 make an average profit on the whole of 24 
 per cent ; as per following statement. 
 
 Balance of profit of Class 1 100,000 
 
 Estimated profit on Class 2 and 3 40,000 
 
 ^140,000 
 
 Capital on Class 1 and 4, after de- 
 ducting the produce of Stock, &c. 
 on Class 4 ... 322,400 
 
 Capital on Class 2 and 3 . 245,600 
 
 ,568,000 
 
 Capital ^568,000. Profit <fl 40,000. 
 Rate of Interest 24 per cent. 
 
 The result is this : he who looks at the 
 present produce of the mines only which are 
 in actual operation, sees a profit of 31 per cent, 
 on the capital. 
 
 He who chooses to speculate on the pro- 
 duce of mines still in progress, in addition 
 to those in full operation, may, it appears, 
 calculate on an average profit of 24 per cent, 
 on the whole capital embarked. 
 
 And he who, still more timid, calculates 
 that the loss on Class 4 will continue, and 
 that no further gain will take place on Class 
 2 and 3, when they are brought to ma- 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 turity, may thus compute the whole invest- 
 ment of capital : 
 
 Balance of Profit on Class 1, after making the full 
 allowance for the diminution that may take place 
 as before mentioned . . . 100,000 
 
 Deduct for Annual Loss on Class 4, supposing 
 
 those mines to continue in work . . 17,760 
 
 Capital embarked in Class 1 249,320 
 
 Do. do. Class 2 193,000 
 
 Do. to be added to complete 
 
 the work . . 18,000 
 
 211,000 
 
 Do. embarked in Class 3 13,000 
 
 Do. to be added to complete 
 
 the work . . 21,600 
 
 34,600 
 Do. embarked .in Class 4 98,400 < 
 
 593,320 
 
 Capital ,=593,320. Profit ^82,240. 
 Rate of Interest about 1 4 per cent. 
 
 This i& the clear income which any one, 
 having the same share in the whole, would 
 receive his proportion of, after allowing for 
 payments to unprofitable concerns, and which 
 income, as I have before stated, may probably 
 advance to al40,000. 
 
 My expectations, as to this increase of in* 
 come, will not appear very unreasonable, 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 when it is apparent that, by putting a stop 
 to the investment and the loss at once, the pro- 
 fit of ^135^600 would remain. This would, 
 however, be an act of folly, as profit is likely 
 to arise from the one, and the losing mines 
 will, of course, only be continued until all 
 reasonable prospect of improvement is over. 
 
 I subjoin the following particulars, though 
 not essential to the argument. 
 
 Total produce of the Mines. 
 
 Tin Ore. Lead Ore. Cobalt. Nett Talu. 
 Tons. Tons. Tons. 
 
 504 5,640 462,600 
 
 360 2,040 24 63,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 50,604 864 7,680 24 
 
 Value to Adventurers after payment of dues ^55 0,600 
 
 Engines employed for draining all the 
 Mines. 
 
 Forty-three steam-engines, from 30-inch 
 
 pistons to 90 -inch. 
 Twenty overshot water-wheels, from 36 
 
 feet diameter to 50 feet. 
 The number of persons employed I can- 
 not very exactly estimate, but believe them 
 to be from eight to ten thousand. 
 
 c 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 These statements, if you think them illus- 
 trative of the question, I shall be glad to prove 
 to you are substantially correct, by referring 
 you to the accounts where the detail is ex- 
 hibited, and to persons whom you know 
 that have the charge of them. That consi- 
 derable profits are regularly divided I believe 
 is a fact within your own knowledge ; I 
 have taken some pains to examine and ar- 
 range the account which I now submit to you, 
 and I am not aware of any part in which I 
 may have been liable to error. 
 
 Whether the statement may be sufficiently 
 extensive in the number of mines, quantity 
 and value of produce, and duration of time, 
 to satisfy the inquirer I do not know ; but 
 as to the number, I would remark that I 
 only endeavour to show that mines well-se- 
 lected are on the whole profitable, admitting 
 that with the utmost care and diligence some 
 losing ones will have place with the better 
 ones. It has often been said, indeed, that mi- 
 ning, on the whole, is not profitable ; I do not 
 from my own observation believe this asser- 
 tion, which perhaps has generally been made 
 at a guess by persons little acquainted with the 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 subject; but even if it were true, it would 
 only show that there is a great deal of impru- 
 dence in selection and bad management, 
 which ought hardly to be charged to the ac- 
 count ; and when it is considered how mines 
 are often undertaken by persons unqualified 
 to form a correct judgement, and impelled by 
 delusive hopes, it is not very wonderful that 
 cases of serious disappointment occur to the 
 discredit of the whole. 
 
 As to the quantity and value of the produce 
 of the mines which I adduce as examples, I 
 shall only remark, that they include such as 
 are at present yielding nearly one -half of the 
 copper produced in Great Britain, besides 
 some considerable portion of lead and tin. 
 
