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object of tbe greatest importance. It will be
considered in its proper place.
METALLIC AND MINERAL WEALTH.
The gold region of California is between
four and five hundred miles long, and from
fort y to fifty miles broad, following tbe line
of the Sierra Nevada. Further discoveries
may, and probably will increase the area. It
embraces within its limits those extensive
ranges of hills w hich rise on the eastern bor- 1
tier ot the plain of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin, and extending eastwardly from fif
ty to sixty miles, they attain an elevation of
four thousand feet, and terminate at the base
of the main ridge of the Sierra Nevada.
There are numerous streams which have
their sources in the springs of Sierra, and
receive the water from the melting snows,
and that which falls in rain during the wet
season.
These streams form rivers, which have cut
their channels through the ranges of foot
hills westwardly to the plain, and disembogue
into the Sacramento and San Joaquin.—
These rivers are from ten to fiiteen, and pro
bably some of them twenty miles apart.
The principal formation or substratum in
these hills, is talcose slate ; the superstratum,
sometimes penetrating to a great depth, is
quartz. This, how ever, does not cover the
entire face of the country, but extends in
large bodies in various directions —is found
in masses and small fragments on the sur
face, and seen along the ravines, and on the
hill sides in its original beds. It crops
out in the valleys and on the tops of the j
hills, and forms a striking feature of the en
tire country over which it extends. From j
the innumerable evidences and indications,
it has become to be universally admitted
among the miners and intelligent men who
have examined this region, that the gold,
whether in detached particles and pieces, or
in veins , was created in combination irithUic
quartz. Cold is not found on the surface of
the country, presenting the appearance of
having been throw n up and scattered in all !
directions by volcanic action. It is only ]
found in particular localities, and attended
by peculiar circumstances and indications.
It is found in the bars and shoals of the l iv
ers—in ravines, and in what are called the
dry diggings.
The rivers, in forming their channels, or
breaking their way through the hills, have
come in contact with the quartz containing j
the gold veins, and by constant attrition cut
the gold into fine flakes and dust, and it is
found among the sand gravel of their beds
at those places w here the swiftness of the cur
rent reduces it, in the dry seasons, to the
narrowest possible limits, and where a wide j
margin is, consequently, left on each side, j
over w hich the water rushes, during the wet i
season, with great force.
As the velocity of some streams is greater
than others, so is the gold found in fine or
coarser particles, apparently corresponding
to the degree of attrition to which it has been
exposed. The water upon the hills and up
per valleys, in finding its way to the livers,
has cut deep ravines, and, wherever it came
m contact with the quartz, has dissolved or
crumbled it in pieces.
In (he dry seasons, these channels are
mostly w ithout water, and gold is found in
the beds and margins of many of them in
large quantities, but in a much coarser state
than in the rivers; owing, undoubtedly, to
the moderate flow and temporary continu
ance of the current, w hich has reduced it to
smooth shapes, not unlike pebbles, but had
not sufficient force to cut it into Hakes or
dust.
The dry diggings are places where quartz
containing gold has cropped out, and. been
disintegrated, crumbled to fragments, pebbles
and dust, by the action of water and the at
mosphere. The gold has been left as it was
made, in all imaginable shapes ; in pieces of
all sizes, from one grain to several pounds
in w eight. The evidences that it was crea
ted in combination with quartz are too nu
merous and striking to admit of doubt or
cavil. They are found in combination in
large quantities.
A vepy large proportion of the pieces of
gold found in these situations have more or
less quartz adhering to them. In many spe- ;
cimens they are so combined they cannot be
separated without reducing the whole mass
to powder, and subjecting it to the action of
quicksilver.
This gold not having been exposed to the
attrition of a strong current of water, retains,
in a great degree, its original conformation.
These diggings, in some places, spread
over valleys of considerable extent, which
have the appearance of an alluvion, formed
by washings from the adjoimhg hills, of de
composed quartz, and slate earth, and vegeta
ble matter.
In addition to these facts, it is beyond
doubt true, that several vein-mines have been
discovered in the quartz, from w hich numer- j
ous specimens have been taken, showing the
minute connection between the gold and the
rock, and indicating a value hitherto un
known in gold mining.
These veins do not present the appearance
of places where gold may have been lodged
by some violent eruption. It is combined
with the quartz, in all imaginable forms
and degrees of richness.
The rivers present very striking, and, it
would seem, conclusive evidence respecting j
the quantity of gold remaining undiscovered
in the quartz veins. It is not probable that
the gold in the dry diggings and that in the
rivers—the former in lumps, the latter in
dust—was created by different- processes.
That which is found in the rivers lias un
doubtedly been cut or w orn from the veins
in the rock, with which their currents have
come in contact. All of them appear to be
equally rich. This is shown by the fact a
laboring man can collect nearly as much in
one river as he can in another. They inter
sect and cut through the gold region, run
ning from east to west, at irregular distan
ces of fifteen to twenty, and perhaps some of
them thirty miles apart.
Hence, it appears that the gold veins are
equally rich in all parts of that most remark
able section of country. Were it wanting,
there are further proofs of this in the rainy
dry diggings, which uniformly confirm w hat
nature so plainly shows in the rivers.
For the purpose of forming some opinion
respecting the probable amount or value of
treasure in the gold region, it will be proper
to state the estimates which have been made
ot the quantity collected since its discovery.
Gold was first discovered on the South
fork oi the American river, at a place called
Sutter s mill, now Coloma—late in May or
early in June, 1848. Information which
could be relied on announcing this discove- ■
ry was not received in this city until late in
the following autumn.
