that paid out, thus benefiting the miner by bringing him directly in contact with the Government, who has eventually to coin his dust, and save him time and "shaving" by the speculator, and to this extent materially benefits the country by distributing and disbursing the money in the very same region where it is dug from the earth. A branch mint for Oregon and Washington, and an authority for the assistant treasurer to pay out at once the value of the deposit as soon as the assay is determined, are two things which, if effected, would materially tend to benefit the miner, and hence the country; whereas now the time consumed in sending the dust from the mines and getting it back in coin must be paid for by somebody, and that somebody ever has been, and, unless these changes be made, will always be the miner. Just as quick as the dust of the miner is returned to him in coin in the minimum space of time and with the minimum "shave"--which in this case would be only the cost of transporting it to the branch mint and back,--then will the capital of the country be in the hands of the greater number, and that number a class of people who are interested in the material interest and prosperity of the country--and thus on [will our] roads, rivers, and works of internal improvement--our schools, academies, and all the elements of social and substantial happiness and wealth be added to and quickened by an impulse that is healthy in itself, and which aims at and desires healthy avenues of investments. Should such a branch mint be established, Portland would doubtless claim the site; but whether it be there, at The Dalles, or Walla Walla, is not a subject upon which there should be any feeling. Let us have it at one of these points; and if there is any one point where arguments could be adduced to determine the matter to the exclusion of the others, that point is at Walla Walla. For it is here whence the greater bulk of gold dust must flow; and if not here, then at The Dalles--the great Golden Gate of the Upper Columbia.