 The duration of mines is another very inte- 
 resting question, and, generally speaking, they 
 ought prudently to be looked at as compara- 
 tively short-lived, or subject at least to failure 
 and exhaustion. Much, however, depends on 
 management and foresight ; very great im- 
 provement has been made even in later years 
 in this part of the economy of mining. The 
 appropriation or investment of part of the 
 profits in opening new mines is of itself one 
 
 C 2 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 tnode of supporting the profitable state of the' 
 whole ; but even without this an analogous 
 process is going on continually in every well- 
 managed mine ; part of the proceeds are con- 
 stantly employed in exploring the ground, in 
 searching for new discoveries before former 
 ones are exhausted, prudent reserves of ore 
 and money are made to provide for unforeseen 
 want, or unexpected failures ; under such 
 a system it is easy to see that mines, where 
 the veins are tolerably productive, may be 
 maintained in a profitable state for years, 
 while, under a more inconsiderate direction, a 
 sudden difficulty, or a temporary poverty, may 
 ruin the concern. That this has often been 
 the case is very notorious, and is one of the 
 reasons why mines suddenly abandoned have 
 so frequently been renewed after some inter- 
 val with profit. 
 
 That accounts might be given by other per- 
 sons with results as favourable, I have not the 
 least doubt, though perhaps not on so large a 
 scale of expenditure, and some instances ex- 
 ist within my knowledge, where with a com- 
 paratively small capital very large profits are 
 making ; but as these would not exhibit the 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 average produce, but are rather of the nature 
 of capital prizes in the lottery, they would 
 not be so appropriate to our purpose, though 
 they might show a better judgement or more 
 good fortune in the selection. To set against 
 these there are, I am well aware, many ill-ad- 
 vised undertakings, where nothing but loss 
 has been incurred, but where this has been 
 4jie case they have been commenced and con- 
 tinued against the opinion of those who were 
 most likely to know best the merits of the 
 enterprise. An adventure in any single mine 
 is with the best advice a matter of much risk, 
 and the failure in the hands of experienced men 
 gives occasion of triumph to pretenders, who 
 assume at once that all is chance, or that one is 
 as likely to be right as another; this, however, 
 is not true, and though some degree of un- 
 certainty does really prevail, it may be miti- 
 gated by caution, and compensated by com- 
 bining well-directed efforts. 
 
 Without entering into the great question of 
 the propriety of joint-stock companies, I may 
 observe that it seems impossible for mining to 
 be carried to great extent without a division 
 of the risk and a contribution of capital from 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 a competent number of subscribers. An in- 
 dividual may and often has worked a mine 
 under fortunate circumstances with great 
 success ; sometimes this success is so soon 
 attained that the capital is created and not 
 contributed, but this again is a case of rare 
 occurrence, and not to be reckoned on by pru- 
 dent men. 
 
 The account w r hich I produce shows a ca- 
 pital which it would have been most impru- 
 dent, if not impossible, to raise by a very small 
 number of individuals ; and the risk, if under- 
 taken at one period, would have been enor- 
 mous. Capital advanced for mining should 
 Be such as can conveniently be spared with- 
 out injury to the proprietor, as it may be 
 lost ; it should also be such as can be afford- 
 ed for a time without the necessity of speedy 
 profit, as the time for returns is uncertain ; 
 and it should not be exactly limited in amount, 
 because a mine may be ruined after much 
 expense for the want of some further outlay 
 than was at first contemplated. 
 
 A division of the necessary advances among 
 a number of capitalists renders all these re- 
 quisites easy, by diminishing that pressure 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 which would bear hard on individuals 
 where the number was small. It is pro- 
 bable also that the extension of the number 
 of shares beyond a reasonable limit is inju- 
 rious, first, by tempting persons of small pro- 
 perty to embark in speculations where the 
 price of the ticket is low, by engendering 
 a traffic in shares fluctuating in value by va- 
 rying probabilities of success or the more 
 uncertain undulations of public opinion, and 
 by introducing the weakness incident to com- 
 panies where the interest is too much divided 
 to present the necessary control over the per- 
 sons who conduct its affairs, 
 
 If the concerns which I have quoted had 
 been equally divided (which, however, as I 
 have stated is not the case), and the whole 
 had been in one hundred shares, the holder of 
 each one of these shares would have contributed 
 at the present period <^5540 ; he would be 
 now actually receiving from the profitable 
 mines the annual sum of ^1356, but he 
 would be called upon for the other mines in 
 the year for ^SljS for his share of loss, and 
 for a396 for capital for mines of which the 
 works were not complete. These sums of 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 ,=178 and ^396 being together ^574, de- 
 ducted from his profit, would leave a clear in- 
 come of ,56782 for his advance of <d?5540, 
 until by the completion of the necessary trials 
 on the mines of the second and third class, and 
 the abandonment of those of the fourth class, 
 his share of capital would have ii: creased 
 according to my estimate to <^5680, and 
 his income might be expected to be ^Bl4QO 
 per annum, or, as I have before stated it, 
 about twenty-four per cent, on his advances. 
 He might, however, in many instances have 
 contributed for a time without the receipt of 
 interest at all, and therefore an allowance in 
 addition to the amount of capital must be 
 made for this, although it is impossible to es- 
 timate it accurately from the diversity of cir- 
 cumstances, some mines having paid largely 
 in very short periods, and others having re- 
 quired advances for a long time. 
 
 The case I have put of a person having an 
 equal and original share in all, I know does 
 not exist, as the shares have seldom gone on 
 in a large proportion in the hands of the first 
 subscribers, and many circumstances conspire 
 to make them change their possessors at dif- 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 ferent rates of premium or discount ; but rhe 
 supposition is a very possible one, and is con- 
 venient for the purpose of illustration. 
 
 I could extend the account by the addition 
 of some other mines which are under my di- 
 rection, but as they are for the most part 
 the property of individuals, and unconnected 
 with the others, and as I believe that though 
 they would swell the sums, they would not 
 much alter the general result, I omit to no- 
 tice them. 
 