No immigration into the mines could,
therefor?, have taken place in that vear. The
number of miners was, consequently limit
ed to the wants of the territory; some five
hundred men from Oregon—Mexicans and
other foreigners who happened to be in tbe
country, or came into it during the summer
and autumn, and the Indians who were em-
ployed by or sold their gold to the whites.
It is supposed there w ere not far from five thou
sand men employed in collecting gold dur
ing that season. If we suppose they ob
tained an average of one thousand dollars
each—which is regarded by well informed
persons as a low 7 estimate—the aggregate
amount will be 85,000,000.
Information of this discovery spread in all
directions during the following winter; and,
on the commencement of the dry season in
1849, people came into the territory from
all quarters —from Chili, Peru, and other
States on the Pacific coast of South Ameri
ca—from the west coast of Mexico, the Sand
wich Islands, China and New Holland.
The emigration from the United States
came in last, if we except those who crossed
the Isthmus of Panama, and went up the
coast in steamers, and a few who sailed ear
ly on the voyage round Cape Horn.
The American immigration did not come in
by sea, in much force, until July and August,
and that overland did not begin to arrive
until the last of August and first of Septem
ber. The Chilinos and Mexicans were ear
ly in the country. In the month of July it is
supposed there were fifteen thousand for
eigners in the mines. At a place called So
noranian camp, it was believed there were at
least ten thousand Mexicans. They had
quite a city of tents, booths, and log cabins;
hotels, restaurants, stores, and shops of all
descriptions, furnished whatever money could j
procure. Ice was brought from the Sierra, !
and ice creams added to numerous other lux- j
uries. An enclosure made of the trunks and !
branches of trees, and lined with cotton cloth, |
served as a sort of amphitheatre for bull
fights; other amusements, characteristic of
Mexicans, were to be seen in all directions. ,
The foreigners resorted principally to the
southern mines, which gave them a great su
periority in numerical force over the Amer
icans, and enabled them to take possession of
some of the richest in that part of the coun
try. In the early part of the season, the
Americans were mostly employed on the
forks of the American and on Bear, TJba and
Feather rivers. As their numbers increased
they spread themselves over the southern
mines, and collissions were threatened be
tween them and the foreigners. The latter,
however, for some cause, either fear, or hav
ing satisfied their cupidity, or both, began
to leave the mines late in August, and by
the end of September, many of them were
out of the county.
It is not probable that during the first part
of the season there w ere more than five or
six thousand Americans in the mines. This
would swell the whole number, including
foreigners, to about twenty thousand the be
ginning of September. This period embra
ced about half of the season during which’
gold may be successfully collected in the
rivers.
Very particular and extensive enquiries
respecting the daily earnings and acquisi
tions of the miners, lead to the opinion that
they averaged an ounce a day. This is be
lieved by many to lie a low estimate; but
from the best information 1 was able to pro
cure, 1 am of opinion it approaches very near
actual results, ‘l'lie half of the season, up to
Ist of September, w ould give sixty-five work
ing days, and to each laborer, at $1( per
ounce, 81,010. If, therefore, we assume
81,000 as the average collected by each la
borer, we shall probably not go beyond the
mark.
This would give an aggregate of $20,000,-
000 for the first half of the season; $15,000,-
000 of which ,>vas probably collected by for
eigners. During the last half of the season
the number of foreigners was very much di
minished, and, perhaps, did not exceed five
thousand. At this time the American im
migration had come in by land and sea, and
the number of our fellow -citizens in the mines
had, as was estimated, increased to between
forty and fifty thousand. They were most
of them inexperienced in mining, and it is
probable the results of their labors were not
as great as lias been estimated for the first
part of the season ; and experienced miners,
assuming that tlie average of half an ounce
per day ought to be considered as reasona
ble, it would give an aggregate of about
820,000,000. If from this we deduct one
fourth on account of the early commlnce
ment of the wet season, we have an estimate
of 815,000,000; at least five of which was I
collected by foreigners, who possessed ma
ny advantages from their experience in min
ing and know ledge of the country.
These estimates give, as the result of the
operations in the mines for 1818 and 1849,
the round sum of 840,000,000 —one half of
w hich was probably collected and carried out
of the country by foreigners.
From the best information I could obtain,
I am led to believe that at least 820,000,000
of the 810,000,000 were taken from the riv
ers, and that their richness has not been sen
sibly iliminished, except inn few locations,
which had early attracted large bodies of
miners. This amount has principally been
taken from the northern rivers, or those
which empty into the Sacramento ; the
southern rivers, or those which flow into the
San Joaquin, having ’neon, comparatively,
but little resorted to until near the close of
the season. These livers are, how ever, be
lieved, by those who have visited them, to be
richer in the precious metal than those in the
northern part of the gold region.
There is one river which, from reported re
cent discoveries, and not included in the de
scription of those flowing into the great plain
of the Sierra Nevada, is as rich in gold as any of
them. That is the Trinity, which rises north
of the head waters of the Sacramento, and
discharges into the Pacific not far from the
fortieth degree of north latitude.
There are, as nearly as my recollection
serves me, twelve principal rivers in which
i gold has been found; but most of the $20,-
000,000 in the above estimate was taken
; (rom six or seven of them, where it was first
i discovered and most accessible.
Adopting the hypothesis that the gold
: found in the beds of these streams has been
: cut or worn from the veins in the quartz
j through which they have forced their wav,
1 and considering the fact that they are all
rich, and are said to be nearly equally pro
ductive, we may form some idea of the vast
amount of treasure remaining undisturbed in
the veins which run through the masses of
rock in various directions over a space of
forty or fifty miles w ide, and near five hun
dred miles long.
