The Phosphates of America. 57 



mining this rock, including royalty, cannot exceed $4.25 per ton r 

 and is believed by many to be much less, you will see that the 

 margin of profit exceeds one hundred per cent, on the original in- 

 vestment. The total royalty secured by the State from its phos- 

 phate has been over $2,000,000, and of this amount over half has 

 been paid by the Coosaw Company. 



" The expiration of the Coosaw lease in March next makes it pos- 

 sible to double the income of the State from the phosphate royalty 

 without injuring the industry or interfering unduly with any vested 

 right. We therefore demand a survey of the phosphate territory 

 and the sale of its lease at auction to the highest bidder, after a 

 minimum royalty has been fixed by the board of control upon each 

 district surveyed. Anything less than a thorough and reliable 

 survey would t be a waste of time and money, and this will take a 

 good deal of both. But it will repay its cost, and until we have 

 the data which alone can be thus obtained, we cannot legislate in- 

 telligently or derive the benefits from this valuable property that 

 we ought. This year the royalty has been $237,000, and all of 

 it except $3,000 was paid by six large mining corporations, whose 

 field of operations is confined to a territory within twenty miles 

 of Beaufort. You will be told by some that this indicates an 

 exhaustion of the deposits ; but I am sure it only means that good 

 rock is more plentiful or more cheaply mined there than elsewhere. 

 A survey alone can demonstrate the truth or falsity of this belief, 

 which is based upon the assurance of experts who themselves have 

 mined in other waters of the State, and as the reliance of capitalists 

 upon an estimate of the value of any given deposit of phosphates 

 will depend largely upon the character of the man making the sur- 

 vey, I have thought it best to obtain the help of the United States 

 Government, if possible, and ask the detail of an officer of the 

 Navy or Coast Survey to do the work. I think an appropriation 

 of $10,000 will be sufficient to start with, and by the time the 

 General Assembly meets a year hence, it will have something 

 definite to go upon and can continue the work or not as it may deem 

 best. In the mean time, by means of this survey and the oppor- 

 tunity for further investigation, to which all my spare time shall be 

 devoted, a clearer understanding as to the best system of manage- 

 ment of this important industry can be obtained and the General 

 Assembly can then act intelligently. 



" When the Coosaw lease expires, March 1 next, let us open 

 that river to all miners who choose to enter it ; allow the board of 