 If I am right in these statements, and have 
 not indulged in any fallacy, (to which I re- 
 spectfully invite your inquiry), I think I have 
 made it appear that mining is, upon a large 
 scale, sufficiently profitable to compensate the 
 risk with which it is attended; at least I pre- 
 sume it will be thought that the interest is 
 much greater than can be otherwise obtained 
 011 large amounts with moderate risk, and 
 equivalent, therefore, to any reasonable ex- 
 pectation. 
 
 If this is admitted to be the case in Eng- 
 land, I proceed to inquire whether the same 
 results may be looked for in Mexico, where 
 the Company of Adventurers, of which you 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 are the chairman, are making such spirited 
 efforts, and in the management of whose af- 
 fairs so much has been confided to me. 
 
 Can we make a good selection of mines to 
 which to apply our means and our exertions ? 
 
 Can those exertions be directed with the 
 same skill and effect as at home ? 
 
 As there are evidently greater difficulties 
 to encounter, and a greater scale of expense 
 to undertake, are there compensating circum- 
 stances to counterbalance or outweigh these 
 disadvantages ? 
 
 To the first question I would reply, that 
 we had at the outset, and before one of our 
 agents had set his foot in Mexico, good and 
 sufficient evidence, that the number of mines 
 was greater there than in any part of the 
 world ; that they had been uncommonly pro- 
 ductive, and very profitable under many dis- 
 couraging circumstances ; that they were like 
 other mines, attended with differences in na^ 
 tural advantages, as well as in value of pro-' 
 duce ; and therefore it was evident enough 
 that a good choice could be made, or such 
 an one as would ensure every fair chance of 
 success. Since our agents have been esta- 
 
( 27 ). 
 
 blished there, and with the experience of many 
 months, this evidence has been strengthened ; 
 many doubts have been cleared up, plans 
 and descriptions have been laid before us, 
 and we also have had the viva voce opinion, 
 on a number of particulars, of a very re- 
 spectable mining agent, who has returned, 
 all concurring, as I venture to assert, not 
 only to prove that a good choice may be 
 made, but, as far as judgement in these mat- 
 ters goes, that a good selection has been ac- 
 tually made for us. 
 
 Where such a variety of mines exist it 
 must indeed be admitted that many of every 
 description are to be found ; and, if we could 
 now analyze the former accounts of profit 
 and loss, no doubt we should find it so ; 
 there is, however, very good reason to con- 
 clude, that among the best were many in- 
 stances of a rate of profit far beyond, any 
 that the most productive mines of the infe- 
 rior metals could possibly exhibit. 
 
 A selection of profitable mines in Mexico 
 ought to be much easier than in England; 
 not only is the number to choose from so 
 much greater, but, owing to the political cir- 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 cumstances of the country, they were for the 
 most part unoccupied, or in the hands of per- 
 sons disposed to part with them. All the in- 
 dications upon which a miner would form his 
 judgement are as perfect there as any where 
 else ; the historical account of produce and 
 profits have been, in many instances, well 
 preserved ; the causes for their abandonment 
 can be easily understood ; the veins are nu- 
 merous, large, and distinctly characterized; 
 and the face of the country often is favoura- 
 ble to mining observations. 
 
 All this was evident enough from the testi- 
 mony of M. Humboldt, but has been rendered 
 more clear and apparent by the observations 
 and reports of our English miners. Among 
 the mines in England which are included in 
 those which furnish the accounts herein sta^ 
 ted, some have been greatly profitable upon a 
 small expenditure ; some have required a great 
 outlay, and have also been profitable in a fair 
 proportion to that outlay ; some have after 
 much cost produced a return not adequate to 
 the capital employed, and others have been 
 attended with irrecoverable loss. This of 
 course will be the case in Mexico, or any 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 dther mining country, and profit will depend 
 there, as here, on judicious selection and on 
 proper management. 
 
 This selection being made, can our means 
 and exertions be as well applied there as at 
 home? 
 
 No reasonable doubt can be entertained on 
 this question, unless upon the broad ground 
 that the management of affairs cannot safely 
 be deputed to agents ; in reply to this, I 
 would merely remark that not only in mining, 
 but in all cases where very large capital is 
 employed, the management is and must be 
 deputed, from the necessity that exists that k 
 should be so. 
 
 No individual eye can follow all the de- 
 tail, nor any individual mind embrace all the 
 considerations necessary to render perfect 
 the numerous and varied arrangements that 
 are required. In all such matters a division of 
 labour, as well as of skill, must be employed, 
 and the energy of the controlling power, let 
 it rest where it may, will be better directed in 
 judging of the capacity of those employed 
 in different departments, in combining their 
 efforts to attain a given object, and in esta- 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 Wishing checks and encouragements, than in 
 entering into a labyrinth of minute circum- 
 stances, which would only cloud and perplex 
 a clear insight into the main purpose. 
 
 Let the controlling power rest in one or 
 more persons, it is certainly essential that by 
 one or more a knowledge of matters of de- 
 tail should be possessed, but the principal use 
 of it will be to form a correct judgement of 
 the skill, industry, or integrity of those to 
 whom the duty of execution is deputed. 
 