If we maybe allowed to form a conjecture
respecting the richness of these veins, from
the quantity of lump or coarse gold found in
the dry diggings w here it appears to occupy
nearly the same superficies it did originally in
the rock—its specific gravity being sufficient ,
to resist ordinary moving causes—-we shall be j
led to an estimate almost beyond human cal- !
dilation and belief. 1 et, as far as I can
perceive, there is no plausible reason w hy tlie
veins which remain in the quartz may not be i
as valuable as those which have become sep- j
arated from the decomposed rock. This mat- j
ter can only be satisfactorily decided by ac- j
tual discoveries.
The gold region of California having at
tracted a large share of public attention, it
was to be expected that various suggestions
and propositions would be made w ith respect
to tlie proper mode of disposing of it.
The difficulty in arranging a suitable plan
has been the w ant of accurate information on
which a well-considered opinion might be
formed. Its distance from the seat ot govern
ment, the conflicting statements and reports
respecting it, served only to bewilder and
mystify the public mind, and render a thor
ough examination of it necessary, to as
certain whether its value is such as to ren
der legislation necessary lor its proper pro
tection and management
If it appears, from the preceding part of
this report, that it is sufficiently important to
require laws suited to the condition and de
velopment of its wealth, we are necessarily
brought to the consideration of the proper
rules and emulations to be adopted for that
purpose.
The survey and sale of that section
of country, under our present land system, or
any other mode which may be devised,
would, undoubtedly, cause very serious dis
content among those who have gone, and
all who may desire to go there to collect
gold, and a most unnecessary and unavoida
ble inequality in the distribution of w ealth
among the purchasers.
Sections and parts of sections of land hav
ing no indications of gold on the surface,
but possessing untold treasure in the bowels
of the earth, might be sold for what would
be a mere trifle in comparison of their real
value. Capitalists would overbid the daring,
strong-armed day laborer, who had braved
the storms of Cape Horn, or the privations of
a journey across the plains; and by the pow
er and combination of resources, would pos
sess themselves of the most valuable mines
which have been discovered, and employ
skillful miners to examine the country, with
as much secrecy as possible, for the purpose
of making such discoveries as wmuld enable
them, in a great degree, to monopolize the
most valuable portions of the country.
It is much easier to imagine than describe
the discontent, perhaps disorder, which would
spring up among a hundred thousand free
men deprived of the privilege of an equal en
joyment of, or participation in, what they
have been in the habit of regarding as the
common property of the people of the whole
Union.
It is, perhaps, more than doubtful whether
such laws could lie enforced. The employ
ment of troops for that purpose would not
only be odious, but ineffectual; they wmuld
be more likely to set an example of insubor
dination, by desertion, than to compel obe
dience in others.
The people would unite w ith them in pro
ducing anarchy and confusion. No system,
therefore, which is not in accordance with the
interests of the people, can be carried into
successful operation, it is always fortunate
when laws can be so framed as to harmonize
those interests with the policy and duty of
government. It is believed that may be ac
complished in this case.
While every American citizen in the mines
is aw'are that he is on government property,
and would consider any attempt to drive him
away as an act of oppression, he at the same
time feels that something is due from him for
the privileges he enjoys, and he would wil
lingly pay a reasonable sum to have those
privileges defined, and to be protected in the
en joyment of them.
The gold in the rivers, the dry diggings
and the ravines, is accessible to any man
who has the strength to use a pan or wash
er, a spade and pick-axe.
The employment of machinery may, per
haps, facilitate its collection, but it is not es
sential. Every man is master of bis own
movements. The case will be very different
with the vein mines, which yet remain in the
rock. To work them successfully will re
quire machinery, with horse or steam power,
involving an expenditure of capital in propor
tion to the extent of the operations.
No prudent man will make such invest
ments until his rights and privileges shall
have been clearly defined by law. In the
absence of all legal regulation, if a man were
to discover a vein mine, and incur the ex
pense of erecting machinery to work it, any
other person, citizen, or foreigner, might con
struct an establishment alongside of him, de
prive him of his discovery, and destroy the
value of his property. Hence it w ill be per
ceived that any law prescribing the privileges
and duties of miners should be so framed as
to secure the rights of all.
‘1 here is some fertile soil in tbe gold re
gion—beautiful valleys and rich hill-sides,
which, under circumstances favorable to ag
riculture, would undoubtedly be favorable
for that purpose; but at present, and so long
as the collection of gold shall continue to
reward labor so much more abundantly than
the cultivation of the soil, the important mat
ter to be considered is, the proper mode of
disposing of the metallic wealth of the coun
try.
The first stop, in my opinion, should be to
reserve the entire region where gold is found,
from the operation of the pre-emption laws,
and from sale, so that it may be now 7 regard
ed as the common treasure of the American
people, and hereafter as a rich inheritance, to
their posterity. Then provide for the ap
pointment of a commissioner of the mines,
and a sufficient number of assistant commis
sioners to carry the law into effect.
