The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-14 00:00:00

TOTALS.

By Government Escort
By Private Escort 197,959
Amount conveyed to Adelaide by South
Australian Escort on 16th inst. 39,404

Total quantity brought clown by Escorts ...366, 193
We have here tolerably correct data to determine
the average weekly yield of the Victoria Diggings.
In an address to 'her Majesty, drawn up by the
Legislative Council some days ago, it is stated that
" the present weekly yield of gold, taking the last
three months as a criterion, may be estimated at
80,000 ounces, which, at 70s an ounce, gives a
gross annual sum of 14,560,000 sterling." This
estimate is fully substantiated by the figures given
in our previous article, and more than confirmed
by the statistics given above. For we find that in
the first four weeks of the present month close
upon three hundred and seventy thousand ounces
have been conveyed from the Diggings by escorts,
in addition to the unknown quantity brought away
by private persons, and still remaining in the hands
of the diggers. Perhaps an average yield of one
hundred and twenty thousand ounces weekly would
not be an exaggerated estimate. At all events, it
is perfectly certain that the weekly yield is con-
stantly increasing. But on the other hand it must
be stated that the present is the most favourable
period of the year for gold digging, and that the
number of diggers is constantly increasing.
In our previous summary, we estimated the
total yield of our gold fields from their commence-
ment to the end of August, at 2,532,422 ounces ;
to which, adding the amount since brought in, we
have a present total of 2,898,615 ounces, which, at
31. 10s per ounce, is equal to 10,145,1521. sterling.
But this amount, we may again state, we believe
to be much below the actual value of the gold pro-
duced in Victoria to the present date.
We have said that the number of diggers is in-
creasing. Our previous estimate gave the number
at 70,000 ; and it is likely that upwards of 80,000
are at this moment on the ground. Taking the
average weekly yield given by the Legislative
Council, we ,find that the average yield per man
per week is exactly an ounce. This result is at
least confirmed by the general statements of the
diggers themselves, it being universally admitted
that any persevering digger can easily secure an
ounce a week--a striking contrast with the wages
of the Lanark handloom weaver, and the pittance
doled out grudgingly to the Dorsetshire labourer,
or the famished Irish peasant !
That the quantity of gold produced rises or falls
in proportion to the number of diggers is now a
demonstrated fact ; and two important inferences
are deducible from it. First, that the capabilities
of our gold fields are almost without limit, since
the more they are worked the richer they appear ;
and second, that they offer remunerative employ-
ment .to any number of men who choose to labour
in them with energy and perseverance. These aro
the plain and practical facts upon which English
workmen can found a safe judgment as to the wis-
dom of trying their fortune at the diggings.' We
lay no stress on the chances of the exciting game
of gold seeking ; we say nothing of the marvellous
prizes won by some favourites of fortune, because
that would be to run the risk of misleading and
deluding the honest worker. If the certain gain
offer by the diggings is not sufficient to induce a
man to given them a trial, he is very foolish If he
allows himself to be lured to tham by the com-
paratively few chance instances of extraordinary
success.

But it is only fair to state, that there are such
instances, and many have come to light within the
last few weeks. The most remarkable is the find-
ing of a splendid mass of pure solid gold, weighing
twenty-eight pounds four ounces. This superb
mass has been purchased by the Executive for
1,6501., for presentation to her Majesty, and is for-
warded by the Australian steamer. These are
solitary instances, however, and offer no standard
of general success.
The experience of the past month has not alone
tended to confirm the fact that our gold fields are
not yet beginning to exhibit the slightest symptoms
of exhaustion, but ha.ve given fresh evidence of
their indefinite extent. In two instances it has
been found that spots which had been tried and
abandoned as comparatively
unproductive, have
proved upon more minute investigation to be
richly
remunerative. Other localities, hitherto untried, are
spoken of confidently as abounding in
the in gold. It is
not necessary, however, to supplement
sub-
stantial proofs of the enormous richne4s of the pro-
vince by mere reports of additional gold fields.
But by way of showing the extent and present
aspect of the various gold fields, we may quote the
latest reports from several different localities dis-
tant very many miles from each other. An expe-
riencedthe 17th instant, says— Mount Alexander on
man, writing from