 I venture to think that whoever will look 
 into the mode of conducting mines in Eng- 
 land will find this system exemplified, and 
 that they will find among those who con- 
 duct the various operations of these great 
 works an unusual share of talent, zeal, and 
 those other good qualities which are essential 
 to command respect and confidence. I have 
 abundant reason to be grateful to numerous 
 excellent persons, without whose knowledge 
 and exertion I could have done nothing; 
 others who have taken the same pains to find 
 such and to encourage their talents and as- 
 siduity have the same reason to be satisfied, 
 and no very good reason occurs to me why 
 
< 31 .> 
 
 the same means may not be employed abroad 
 as well as at home. It may be more or less 
 difficult at first to find suitable agents, be- 
 cause all have not the same means of making 
 choice, because the change of station and of 
 country sometimes works alteration in the 
 habits of some, and because new manners 
 and unforeseen difficulties for a time are em- 
 barrassing to most. But I look upon these 
 obstacles to be temporary, and they are to be 
 counteracted by the judgement and patience of 
 those who may be the appointed leaders of 
 the enterprize abroad. Mines in England 
 are dispersed over distant parts, and are there- 
 fore remote from each other, and from the 
 constant observation of those who possess 
 them ; but they are nevertheless skilfully and 
 honestly conducted ; and if there are cases of 
 delusive or improper management, they are 
 most commonly to be attributed to want of 
 caution or judgement in the deputation of the 
 necessary authority, and are not to be taken 
 as facts upon which to establish any material 
 conclusion. 
 
 If mining cannot be properly managed in 
 a distant country, it ought to follow that 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 rieither can any other business be carried ori 
 out of sight of the principals, and much of 
 our foreign trade and concerns ought to be 
 abandoned. But in fact there are circum- 
 stances in favour of mining in this respect; 
 the Agents usually employed are brought up 
 to a system of deputed authority, their habits 
 are formed to it, their emulation is excited 
 by it, and their hopes depend upon its right 
 application. No one that I knoAV of refuses 
 to send a ship to sea, because he cannot go 
 and command her himself, or take the helm, 
 aiid keep the reckoning ; on the contrary the 
 capital is provided by one person, the science 
 of direction by another, and skill in the de- 
 tail of subordinate matters by others, all com- 
 bining under good arrangements to a profit- 
 able end. 
 
 Upon general reasoning of this sort, I 
 should then decide that mining can be pro- 
 perly conducted abroad ; but as one to whom 
 you would have a right to put the question, 
 whether, in my experience of such matters, I 
 seriously believe that persons are employed 
 or can be employed, who will execute the 
 trust reposed in them with credit to them- 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 selves and advantage to their employers ; I 
 answer that I am decidedly of this opinion, 
 and I may also add, that you, and others who 
 have paid attention to what has been al- 
 ready done, have had ample testimony as 
 to the value of the efforts that have been 
 made. 
 
 Upon the last and most important question, 
 whether, as the expense, difficulties, and risk 
 must be greater, are there compensating cir- 
 cumstances to counterbalance those disadvan- 
 tages, and to conduce to a profitable result, 
 I have thought seriously and anxiously, and 
 I need not now say, that my opinion has also 
 long since been and is now in the affirmative, 
 and that I expect profits equivalent to all rea- 
 sonable expectation. 
 
 I cannot now go into all the grounds of 
 my reasoning on this subject, which might be 
 tedious and difficult to state. I have read what 
 has been published by others respecting the 
 prudence of undertaking mines in these new 
 countries, and I agree with a good deal that 
 has been stated, though these statements have 
 not always been guided by sufficient know- 
 ledge of the subject, and in particular with 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 the circumstances which render mines pro- 
 fitable or otherwise. Some have advocated 
 the advantages of steam and other machinery, 
 some have dwelt on the former produce, and 
 others have adduced the want of skill for- 
 merly employed. These are all entitled to 
 their due weight, but there are many other 
 considerations to be taken into account. 
 
 I can hardly be expected to describe now 
 all the details of management which must be 
 applied to obtain profit, to show how, also, 
 what is right to be done in one instance is 
 to be avoided or modified in another; but 
 I may mention examples drawn from the 
 mines of which I have taken the accounts, to 
 prove that the proper application of manage- 
 ment is essential, and that great produce is 
 not always attended with profit. One of the 
 mines in Class 1 has been working fifteen or 
 sixteen years, and produced in that time more 
 than ^300,000 value in copper and tin ores, 
 and yet the working was attended with con- 
 stant and considerable loss. It was purchased 
 two years since by the present proprietors, in 
 its losing state, for ^10,000, since which 
 time the sum of ^32, 000 has been expended 
 
( 35 ; 
 
 upon it; it has now become profitable, and 
 has every appearance of becoming a lasting 
 and prosperous concern. 
 
 Another and the most important mine in 
 our list was abandoned twenty years ago, by 
 a manager, then of great reputation, acting 
 under Adventurers well acquainted with 
 mining, and generally successfully engaged in 
 it. The works were re-established about six 
 years ago, at an expense of ^65,000, and 
 they are now very profitable, and likely to 
 continue so, and to improve. 
 
 Now, in these cases, the alteration has not 
 been owing to the mere application of ma- 
 chinery, because that had been employed be- 
 fore ; but it has been owing to many lesser 
 circumstances, in which improvement has 
 taken place in the progress of mining expe- 
 rience. We have many cases in England of 
 old and abandoned mines re-opened with ad- 
 vantage, and by various persons or compa- 
 nies ; and why should it not be thus also in 
 Mexico ? It is not necessary to show that 
 there was great want of skill formerly, but 
 whatever it might have been, it cannot have 
 improved in the last twenty years, in the 
 D 2 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 midst of war and civil commotion which 
 stopped the Mexican mines. 
 