Let the office of tbe commissioner be es
j tablished at some point convenient to the
! mines, say Sacramento city, and the offices
of his assistants on the principal rivers, and
! in the most productive districts. Provide
• that any and every American citizen, on ap
] plication at the office of the commissioner, or
any of his assistants, and by paying one
ounce, or 816, or such sum as may be con
sidered just and proper, shall be entitled to
receive a license or permit to dig any where
in the territory for one year. Provide, also,
that any one who shall discover, or purchase
of the discoverer, a vein mine, shall be en
titled to work it_to a certain extent, under
proper regulations, on paying to the commis
sioner such per cent, on the proceeds of the
mine as may be a suitable tax on the privile
ges granted. It will be necessary also to al
low the miner to cut and use such timber and
other building materials as his business re
quires ; and, also, to allow those who work
under permits the privilege of erecting cabins
tor shelter through the w inter. Authorize
the commissioner to lay out sites for towns
in convenient situations to the mines, and of
fer the lots for sale, reserving the metals and :
mineral, so that those making mining a perma
nent pursuit, may accumulate around them
the comforts and enjoyments of life. Let
those who desire to cultivate gardens or
farm lots be accommodated. It will be ne- i
cessary also to authorize the sale of timber
and other materials for building and other
purposes. There may be other suggestions
w hich do not now occur to me, but no doubt
w ill, to those who may be charged with the
preparation of any measure which may be
brought forward on this subject.
I have suggested one ounce, or sl6, as the
price of a permit or license to dig or collect
gold for one year. This I regard as about
the average value of one day’s labor in the
mines. The tax on fifty thousand miners,
the probable number next summer, will give
a revenue of SBOO,OOO. On one hundred
thousand miners—the probable number of
ISsl—it will give $1,600,000, besides the
per centum on the vein mines, and the sum
received for town lots, timber, &c. &c., w hich
wmuld probably sw r ell the amount to at least
82,000,000. Any variation in the tax im
posed will, of course, increase or diminish j
this estimate.
A suitable amount of money thus collect- j
ed should be expended in constructing roads
and bridges, to facilitate communication to
and througth the mining districts.
These facilities will so reduce the cost of
living in the mines, that the miners will gain
instead of lose by paying the tax. ‘1 hese
are accommodations which the miners them
selves will never provide, because ol the want
of concert of action among them sufficient to
accomplish such objects, but for which they
will w illingly pay any moderate contribution.
A liberal per centum should be allowed out of
this sum, as a school fund, and lor the estab
lishment of an university to educate the youth
of California. Let it not be considered that
this will be doing injustice to the older States
of the Union. They w ill reap a harvest
sufficiently 7 rich in their intercourse with their
younger sister on the Pacific to justify the
most liberal course of policy towards her.
I have given $2,000,000 as the probable
revenue of 1851, under the proposed system.
This would discharge tlie merest on the
amount stipulated in the treaty to be paid to
Mexico for California and New Mexico, pro
vide $300,000 per annum for a school fund,
and the necessary improvements in the min
ing districts, and create a sinking fund of half
a million per annum, to pay the principal of
the indemnity to Mexico.
An increase of” the number of miners, or of the
price of permits, would of course increase the
revenue. If the vein-mines shall be found as
extensive and productive as the best informed
j persons suppose, the right to work them, prop
erly secured by law, and the opportunity thus
i offered of using machinery to advantage, wifi
’ justify the collection of a much larger per cent.
I on their gross product than it is proposed to re
-1 quire from those who labor with their own
j hands in the use of the simple means now em
ployed in the collection of gold. The amount,
j therefore, collected from this source may ulti
| mately be as large, perhaps larger, than that for
’ permits.
If revenue is an object, there can be little doubt
that, by tlie adoption of this system, the amount
collected in a few years will be larger than the
entire district would command in ready money,
if offered for sale; and the interests and privi
leges of those employed in the mines will be se
cured from the grasping and monopolizing spirit
of individual proprietors; California and the
whole Union preserved from-scenes of anarchy
and confusion, if not bloodshed, which must re
sult from a sale of the mining region to specu
lators, and an attempt to protect them in the en
joyment of their purchases.
The salaries of the commissioner and his as
sistants, may easily be paid out of the amount
received, in fixed sums, or in the form of a per
centum.
1 have proposed to exclude foreigners from
the privilege of purchasing permits, and work
ing as discoverers or purchasers in the vein
mines. My reasons for recommending this pol
icy are, that these mines belong to, and in mv
judgment should be preserved for, the use and
benefit of tlie American people. I mean, of
course, ail citizens, native and adopted.
During the mining season of 1849, more than
fifteen thousand persons, mostly Mexicans and
Chilinos, came in armed bands into the mining
district, bidding defiance to all opposition, and
finally carrying out of the country some twenty
millions of dollars’ worth of gold dust, which
belonged by purchase to the people of the United
States. If not excluded by law, they will return
j and recommence the work of plunder. They
j may, with as much right, gather the harvest in
the valley of the Connecticut, the Ohio, or Mis
sissippi. No other nation, having the power to
protect it, would permit its treasure to be thus
carried away. I would not allow them to pur
chase permits, or work vein-mines, because the
contributions proposed to be required are so mod
j erate that, they will not cause the slightest
inconvenience to the miners, and are not designed
as an equivalent for those privileges. Foreigners,
therefore, would willingly pay these small sums
for permission to collect and carry away millions
of dollars in value. The object is not only a suit
able revenue, but to preserve for the use of our
i own fellow-citizens the wealth of that region,
j This system of permits will make all who
I purchase them police officers, to aid in excluding
from the mines all who are not entitled to, or who
ido not procure them. This will prevent desert
j ers from the army and navy from being harbored
and protected in the mines. Not being allowed
to purchase permits, the assistant commissioners
aided by the miners, would soon detect and ar
rest them. Sailors belonging to the mercantile
marine would be detected in a similar manner,
and thus prevented from running away.
The commerce of the country would be pro
j tected from the disastrous consequences resulting
; from the abandonment of ships by their crews,
j -which necessarily imposes a heavy tax on con
: sumers, because merchants, as a measure of
i self-protection, must charge such losses on their
I cargoes, and consequently they fall on those who
! purchase. The army and navy would be saved
j from demoralization, and prepared for service in
* case of necessity.
