California as it is, and as it may be : $b or, A guide to the gold regionWierzbicki, Felix Paul
History
California as it is, and as it may be : $b or, A guide to the gold region
Wierzbicki, Felix Paul
California -- Description and travel; California -- Gold discoveries
of the plain lying between two streams, generally is destitute of
timber and water; is exposed to the constant burning sun and scorching
wind, and consequently offering no spot for a farm house. For the same
reason this portion of the country admits only of a spare population,
whose principal occupation must be raising of livestock, as there is
plenty of grazing ground; each farmer, however, must have a bank of a
river to put his residence upon. In view of these circumstances these
lots should be made sufficiently large to enable the farmer to devote
his attention particularly to the raising of the livestock. By this
arrangement the whole country will be benefited; for the raising of
livestock will be daily less attended to in the country south of San
Francisco Bay, as the land there admits of smaller subdivisions for
agricultural purposes. And it is there that farmers will crowd, as its
climate and fertility of the soil are favorable to the maintenance of a
dense population.
By the above disposition of the mineral region, we conceive the country
will be greatly benefitted. The mineral region being under the sole
control of mining companies will exclude all private adventurers; thus
first benefiting the commerce by checking the now unavoidable desertion
of the crews of its shipping, which at this very moment amounts to
more than sixty thousand tons, of the finest ships in the world lying
in the harbor, and nearly all of them unable to proceed on an outward
voyage for want of hands on board--and secondly, preventing an influx
of all sorts of adventurers into the country, whose presence is more
of a nuisance than benefit to any country. Then a farming population,
cured of the gold mania, will seek to enrich itself by more sure means,
the product of the soil, and will crowd to the Pacific shores. The
arts will take a start--every species of industry will be called into
existence; the surplus capital of the commerce will be devoted to the
developement of internal resources of the country; nay, even capital
from abroad may find an employment here; the commerce of the country
will be put on a firm footing and will grow daily and steadily. Even
the government itself, thus rid of this bother of California gold,
will find more leisure to do its duty to this newly acquired territory.
In fine, the country will grow steadily in a permanent population, in
strength of order and law; and the business of life will unavoidably
fall into its natural and proper channels.
We flatter ourselves we have said enough upon the subject in hand to
clear up a little, the vision of the public that suffered itself to be
blinded by the brilliancy of the California gold.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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