" Some of the gold finds around this creek have been
numerous and heavy. On Tuesday last, one man picked
out a noble solid piece, about nine pounds of pure gold,
besides a great quantity of smaller nuggets around it—
in all worth 800/..or_ J,OOO/.—at one swoop. Another
party on coming down to the pipeclay, found between
between nine and ten pounds of gold resting on the rock
at an angle of about 45°, and lying beautifully in a sort
of vein on the pipeclay Many men with their
families have evidently come up here now to settle per-
manently, for to exhaust the gold at the Mount will take
many years yet-1880 won't see it out."

near the
firsAtnßotallilearr,adtagtionldg hfiiesldle, from Eureka,

" During last week a party at Little Bendigo obtained,
in a day, two hundred and eight ounces, which every
day since has increased as the party gets further into the
dip of the rock. This party certainly deserved success,
for theysunk
Party was sink-
ing,and
ha thgbe hole where noeensomemonthsothr
unfortunate,
e were de-
termined in the event of that hole proving a failure, to
bid farewell to the diggings. A.•great many instances of
equally
are daily
a brightertoilycomingaspect. It may
my knowledge.
be safely asserted that Eureka, if not now, will soon be-
Elrylything good
nowluc luckkis
come the El Dorado' of Victoria."

Pyrenees,
A gentleman at Daisy-hill, at the
flirty or forty miles further west, says ,__

"On the 10th September, since my last communica-
tion, the Daisy Hill Diggings have advanced in public
favour, and on good grounds, as with an increased num-
wtasheir the
operations case. The
diggers have
surface o
num-
ber of diggers, the average finds have, I believe, been
and in
procured spots
larger
almost
entirely previously
confined
wash-
ing, having been prevented from sinking by the
swetts.
extremely The surface
rich,
e
soilai
party
aruniversallyty having auriferous,
one
afternoon
42 ounces of gold : this, of course, is an instance of un-
usual good fortune ; but I believe that I am correct in
stating the average return from the surface washing at
one ounce per day per man. A nugget weighing 13
ounces was picked up on the surfaee on Saturday lass;."
And a letter dated at Reid's Creek, at the Oven's
River, quite in another direction, being 180 miles
north-east of Melbourne, contains the following
passage
"A person on the ground reports that a party of four
got 17 and a half ounces of gold in one day, and that he
and his companion were making an average of 8 oz.
daily between them. The worst success ascertained was
2 oz. and upwards per man per day. This individual
observes that he never saw at either the Mount Alexan-
der or the Turon diggings the gold run so regular, and
that where the diggers are now at work, there is room
for 4,000 or 5,000 people. The nuggets they have been
picking up weigh in many instances from a quarter to
half an ounce. There are now about 100 people on the
ground. The distance of these diggings from Melbourne
is 180 miles on the Sydney road, and 15 miles from the
township of Wanga,ratta.”
The most cautious reader will now be able to
judge for himself, from the evidence we have laid
before him, as to the actual value of the gold fields

now being worked, and their possible capabilities.
But we think that it is no unwarrantable assump-
tion to claim for the colony of Victoria the honour
of being the richest gold field in the world.
OUR SOCIAL CONDITION.

The social condition of the colony, and especially
of the city of Melbourne, becomes every day more
complicated and unmanagable. The population is
swelled by the arrival of thousands of emigrants
weekly from England and the neighbouring colo-
nies, while there is no corresponding increase of
house accommodation. Indeed, the prosecution of
the trades required in the erection of buildings is
all but impossible, from the scarcity of materials
and the high price of labour. Both these causes
result from our contiguity to the gold fields ; for it
Is not to be supposed that artisans and labourers
will accept the ordinary rates of wages when they
can with certainty earn an ounce of gold a week at
the diggings, besides being their own masters, and
standing the chance of much greater things. The
want of dwellings of any description, -and the total
neglect of all sanatory regulations, are becoming
intolerable evils, and will be painfully felt by thou-
sands of immigrants on their first arrival. Already
much hardship of this kind is suffered, nor is i t pos-
sible to provide an adequate remedy. The atten-
tion of the Local Government, and of the citizens
generally, is at this moment earnestly directed to
the subject, and efforts are being made to devise
temporary expedients to mitigate the evils ; but it
is absolutely impossible to make full provision for
the coming multitudes, and a great amount of
hardship will evidently be endured by such as have
families. It is some compensation, however, to
know that in the brilliant summer weather now
approaching, men can live, almost wholly in the
open air, without great inconvenience or danger.
The healthiness of the diggings is a proof of this.
The causes leading to this state of things are be-
yond human control. No foresight could have an-
ticipated them, and no energy could fully remedy
them. It is not the lack of private benevolence or
public spirit amongst us that leaves thousands
houseless ; it is the physical necessity of the case.
Doubtless, the reaction will come at length. But,
meantime, it is imperative on all new comers that
they evince a hardy spirit of self-reliance and self-
helpfulness. Privations they must suffer, and it
will be vain, as well as unjust, to blame other
people for them.
A large proportion of the males arriving, how-
ever, merely make'a temporary stay in Melbourne
ere they depart for the diggings. The .number of
persons, including returning diggers, who have left
the city within the last three weeks cannot be cor-
rectly ascertained, but may fairly be estimated at
ten thousand, while few, or none, are returning
from the diggings to remain in the city. This
latter fact strongly corroborates our statement as
to the remunerative nature of the employment.
Meantime, the value of house property in the
city is enormously increasing. In some instances
building allotments dave been sold for sums which
plots of equal size in the very centre or London or
New York would not have fetched. Fortunes have
been realised in this way by persons who never
could hare dreamed that their property would rise 1
to one-fourth the value they now receive for it. '
One gentleman, for example, received 5,000 guineas
for a piece of ground in a main street, which would
not have feiched one-eighth of the sum three years
ago. Ground fronting principal streets has been
sold at 2501. a foot frontage ; and houses are, in
some cases, let for a yearly rental; larger than the
whole amount expended in building them two years
since.