Many of the emigrants to California, especial
j ly those from the western States, will remain and
I form a resident population; but there will be
| thousands and tens of thousands of young and
middle-aged workingmen, from all parts of the
Union, who will resort to the mines for the pur
! pose of obtaining the means to purchase a farm,
| or establish themselves in some favorite pur
| suit, and as soon as they have secured a sufficient
j amount will return, and their places will be sup
i plied by others who will go and do likewise.
The process has already commenced. Many
j who went out last spring have returned with an
j ample reward for their labors and privations. The
j market in California for the products and man
ufactures of the other States of the Union will
: enhance prices, which, with tlie gold collected
and brought home by laboring people, will dif
i fuse a degree of wealth and comfort hitherto un
l known among them.
The quicksilver mines of California are believed
to be numerous, extensive, and very valuable.
There is one near San Jose, which belongs to, or
is claimed by, Mr. Forbes, of Topic, in Mexico.
The einnhbar ore, which produces the quicksil
ver, lies near the surface, is easily procured, ami
believed to be remarkably productive.
Discoveries of other mines are reported, but
no certain information respecting them has
been made public. It is, undoubtedly, a for
tunate circumstance that nature, in bestowing
on California such vast metallic treasure, has
provided, almost in its immediate neighborhood,
inexhaustible stores of quicksilver, which is so
essential in gold mining.
The policy of government with respect to
these mines of cinnabar should, in my opinion, be
quite different from that which I have felt it my
duty to suggest for the management of the gold
region.
As soon as the necessary explorations can be
made, and proper information obtained, it will
be well to offer these mines for sale, and commit
their development to the hands of private enter
prise.
It is believed that there are extensive beds of
silver, iron, and copper ores, in the Territory;
but there is no information sufficiently accurate
respecting them, to justify any statement of their
existence in value.
I have already alluded to the propriety of es
tablishing a mint in California. This is import
ant in many respects. At this time there is not
coin in the country to supply a currency. Much
difficulty is experienced in procuring enough to j
pay the duties on imported goods. The com
mon circulating medium is, therefore, gold dust,
which is sold at sls 50 to sl6 per ounce. In
the mines it is frequently sold much lower. The
miners, the laboring men, are the sufferers from
this state of things.
Those who purchase and ship gold to the At
lantic States make large profits; but those who
dig Jose what others make.
I have estimated that there will be $50,000,-
000 collected during the current year. At sl6
per ounce, that sum will weigh 3,125,000
ounces.
Gold, at the United States mint, is worth $lB
per ounce, making a difference in value on that
quantity,between San Francisco and New York,
of $6,250,000, which would be saved to the mi
ners by the establishment of a mint.
I have also suggested its importance as a means
of promoting and increasing our trade.with the
west coast of Mexico and South America.
It is not doubted that the construction of a
railway across the Isthmus of Panama, and per
haps the establishment of other lines of
communication between the two oceans, will
give the products and manufactures of the old
er Slates of the Union command of the market
of California to the exclusion, in a groat degree,
of those of the west coast.
A mint will therefore become of the utmost
importance, to give such marketable value to
silver bullion as to enable the merchants of those
countries to keep up and increase their inter
course with our principal ports on the Pacific.
The silver bullion shipped to Europe from the
west coast of Mexico amounts to more than ten
millions of dollars per annum. From the coun
tries on Ihe west coast of South America, prob
ably an equal quantity. That from Mexico goes
to pay for European importations into her ports
on the Atlantic side.
A market at San Francisco for this bullion
will be the means of substituting American and
Chinese fabrics for those of European manu
facture in all those countries. This will greatly
increase the trade between China and California.
I have the honor to be, with great respect,
i your most obedient servant,
i ‘ (Signed) T. BUTLER KING.
I To the lion. John M. Clayton,
Secretary of State.
i SOUTHERN SENTINEL.
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA:
| THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 11,1850.
i The Right Reverend Stephen Elliott, Bishop
| of the Diocese of Georgia, will preach in the Episco
pal Church on Saturday evening next, and on the
next Sabbath.
We regret to learn that the Hon. Thus. C. Ilaek
ett, is at this time very low with consumption, at Sav
annah, where lie arrived from Washington City,
’ last week.
| The Temperance Hall.—We are pleased to see
: that this structure is progressing. When completed
| it will not only be one of the most beautiful and usc
| fill buildings in the city, but it will be a monument to
■ the public spirit of our citizens. The commodious
j Town Hall on the lower floor, will supply what has
long been needed, while the upper story will be ap
j propriated to the use of the two thriving Divisions of
I the order of the Sons of Temperance, in this city.
| We hope we shall not hear of any repudiation among
those who have done themselves the credit, and the
| city the service, to subscribe for its erection.
The South—Her Position and Prospects.