 The skill of the English Miners, and more 
 particularly what may be called the economy 
 of mining, has made rapid progress in the 
 interval. If this improvement can make 
 mines formerly abandoned profitable in this 
 country, may it not produce equal or greater 
 effects in a region abounding with ores,of which 
 the value is to any English ore as four to one, 
 and the quantity from any given extent of 
 mining ground greater also than can be found 
 here. 
 
 'Estimates on the costs of mines are always, 
 from the nature of the thing, very uncer- 
 tain ; and estimates of profits, which include 
 additional uncertainties, are of course much 
 more so, and ought always to be given and 
 received with caution, and due allowance 
 made for the difficulties in coming to any 
 just conclusion. But to form any opinion at 
 all that is worth any thing, a process of this 
 sort must be had recourse to ; it may indeed, 
 when done, amount only to probability; but 
 the chance or risk is adherent to the under- 
 taking contemplated, and is indeed connected 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 \vith the higher rate of profit which is often 
 obtained. 
 
 Let us first examine in what the expenses 
 of working mines consist, after the first out- 
 lay has been made, and which out-lay will 
 most evidently be three or four times as much 
 in Mexico as would be required in England, 
 on account of the expense of the transport of 
 machinery, materials, and workmen. After 
 this is stated, I think it probable that the cur- 
 rent costs will not differ so greatly as many 
 have imagined. 
 
 Supposing an English mine to require 
 ^4000 monthly to meet the expenditure, 
 where the ores raised are sufficient to give 
 fair profit, and that such a mine is drained 
 by steam power, I should be inclined to class 
 the expenditure into proportions somewhat 
 like the following : 
 
 Underground labour . . . ^ 2000 
 
 Surface labour 200 
 
 Artizans ditto 200 
 
 Materials 700 
 
 Engines, fuel, labour, &c. . . 500 
 
 Carriage and sundries ... 250 
 
 Agents 150 
 
 ^4000 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 HOAV are these different heads of expense likely 
 to stand in Mexico, from what we at present 
 know of the country ? all will probably be 
 higher than in England, but in very differ- 
 ent degrees. 
 
 1 . Labour of Miners in Mexico is paid for 
 very variously in different districts ; at Real 
 del Monte the best miners are content with 
 half a dollar per day; this rate is lower than 
 in England, but nominal wages are not a 
 criterion of the real cost of labour, and if 
 men are unskilful or indolent their work may 
 be dear though their daily wages are low. 
 
 I am inclined however to think tolerably well 
 of the mode of working of the Mexican Miners, 
 particularly from the information given me 
 by Captain Rule since his return, and I ven- 
 ture to think we need not add much on this 
 head, as though some English Miners are 
 to be reckoned at high salaries, their number 
 will be few, and the industry of the whole 
 will be stimulated and improved by working 
 on contract, which may be easily introduced. 
 I will suppose however underground labour 
 to cost 1 per cent, more than in England 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 2. I know of no reason for making any 
 addition to the charge for surface labour. 
 
 3. Artizans, in which I include engineers, 
 carpenters, smiths, masons, &c., will at pre- 
 sent cost three times as much as in England, 
 but if the mines are established, will after a 
 time be supplied even from this country at a 
 lower rate than at present. 
 
 4. The materials used in mines are princi- 
 pally timber, cordage, iron and steel, gun- 
 powder, -candles, leather, &c. 
 
 Of these some leading articles are actually 
 supplied (at Real del Monte for instance) at 
 much less than in England, others, although 
 produced in the country, are dearer, and iron 
 and steel will cost four or five times as much 
 as here, including the carriage ; we may per- 
 haps, considering the machinery, add 50 per 
 cent, on this head. 
 
 5. The expense of engines applied for 
 draining, where they shall be necessary, con- 
 sists, after the expense of erection, principally 
 in fuel and attendance, repairs coming indeed 
 under the head of artizans' labour. Now there 
 is no reason to expect that fuel, in well se- 
 lected situations (and in these only will en- 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 gines be used), will be so dear as in Corn- 
 wall. At Real del Monte a cargo, (SOOlbs.) 
 of wood costs at the mines a real or 6^c?., 
 taking this to be equal only to a bushel of 
 coal weighing Solbs., the cost of the latter 
 at the mines in Cornwall is at least lOd. At 
 Bolafios timber is also abundant, but water 
 power which costs nothing may be applied, 
 and also at Otzumatlan, while at Zacatecas 
 the mines are nearly dry. I see no reason to 
 expect that the current cost of engines will be 
 higher than in England. 
 
 6. Carriage, when roads are improved, 
 which will soon be done in the immediate 
 vicinity of the mines, will be much cheaper 
 than in England. I have allowed for trans- 
 port of materials from the coast under that 
 head. Sundries may include many articles 
 which cannot be exactly contemplated, some 
 of which will be dear. I will therefore double 
 the charge under this head. 
 
 7- Agency will of course be high ; I esti- 
 mate it at four times what is required here. 
 