Add ed to all this, there are fears, and well-
ground ed fears, of a coming scarcity of provisions.
Already the necessaries of life are exorbitantly dear,
and are daily getting dearer. The crops cannot
receive t he attention bestowed. on them in ordinary
times, mi tch less ihat increased atiention rendered
necessary by the daily increasing influx of popula-
tion. Our stocks of bread stuffs arp threatening to
run low, nc T is it easy to see whence they are to be
replenished. The consequences are almost too
painful to be calmly contemplated.
All these fa Nets demand the deepest attention from
English merchants, and exporters fn all parts of the
world. There, is a market here for almost every
commodity. Our price current will show the high
prices to be re; ~lised by importers. There does not
seem much fem.: of a glut, at least in the necessaries
of life, in a mar ket continually growing larger and
more pressing int its demands. We believe, there-
fore, that Englis It and other capitalists have here a
noble field for gathering wealth. We should like
to see commercial. projects entered into for the pur-
pose of supplying the necessities of this people in a
liberal and expansive spirit. The enterprise will be
a noble one in its, f ; and will at once confer vast
benefits upon a la rue and most interesting popula-
tion, and enrich t] is )se who undertake it in a worthy
style. Without disparagement to the mercantile
community here, I\9) may safely assert that its trans-
actions are soarcely adequate to the commercial:re-
quirements of the colony. It is wise to send us out
ships laden with tl ie physical power necessary to
develope our resources ; but it will not be wise to
continue that syster u, if the emigrant fleets are not
supplemented by others bearing the necessaries and
luxuries of civilised Rife, and returning gold-laden
to the shores of Britain.

Morally, our condition is not much improving.
The dark picture presented in our previous ar-
ticle is not modified in any of its details. Crime
is still rife and life and property are still in-
secure. Judges, paid to administer the laws, in-
deed, assure us that these laws are decently ad-
ministered ; and Attorneys-General, whose duty it
is to check outrage, endeavour to persuade us
that there is 11:.ttle or no crime. But, unhappily,
these gentlemei a enjoy a monopoly of such opinions ;
and the people at large know, bitterly to their cost,
that neither th :6:lir houses, their purses, nor their
lives are even I moderately safe. The English Go-
vernment, with a. most culpable and fatal blindness
to its duty and , its true interest, still sends out
shiploads of En glish felonry to the neighbouring
island, and thou sands of convicts find their way to
our shores ; it is I even said publicly that the Local
Government of Van Diemen's Land connives at
their escape. Ot a. Legislature has framed an Act
—not yet come into operation—to put a stop to
this evil. But ev en if it should fully succeed in its
design, the misclu k f already done to the community
is immense, into lerable, and quite sufficient to
exasperate loyal c. o lonists beyond all reconciliation
to British rule. .Nor does it tend to soothe our
insulted feelings v then we find that the question of
transportation to Van Diemen's Land is shamefully
" burked" by the Imperial Legislature, which
seems so fatally lx ait on playing its petty game of
political parties t h at it has no attention to bestow
on a question affe c ting the very possession of the
richest colony in t ,he world. Whose fault will it
be if they lose it foi : ever ?