The question is settled ; this glorious ITnion is to
be preserved, and the South is to be disgraced. The
ship of State lias successfully weathered the storms
of sectional excitement, and now rides in proud de
fiance over the waves, which, for a season, so fear
fully laslied its gallant sides. YVe congratulate the
friends of the Union, in their complete triumph over
the friends of the South. We speak not of the de
cision against the Nashville convention, but of the
spirit in which the opposition to that measure has
been waged. The policy of that convention was one
thing, and its defeat would argue solely a distrust, of
its sufficiency; the policy of vindicating the South
from the insults of her enemies, and protecting her
interests from invasion, was quite another thing, and
the verdict against it, argues a total abandonment of
all claims to justice or even to respectability. This
is the question which we say has been settled, and
the North may now ride rampant over the necks of
the South, secure in the conviction, that lore for the
Union has bound in chains of contented slavery, the
Southern States of this confederacy. What are we
I told ? Why, that whatever the North may consti-
I tutionally do in Congress, the South will not resist,
however much she may deplore it. Is not this the
ground upon which the Whig party of Georgia has
all along opposed the making of the admission of
California, a test question in the call of a convention ?
i Mr. Toombs, the leader of that party in this State,
in hi> letter to Gov. Towns, says that Congress may
constitutionally admit or reject California, and be
cause it may do so, the matter is discretionary with
that body, and that therefore a decision of the mat
ter one way or the other, will furnish no sufficient
ground of resistance at the South. Very well. Let
J California be admitted, let New Mexico be admitted,
let Canada be admitted, and in less than twenty-five
years, the North will possess that numerical prepon
derance in the councils of the nation, which our con
stitution says, shall entitle her to a change of the
i fundamental law of the land. The Soutli is as much
j bound to acquiesce in a constitutional change of the
| constitution, as in a constitutional act of legislation,
j When tlie North is thus, by the operation of causes
| now at work, possessed of the majority which will
I enable her to change the constitution, what will be
| done ? The first blow will be aimed at the guaran
| tees afforded to the South by that instrument, and
! she will abolish slavery in Georgia. Who doubts
it ? The man is blind or a fool who does. Is not
| the effort to abolish slavery to-day in Congress, re
stricted only by the bounds of authority, and the ve
ry moment she finds herself possessed of the power,
there is not a doubt that she will exercise it, in abol
ishing “ the accursed institution ” from the Chesa
peake to the Rio Grande. This, then, will become a
discretionary question, and Mr. Toombs, with his
troop, we suppose, would expect the South to abide
by an exercise of that discretion. Wo by no means
| include in this category, those members of the Whig
| party who have had the independence to think and
| act for themselves in this matter. Nor would we be
; understood to exculpate from this indifference to the
j South, those degenerate members of the democratic
I party, who have stood aloof, as idle or false hearted
spectators of this foul crusade against us. We ac
j knowledge no fellowship of party, with the man who
is not willing to bury party in defence of the South,
i Commend us to the man who is true on this question,
no matter where he stood on the old party issues,
rather than to the most orthodox republican, who fal
ters in his devotion to the South. We are ready to
bury the hatchet of party strife, and meet, regardless
of all former differences, in council together for the j
purpose of rescuing the Soutli from the degradation |
to which the North would consign her. We feel
that the Soutli is in danger, and we. feel too that the j
people of the South have committed themselves to j
submission to this danger. YVe may be mistaken in
our estimate of the crisis ; we may have been sound
ing the alarm when no enemy was at the gates ; we
hope we have been. YVe are ready to be branded as
a false alarmist: far mare ready than to deserve the
opprobrium of having either slept at our post, or hav
ing turned traitor to the South by'permitting her as- ;
sassins to enter within Iter Avails, without calling :
aloud to our brothers of their danger.
U. S. Senator from S. Carolina. —This post has j
been tendered by the Governor to Gen. .James Ham- ‘
ilton, who first accepted it. but subsequently, on ae- j
count of some doubt as to his eligibility from non
residence, lie declined the appointment.
The Girard Road.
A friend has handed us a number of the Alabama
Journal, (the paper never comes to this office) and di
rected our attention to the following paragraph :
A Slight Mistake.—The Columbus “Senti
nel,” in some comments on Mr. Winter’s
article in the Greenville Alabamian, remarks
that the Girard Railroad “is 210 miles long.
YVe have the aggregate cost of the whole,
at SB,OOO dollars per mile, $1,680,000; con
siderably less than one-half of Mr. Winter’s
estimate. This estimate includes graduation,
masonry, bridging, superstructure, and iron.”
The “Sentinel” should recollect that estimates
are one thing, and expenses another The Gi
rard Railroad, by the route contemplated, is up
wards of 220 miles, yet the “Sentinel” thinks it
can be built for $1,680,000. Now the Montgom
ery and West Point Road, which is only 85 miles,
cost more than that sum. Yet the “Sentinel”
proposes to build one nearly three times as long
for the same amount!
We doubt if the Girard Road can be built for
much less than $3,000,000, under the most fa
vorable circumstances, or that any contractors
would be willing to take the contract and put it in
operation. It is an easy thing to build a Railroad
on paper, but an entirely different matter to put
it actually in operation, as many in this section
know to their cost.
The “Journal'’ traverses two statements contained
in our editorial referred to; the first is as to the
length, and the second, as to the cost per mile, of
the proposed Girard Railroad. YY’e had estimated
the length of the road at 210 miles; the “Journal”
says it is “upwards of 220 miles.” Os course we
could not undertake to state the precise distance of
the route, for it has not yet been surveyed, but it had
been measured on the map of Alabama, by a Civil
Engineer in this city, and it was on the authority of
his statement that we stated the distance to be 210
miles. The “Journal’s” idea of the distance may be
more correct than ours, and inasmuch as it is a mat
ter about which we can not now be positive, we will
admit that the length of the Road will be 225 miles.
So much for the first point of difference; as to the
second, we have better ascertained data upon which to
predicate the correctness of our estimate. The “Jour
nal” says, “the Montgomery and YY’est. Point Railroad,
which is only 85 miles, cost more” than the amount
which we had estimated would be required in the
construction of the Girard Road. The cost of the
Montgomery and W est Point Road, according to the
“Journal,” therefore, was about 820,000 per mile !