 Estimating in this manner the expenditure 
 of a mine in Mexico, the additions I have 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 proposed would make the ,^4000 to be in- 
 creased to ^5630, but it may be safer to 
 take it at ^6000, or an addition of 50 per 
 cent, on the whole. Another point of great 
 importance to be considered in connexion with 
 the disbursements of mining, is the payment 
 made to the proprietor of the mine or the 
 soil ; and I am glad to do this, as, from what 
 I have often heard remarked, I believe that 
 considerable misapprehension exists upon this 
 part of the subject, and that many have 
 conceived that the proportion paid to the Mex- 
 ican proprietor is enormous compared with 
 what is paid in England. I am certainly 
 not of this opinion, nor. is any person con- 
 versant in this matter with whom I have dis- 
 cussed the question. First, I may premise 
 that as the cost of raising and getting poor 
 ore, or a cheap metal, is almost the same as 
 for an equal quantity of a rich ore or a pre- 
 cious metal, so the proprietor in whose land 
 the latter is found will of course expect and 
 receive more than the proprietor whose estate 
 only produces the former, leaving the profit 
 of the Miner in some measure equalized by 
 this generally admitted arrangement. This 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 is a reason why silver may be expected to pay 
 more to the Proprietor than the inferior me- 
 tals. 
 
 In my account of the produce of our En- 
 glish mines I have taken the net value of the 
 ores after the dues to the lord are paid or al- 
 lowed for. Now these dues or the lord's 
 part in England is always some proportion 
 of the gross produce of the mine, and is paid 
 whether the mine is a profitable or a losing 
 one; it is common to pay from a twenty-fourth 
 to a tenth of the gross value, and there are 
 parts of England producing ores rich in lead 
 at lower charge than common, which even 
 pay one fifth. As however the deep mines 
 of Cornwall, which by reason of their heavy 
 costs pay the lowest rate of dues, make a 
 considerable part of my account of produce, 
 I estimate our dues at 7 P er cent., which 
 amounts on our return to about ^40,000 a 
 year. The proprietor in England receives 
 this also without making any allowance to- 
 wards, the outlay in putting the mines to work 
 and repays nothing in the event of loss. 
 
 In Mexico, the agreements with which I 
 am acquainted give to the proprietor, as the 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 highest rate, one moiety of the clear profit, 
 and in several later agreements only one third ; 
 in all these cases he agrees that the adven- 
 turers shall deduct the full amount of outlay 
 from the profit, before it is divided, the ad- 
 venturers allowing the deduction to be made 
 gradually. 
 
 Now if we take our present balance of ad- 
 venturer's profit in favour of the whole, in- 
 cluding the losing mines at ^60,000, and 
 we were to add the ,^40,000 now paid to 
 the lords and divide the <=l 00,000 between 
 us, we should be better off' than we are, if the 
 lords would join us in liquidating the capital 
 as they do in Mexico. 
 
 If, as I hope, our profits should increase 
 as I have stated to ^140,000, the lord's dues 
 would increase also, say to ^60,000 ; they 
 would indeed then receive but 30 per cent, 
 of the profit, but as I have mentioned many 
 agreements give to the Mexican proprietor 
 but 33 per cent, and they join in repaying 
 the capital. What I consider however very 
 important is, that here losing mines pay per- 
 haps a large amount of dues, while in Mex- 
 ico they w r ould at any rate pay nothing, or no 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 more than may be lent in the way of all- 
 mento. 
 
 It does not appear to me, from considera- 
 tions like the foregoing, then, that the expense 
 of mining in Mexico is so much greater than 
 in England, as to be a serious obstacle to its 
 prosecution. The difficulties that I have yet 
 heard of, after more than twelve months cor- 
 respondence with competent agents on the 
 spot, are not in my opinion formidable; and 
 the risk is much the same, or, as I believe, less 
 than in most mining districts. In making 
 this remark I confine myself to mining risks, 
 always excepting political ones, regarding 
 which I am not so good a judge as many who 
 are concerned in these undertakings, and the 
 consideration of which I always wished to 
 leave to those who embarked in them. 
 
 I shall now proceed to state what are in my 
 opinion the circumstances attendant on these 
 mines, which may compensate for extra 
 charge and greater difficulty ; and which en- 
 courage me to hope for a much higher rate of 
 profit from mines, well selected and judi- 
 ciously managed, in Mexico than from those 
 of England. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 The leading consideration with me certainly 
 is the very much higher value of a given 
 quantity of the mineral produced ; with this I 
 connect the established fact of greater width 
 or size of the veins, and the extent on one or 
 more of them that may be explored in certain 
 districts, and I take as collateral evidence of 
 large profits, the known results of former 
 workings, which indicate that what may be 
 calculated upon has been realized in former 
 times. We have as yet no very good state- 
 ments as to the average value of the Mexican 
 ores : when M. Humboldt states that they 
 are poor in silver, but very abundant in quan- 
 tity, he speaks not of ores dressed and washed 
 as we always suppose ore to be in England 
 but he describes the whole mass as broken 
 from the vein. The operations of dressing, 
 properly applied, will reduce the quantity 
 and concentrate the value in a smaller bulk. 
 Thus, if we were speaking of tin ores here, and 
 were to value the whole mass as raised from 
 under-ground, we should commonly find the 
 tin stuff, as it is called, not to hold more than 
 about 3 per cent, of metal, and consequently 
 worth nothing to smelt. But by the applica- 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 tion of various processes of washing, the bulk 
 is reduced in the proportion of twenty to one, 
 and the dressed ore is rendered worth from 
 60 to 70 per cent. Copper ores, as they are 
 broken from the mines, and including the 
 whole, rich and poor together, do not average 
 more than 2 per cent, metal, but by selection 
 and dressing the bulk is reduced from 4 to 1, 
 and the dressed ore is thus made 8 per cent, 
 in which state it is smelted. 
 
