Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-08 00:00:00

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

IT, is surprising to find :that, after all that has
seen represented- of the rich resources of this new'
field ,of colonial enterprise, and in' the face of so•
great a rush of population thither, it should have to"
be complained of that our mercantile spiLit has not:
been sufficiently powerful and pervading, so far;-
to-furnish sufficient supplies for -the pressing necee--
sides of the colonists.. The cause of. British
Columbia's sudden accession off a busy throng to
develope its.. natural capabilities,- has been the dis—
covery of the precious metals - but slightly below.
the surface of its soil, and within easy
access of acquirement: Wealth, therefore,
was sure to be realised with despatch ; and
wherever there is that,..one expects there will be the
opportunity. of supplying the wants of those who
-possess it. Englishmen, at any rate,. have not
hitherto been backward in providing such oppor-
tunity, in any quarter-of the globe. Stran ge.that, in
this instance, their being so should have to be• com-
plained. of.. " I anal of opinion;" says a modern
philosopher,. " that. gold, and silver are our only
'powerful and propitious deities ; for when once you
have introduced those into your house, wish for
what you. will, you shall quickly obtain it."
Yet it is not so„, at present, it would seem,
in British Columbia.. There they have gold,—
it is that which they are accumulating day by
day, as. the immediate produce of their. industry ; not
anything, for which, gold is obtained, but theprecious
metal itself, dug by their own hands out of the bowels
of the earth. It, is, so far, it, appears,, one of those
fields of human, enterprise and industry which can-
not easily be over stocked with hands, but which
flourish most by multitudes, giving 'employment to
all who wilt minister to, the common stock- of
human exertions, and their. various necessi-
No man can purchase without an
equivalent- ; and no trade will be carried on where
such equivalent is not to. be ha& This is an universal
axiom, because the principle it asserts is an indis-
pensable one. Upon this basis, indeed, it is that the
public benefit of trade is founded ; as it requires
industry, and that system of distribution which
industry produces,, to provide that equivalent, and
make it available for supplying the wants and pro-
moting the enjoyments of those who are engaged in
it. The capacity of labour is every man's natural
possession, and composes a constant and renewing
fund. It does this more or less rapidly in proportion
to the opportunities for its profitable exertion; and no
opportunities can well be so profitable as those
which afford immediate access to that which is the
eventual remuneration of it all,—gold. It is not
the mere sustentation of life which is to be pro-
vided for, where men have the ability of accumu-
lating gold. Generous diet, comfortable clothing,
convenient habitations, suitable domestic utensils,
and the like, are doubtless the first objects in
demand, in such a case. But these wants,
or at any 'rate these desires, soon advance
far beyond that. It were not enough to
render human life more healthy, vigorous, and
comfortable,—though the doing of this creates
demands which promote, in their turn, to an immense
extent, the various operations of active industry, and
the several ramifications of prevailing commerce.
There are articles of luxury, of ornament, nay, of
splendour, which gold can procure, and which the
possessor of gold will generally insist on procuring,
whenever the hat ts and the pleasures of civiligation
and refinewnt are known, and can be indulged.
Now Tiritish Columbia, we repeats it appears,
is the position, so unusual, so anomalous; in
flese times of commercial energy and enterprise,