YVe presume of course the “Journal” is correct in its
figures, and do not pretend to question its statement in
this matter, but we do deny that from such premises
any correct conclusion can be drawn, as to the cost of
the Girard Road.
On this point we prefer the estimate of a practical En
gineer to the opinion of either the “Journal” or our
own. As we stated in our editorial last week, on
this subject, the cost of the Muscogee Road is esti
mated by the Chief Engineer, Mr. Jones, at about
88,000 per mile, and the opinion of those acquainted
with the geography of both routes is, that the coun
try over which it runs, is much more favorable for
thq construction of the Ujrard Road, than is that over
which the Muscogee Road passes. Taking this as a
basis of calculation, therefore, and taking the “Jour
nal’s” estimate of the length of the Road, 225 miles,
we have the aggregate cost of the whole, $1,800,000.
If we are wrong in the calculation, we have no sort
of objection to being corrected.
Georgia Manufactures and their Progress.—
The New York Courier and Enquirer says : “YVe
were shown yesterday specimens of wrapping and
newspaper from the Rock Island Factory, near Co
lumbus, Ga., and to our surprise and gratification
found them of a very superior quality—even, strong,
and the newspaper oi* very perfect color—the whole
exhibiting a thorough acquaintance with the business,
perfection of machinery, and care in the manufac
ture. Good judges pronounced it superior to much
of the paper manufactured at the North.
“We understand that this factory lias but recently
commenced operations, with a cash capital of forty
thousand dollars, paid in. They are turning out
about one thousand pounds of paper per day, but
will soon work off from twenty-five hundred to three
thousand pounds. The stock is all procured in the
South, and the most of it in the region around Co
lumbus. YVe are gratified to learn too, that the sac
tory finds a ready market at home for all the paper
that they make. The affairs of the company are con
ducted by R. L. Mott, Esq., of Columbus, who is
acting President, and D. Adams, Esq., Secretary, a
worthy son of New England.
“There tire two paper mills in Georgia, but none
anywhere South on so extensive a scale as this.”
YY’e confess to a very natural pride, in clipping
from a distant exchange, so favorable a notice of our
home institutions, more especially when we are con
scious that u the half has not been told .” This Rock
Island Paper Mill, is but one of the many evidences
of enterprise and a determined spirit of independence,
by which we are surrounded. Our river bank is
fast being fined with noble monuments to industry,
and in view of our almost unrivalled facilities for
manufactories of every description, we may safely
predict that the day is not far distant when our
thriving city shall become, not the Lowell of the
South, but the Manchester of America. The Rock
Island Company is now manufacturing an article of
paper, not the least inferior to the best specimens
from northern establishments, and on terms, equally
as good to tlie consumer, as it is laid at the door of
the printing office in New England. Success to our
own institutions, say we, and we hope that our print
ing friends will practically say the same tiling, by
hereafter having their orders filled on the banks of
the Chattahoochee.
Florida and Tennessee.— The Governor of the
former and the Legislature of the latter of these
States, have misrepresented the tone of the public
mind on the Southern convention. The Nashville
Union, in an article which we wish we had room to
i copy, assures us that the unanimous sentiment of the
i Democratic, and of a very respectable portion of tlie
YVhig party, is decidedly in favor of the Nashville
convention, while our Florida exchanges, indicate the
prevalence of any other sort of sentiments than those
contained in the Governor’s letter. Senator Morton
has replied to Gov. Brown in terms of scorching re
| buke, to his anti-southern manifesto.
Liability ok Bail Roads. — The Superior Court
of Bibb County, lias mulcted the Macon and YVest
ern Rail Road Company, in damages on account of a
negro who, having taken passage in the ears with a
general pass, jumped off, and was injured by the fall,
while the train was in motion. The point decided is,
that if the Company take the negro on the cars ,
: without the knowledge or consent of the owner , and
; he be injured by negligence or otherwise, the Com- \
I party will be liable, although the negro has a general
pass. The Supreme Court, we notice, have affirmed
this decision. —Augusta Republic.
Safety of Sir John Franklin. —A Telegraphic
despatcli from oitr Baltimore correspondent, dated !
; on Saturday last, gives us the gratifying intelligence
that tlie N. Y. Commercial Advertiser of tliat day.
| contains a letter from St. Paul, Minesota, announcing
the safety of Sir John Franklin.
This intelligence will be received with the greatest
gratification throughout the whole civilized world.
The interest that has been expressed in England, on
the fate of this bold explorer of unknown re dons
the munificent rewards that have been offered for any
information respecting him—the exhibition of hero
ism, and attachment, and perseverance of his lady,
who has by her indomitable efforts to rescue from peril’
or learn the fate of her husband, created a most intense
feeling throughout the whole world, has thrown around
the name of Sir John Franklin a romance, that apart
from the information which perilous voyages may
contribute to knowledge of heretofore unexplored re
gions, will cause every .philanthropic heart to bound
with pleasure. YVe await further details to learn the
particulars of this gratifying intelligence.— Ch. Com
California—Mr. King’s Report.
\\ T e publish to-day, the most interesting por
tion of this document, as embodying the most
authentic information we have yet received on
a subject of very great interest Speaking of this
report the correspondent of the Charleston Cou
rier says: It gives great satisfaction to the admin
istration, and will be greedily sought for by the
public, not only in the U. States, but wherever
else the love of novelty and the thirst for gold
may exist. In addition to the particulars w hich
I gave yesterday, I may state that the report
will occupy something like eight columns of pur
city papers. It gives minute information as to’
the agricultural capacities of the country. ‘The
wild oats of the region grow spontaneously, and
yield forty bushels of grain to the acre. The
pastures are extensive, and rich, and cattle
and sheep raising may be carried to a vast ex
tent. Enterprises are already on foot for
raising cattle and wool growing. From Mexico’
a vast number of sheep are to be introduced.