 But the value of metallic silver is to copper 
 or tin fully as 60 to 1, and we, therefore, do 
 not require either such a reduction in quan- 
 tity of the ores, or such elaborate processes as 
 are employed in tin dressing, to render the 
 merchantable ore of far higher value than 
 copper ores, to which I would compare it, as 
 its admixture with the matrix or vein stuff is 
 more analogous to those than to others, and 
 the dressing processes would be probably more 
 similar. We know that they neglected to work 
 formerly, in the Biscaina veins at Real del 
 Monte, all ores which did not produce twenty- 
 four ounces per ton, always reckoning upon 
 the whole mass of the lode. We know that 
 the ores at Bolanos contained more than three 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 hundred ounces per ton. The latter is one of 
 the richest mines, and the former by no means 
 one of the lowest in produce or per centage. 
 We may, therefore, probably estimate the 
 produce of the mass, on an average of well 
 selected parts of the mines, at sixty ounces 
 per ton ; now if this value is concentrated by 
 dressing, as in the case of copper ores, and the 
 bulk reduced from four to one, we should 
 have the ores containing two hundred and 
 forty ounces per ton, and valuing the silver 
 only at three shillings per ounce to allow for 
 expense of smelting, &c. worth ^36 per ton. 
 Copper ore, at the present high rate, is not 
 worth on the average 369, but we may take 
 the proportion as four to one. But the rela- 
 tive value of the ores must be compounded in 
 calculating the returns of a mine with the 
 quantity likely to be obtained ; now, on this 
 head, all the evidence goes to prove that the 
 produce of the Mexican mines has been most 
 abundant. 
 
 The quantity raised from a mine is in pro- 
 portion to the number of veins explored and 
 drained by any set of works, to the width or 
 size of those veins, and to the degree or ex- 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 tent to which they are enriched, all veins 
 having their greater part poor and unpro-* 
 ductive. 
 
 I know of no mining fields that exhibit 
 so many veins which can be worked together 
 as some of which I have plans and authen- 
 ticated accounts from Mexico, and M. Hum- 
 boldt's accounts of the extraordinary width 
 of the veins are verified by the observation 
 of English miners : the degree of enrichment 
 is much the same as far as I can judge as in 
 other countries, and always in all a matter of 
 uncertainty. But taking the width of the 
 veins only, we shall find them commonly from 
 four to eight feet in width, while in England 
 I should take as the average width of good 
 veins or lodes two to three feet. 
 
 Now the result of the compounding the 
 differences of value and quantity would be, 
 that in England a fathom in a vein would 
 produce about twelve tons of stuff, which, 
 being dressed, would yield three tons, worth 
 <sfi24; and a fathom in a vein in Mexico 
 would produce twenty-four tons of stuff, 
 which, when dressed in the same manner, 
 would give six tons of ore, worth 36216. 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 That is to say, the produce of the one mine 
 would be to the other as nine to one. 
 
 I have estimated the expense of working 
 as one and a half to one, and the advantages 
 in favour of the silver mines would therefore 
 be as six to one ; and though this may appear, 
 as it perhaps does, too much to calculate 
 upon, if we consider the profits on English 
 mining, yet, as I am not aware of any parti- 
 cular fallacy in which I have indulged, and 
 as I have already said that a larger capital 
 may be necessary, I will merely take it to 
 prove at least that there are circumstances in 
 these undertakings which may compensate 
 for extra expense, difficulty, and risk. 
 
 The collateral evidence to support the pro- 
 bability of such expectations is to be derived 
 from the great amounts of profit formerly ac- 
 quired, and the statements of the proportion 
 of costs in working mines to the actual amount 
 of value of the returns. Many particulars of 
 this kind are before the public, and particu- 
 larly in the works of the Baron Humboldt : 
 they have, I know, excited the ridicule of 
 some, and have been treated seriously by 
 others as exaggerations brought forth to tempt 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 the unwary. I apprehend, however, with 
 proper deference to the wit of the one, and 
 to the due caution of the others, that the fact 
 of enormous profit in many cases rests upon 
 very good evidence ; and supposing that there 
 were also very numerous cases of loss, which 
 is admitted, that will only prove, Avhat I am 
 all along ready to admit, that mining to be 
 profitable must be attended with skill and 
 care in choosing and conducting the under- 
 takings. 
 
 My inference from the whole is, that mining 
 is neither, as the public seemed to think a few 
 months since, a certain source of immeasur- 
 able wealth, to be obtained by every one who 
 was lucky enough to get a share in any mine, 
 in any place, and under any kind of manage- 
 ment, nor is mining, as it seems now the fashion 
 to designate it, all a bubble, cheat, and delu- 
 sion. I maintain that British capital may be 
 applied to it with the fair chance of competent 
 profit, if the means properly adapted to the 
 end be used and steadily continued. Money, 
 time, and patience must be allowed to it; 
 and, however public opinion may vacillate, 
 fluctuating counsel in those who have to sup- 
 
( 51 ) 
 
 ply these requisites, may perhaps really be 
 the source of the danger most seriously to be 
 apprehended. 
 