The life of the g old digger is not favourable to
his m oral and religl ous progress. On the contrary,
it seems powerfully to break those bonds by which
huma:a society is la, eld together. If this tendency
be constantly aggra ,vated by contact with lawless-
ness L a every fora i—if the bias to crime be con-
tinual y stimulated by familiarity with vice in all
its asp( 3cts—what can result but general demoralisa-
tion ? The ordinary moral and religious influences
cannot reach the digger, and therefore it is neces-
sary to permit the absorption of his attention upon
his fasc mating punsuit. But if we let loose thou-
sands ol.! felons to corrupt and degrade the digging
population, and to set the example of outrage
and plain, der, indulged in with impunity, what
can be e: xpected but universal depravity No
wonder tb at crime is so prevalent here ; that
property not respected, nor life held sacred ;
that gaols an; crowded, and criminals too nume-
rous to al low justice a temporary respite from
her solem n duties. The wonder is that the
strong good sense and British feeling of the com-
munity have so long kept it from the final resort to
Lynch law. The miserable condition of affairs is
brought with in one degree of that hateful alterna-
tive, by the i nertness of the Local Government. A.
well-organise d police force alone is necessary to pre-
serve peace, vindicate law, and repress crime ; and
this, its fin it and paramount duty, an imbecile
Executive e- fades, although it has ample funds at
command fc a- the purpose.
In a debt <t e upon the transportation question in
the House f Lords, news of which has arrived here
since our lt),;3t article appeared, we are told that it
was said by ( me of her Majesty's advisers—the Earl
of Desart—t; 'rat

" While guarding himself against casting any imputa-
tion upon the I •espectability of the signatures attached to
the petition, h( ) trusted that the house would permit him
to read a short statement, showing the manner in which
the colonists e ndeavoured to evade this evil of which
they so loudly complained. He should, however, first
state that trap Eportation to Van Diemen.'s Land had
very consideral ly diminished. The noble. lord then read
a letter which I to had received from the religious instruc-
tor on board the Rodney, and which was dated Hobart
Town, 20th of .J anuary, 1852. The letter stated that
th.erewere 870 n,p! ?lications for only 200 convicts, and that
there were 1,15 3 applications registered for men upon the
arrival of the n e xt
This stater aent was received with loud cries of
" Hear, heal :," and the transportation policy of the
British Gov(
_‘anent was looked upon as triumph-
amtly success ft 11. And thus, because a score or two
of mercenary z aen, who would hire demons from
he:ll if they cot ld use their services in saving them
aI ew pounds, run to the side of a convict ship and
struggle for a supply of the white slaves, with
which the Briti sh Government has been accustomed
tot t supply them and because a wretched hiroelnlinedg
knows that he I annot better please his master than
by :furnishing h im with such a paltry quibble as
this to use in a , debate, the colonists are to be put
down as insiric( are in their opposition to this crying

evil ; the unanimous resolutions of all their Legi-
slative Assemblies are to be set at nought ; the so-
lemn and repeated protests of every public meeting
in every city in the colonies are to be disregarded ;
and the infamous folly of rewarding crime by trans-
portation to a gold field is to be continued !
Where is this likely to end ? Where must it
end, if we are not in reality tinged to the core with
the convict taint; the soulless slaves that they
would fain believe us ? Where ought it to end, if
still one drop of British blood circulates in our
veins, or one ray of true British sentiment illumi-
nates our minds ? There is but one answer to all
this, and wo leaie these statesmen to guess it for
themselves.

IMMIGRATION.

Before proceeding to say a few words on our
political condition, we earnestly entreat attention
to the injudicious and cruel system of over-crowded
vessels, which seems to be gaining ground just
now. Within the month three striking cases of
this kind have occurred. The Bpurneuf, Wanata,
and Marco Polo, have arrived from Liverpool with
about 800 passengers each. The consequences of
over-crowding are sure to be fatal, and accordingly
the deaths were 83, 39, and 53 respectively during
the voyage. The vessels were of the largest size,
it is true, but it is perfectly obvious that no vessel,
whatever its size, can safely carry such large num-
bers on a three months' voyage. It is also true
that the mortality in these cases was almost wholly
confined to children ; but the facts are not the. less
painful, nor inapplicable as warnings of the dis-
astrous consequences of an inhuman system. ,