Heretofore, cattle were worth but three or
four dollars a head, and their hides were the
chief articles of export from California. Now,
the cattle bring a high price for the consumption’
of an influx of population, all of whom are bent*
on pursuits other than agriculture and growing
cattle. The actual population in the State is :
now a hundred and twenty thousand, and the
immigration from all parts of the world will,
within a year from the first of May next, add
population of two hundred thousand. There
will be wanted for the inhabitants, during the
same year, two hundred thousand head of cattle
more than California can supply. From the
Atlantic ports must be shipped to California, dur
ing the same year, flour to the value of four mil
lions of dollars, lumber to the value of six mil
lions, and two millions in other articles. The
supplies of lumber must continue to come from
the Atlantic ports as long as the labor required
for cutting lumber in California shall cost over
seventy dollars a thousand.
Some idea may be formed of the value ot the
gold region, from viewing its extent, as it can
be traced on the map. Mr. King describes it
as rising from the river Sacramento, as a base
line, by an inclined plane, till it reaches, at the
foot of the hills, an elevation of four thousand
feet above that river. This region is about five
hundred miles in length, from north to south,
and averaging fifty miles in breadth, from west
to east. This is one continued region of quartz
rock, rich in gold—very little of it, if worked with
proper skill, capable of yielding less than three
dollars of gold to a pound of the rock. From
the valley east of the hills, and between them
and the Sierra Nevada, a number of lit tle rivers
run through the hills and westward to the Sac
ramento; and, in their beds, gold is found in
dust and lumps, which have been washed by
the rains and streams from the quartz masses
which the rivers traverse. Mr. King personally
examined twelve of these rivers, and found
their borders and beds all very rich; and, from
trials made of the quartz, it is believed that the
whole region abounds in gold. The whole of
this region, with the exception of one small
tract, is public property, and is subject to the
disposition of Congress. The President w ill re
commend Mr. King’s plan of granting permits
and leases, instead of selling the land.
Pub. Doc.—YVe are indebted to Senator Cass and
lion. M. J. Wellborn, for valuable public documents.
“The Farmer and Planter.”— YY'e have receiv
ed the first number of an agricultural monthly, pub
! fished at Pendleton, S. C., by Seaborn & Gilman,
j From the character of its contents as well as from its
exterior appearance, we can predict for it a success
ful and a valuable career. YVe are pleased at the in
dications of a spirit of improvement in Southern agri
culture, afforded in the multiplication of these agri
cultural papers, and hail them as invaluable auxilia
ries in the work of advancing and developing the in
terests of tlie country. The prejudice against “book
farming,” which has for so long a time excluded the
rays of science from this most fruitful field of inquiry,,
is fast yielding to the influences of a more eidiglWen-.
ed spirit, and we hope that the day is not far distant,,
when, by the aid of such works as the one before us,
planting shall become as learned and as dignified a
| profession as that of law or medicine.
The Coha Expedition.
It seems, from the following telegraphic de
spatcli to the New York Express, that this pro
ject is not yet dead:
Washington, March 29.
Highly Important— lnvasion of Cuba. — ln
addition to the facts I telegraphed to the Ex
press yesterday, I now learn authentically:
Ist. That the Expedition will set out, no mat
ter what may be the prospects ofa defeat.
2d. That the command has been tendered to
several influential men both North and South;
but none have as yet accepted it.
3d. That Com. Parker will not exert himself
as vigorously as lie might to check the invasion.
4th. That there is more known about this en
| terprise, here in Washington, than you at the
: North have a suspicion of.
I have to-day heard other well authenticated
; reports of other forces leaving this country for
! the general rendezvous at Chagres. There can
* be no noubt thatdhe demonstration will be more
formidable than has been anticipated.
1 shall telegraph you again w hen the “leak
ings-out” justify.
Massachusetts and Virginia.
Gov. Briggs, in his message to the Massachu
setts Legislature, transmitting the YYrginia res
olutions on slavery, says:
“The opinion as to the constitutionality and
! propriety of arresting the future extension of
! slavery, is as nearly unanimous among the free
1 States, as that upon any other important propo
j sition which can be named. Thej^believe slave
ry to be mordiy wrong, and that such a restric
tion would be no invasion of the rights of any
j individual or State, but that it is necessary to
arrest an aggression upon the rights of the free
States, which has been in progress for half a
j century. The position which Massachusetts
has assumed upon this subject, she believes to
’ be impregnable, and that carrying it out would
| do no wrong to any other State. Let her, then,
w hile she will obey tlie constitution of the Uni
ted States arid observe all its guarantees, in
her attitude of opposition to the future exten
sion of slavery, be resolute and immovable”
Cotton Growing in tiie YVest Indies.
The Kingston (Jamaica) Journal has a letter
from Mr. McGeachy, from which we extract
as follows:
I “ill send you some further notices
s lortly. Seeds and gins arc now arrived,
and all good. 1 have a great many inter
esting and valuable samples. I expect cot
ton seeds also from Panama, and from ports
about the Pacific. I have distributed in
Barbadoes and Windward Islands speci
mens of Jamaica and American cotton, al
so American and Jamaica cotton seeds.
The wider spread we can give this subject
over our own and other islands the better,
and let us satisfy people in England that
we can do as the Times so emphatically re
commends us, namely, “Send” Jamaica cot
ton bales to Manchester, and thereby set
tle the YVest India question!” There is
something of earnest in these remarks from
an important paper like the Times, and
will arrest attention,