 If the profit is, as I think, likely to be large, 
 it may be asked, why limit the capital to be 
 employed, and why not engage an amount as 
 large as possible. I only notice this because 
 I think this suggestion might lead to an im- 
 prudent investment, and because I thought 
 some time since that there was some danger 
 of too much money being turned into this 
 channel. Perhaps, also, now there may be 
 risk in the other extreme, and that the pro- 
 per allotment of capital to ensure success may 
 with difficulty be obtained. 
 
 The proper limitation of capital will in my 
 opinion in Mexico be, to that amount of which 
 the application can be effectively and judi- 
 ciously directed. In England I doubt at pre- 
 sent whether there are many mines worth 
 working, at the prices the metals now yield, 
 which are not occupied in some way or other, 
 and therefore a further investment of much 
 capital is not required, or not to any great 
 extent. In Mexico, the number of unoccu- 
 pied mines is still very great, but though 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 that is the case, it is not capital alone that 
 will work them. A great quantity of skill, 
 experience, and of labour also is required, 
 and therefore, as the number both of able 
 managers and experienced workmen is limit- 
 ed, so must be the extent of prudent enter- 
 prize. I am not therefore for attempting more 
 than we can accomplish well, and I am desirous 
 of seeing the experiment conducted upon that 
 respectable scale which may lead to a worthy 
 and profitable result, and not to endanger 
 it by a division of force, or complexity of 
 arrangements. 
 
 There is one subject more upon which I 
 shall very slightly touch, because it is often 
 mentioned as an objection to these under- 
 takings, which is, that the quantity of silver 
 produced may be so large as to depreciate the 
 value, and so diminish the profit. If the quan- 
 tity should be so large, so much the better I 
 venture to think for the first adventurers, they 
 must then indeed be sure of enormous profit 
 in a short time, and need care but little what 
 is to happen afterwards. Such an inundation 
 of silver as should alter its value throughout 
 the world implies a measure of success sur- 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 passing the wildest dreams of the most san- 
 guine adventurers. 
 
 But this is speaking without much atten- 
 tion to facts ; in mining, a constant investment 
 of capital seems necessary to keep up the sup- 
 ply of the metals. We have frequently been 
 told we should over-stock the market with 
 copper in England; much of the capital I 
 have stated to be employed has been applied 
 by myself and friends in the last ten years to 
 copper mines, others have been doing the 
 same, the supply has somewhat increased, but 
 not greatly, as old mines have been in the 
 mean time given up, and the price of the me- 
 tal has kept up and increased. 
 
 The mint of Mexico coined 30,000,000 
 dollars a year before the revolutionary war, it 
 has since, at one time, produced but six or eight 
 millions, and may now again have advanced 
 to ten or twelve millions. It will require, 
 therefore, a great deal yet to be done to re- 
 store the supply to what it was sixteen years 
 ago, and it appears to me very probable that, 
 in the general increase of wealth, the demand 
 will go on to improve. 
 
 We have seen in England that the gross 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 value of the metals produced from a series of 
 mines is nearly equal annually to the amount 
 of the capital invested in working them ; let 
 this be supposed to be the case in silver 
 mining, and if the Real del Monte Company, 
 and the other Companies connected with it, 
 should lay out a8oo ? 000 in Mexico,we might 
 then expect a gross return of 4,000,000 dollars, 
 and this amount would nearly agree with 
 what I am led to calculate on, from various 
 statements before me of the former produce of 
 the mines ; now as 20,000,000 dollars are re- 
 quired to bring the coinage of the Mexican 
 mint to what it was in 1809, it would in 
 this way appear that other companies or other 
 adventurers must contribute ^3,200,000 ca- 
 pital in addition to ours, to render this pro- 
 bable. 
 
 I have now stated the grounds which have 
 influenced me to recommend to my friends 
 these undertakings, arid to engage in them 
 myself; I am conscious that I may very im- 
 perfectly arrange the materials which are in 
 my hands, and that the reasoning upon them 
 would be much better managed by abler per- 
 sons; but, although I could only complete 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 what I have done in the short intervals which 
 a long journey has afforded, I yet was de- 
 sirous, with whatever defects it might be at- 
 tended, to lay before you data, on which 
 alone I venture to think some judgement may 
 be formed. 
 
 In conclusion, I would ask to what is to be 
 attributed the extraordinary fluctuation in 
 public opinion ; does it appear that the eager 
 demand for mining shares a little while since, 
 and the rejection of them at present, has been 
 owing to any just appreciation of adventures 
 of this sort, or did that, in fact, make any part 
 of the calculation ? As far as I have observed, 
 I am inclined to apprehend that too many 
 people engaged in schemes of all kinds, not 
 with any consideration of what the under- 
 taking was likely to produce, not with an in- 
 tention of contributing their share of the ca- 
 pital, but as a game on the price of shares, and 
 for the chance of premiums. 
 
 Many schemes perhaps have been found to 
 Be, at least, of unpromising character ; calls 
 K>r money which had never been thought of 
 came to be paid ; the well-founded and the im- 
 prudent plans are confounded together; shares 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 are pressed into the market where few buyers 
 are to be found, and general alarm and want 
 of confidence ensues. 
 
 It is the fair and reasonable duty, in such a 
 state of things, for those concerned in any 
 undertakings that may suffer by it, to explain 
 fully and candidly the nature and expectations 
 of their enterprise, and a desire to do this to 
 the best of my power has led me to trouble 
 you with this long letter at this time. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your's, very faithfully, 
 
 JOHN TAYLOR. 
 
 Taylor, Printer, Basinghall Street. 
 
 . 
 
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J825