Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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,