Democratic banner., 1849-03-26
r o CALIFORNIA.

The ~. 7. Journal Of Commerce pup
fishes the following extract OF a letter,
which, though no later, presents several
new features, especially as to the demand
for physicians, and the sad want OF q gov
eminent. It is dated. ..
~it- SAN Francisco, Dec. 26. lS46.
am still in service, but expect daily to
be mustered out. Troops have arrived BY
tile way Of Santa Fe. and if they have their
compliment of medical officers, | shall OBJ
tain my discharge. My practice in town
Is very valuable. This, l believe, is the on
" port in the world where a physician is
well employed and we'll paid. / am anxious
TO know whether the Courts out here have
Probate jurisdiction. / have had several
hundred soldiers claims offered me, and
would have bought them, but the law states
that the claimants must make afidavits as
to their identity before q Court with Pro.
bate jurisdiction.
Let me give you q specimen Of yester-
days workvith me; and it is q fair average
probably / was q little more busy than
usual !: in the morning / visited the Fort,
and afterwards my patients in town; dined
ut 8 p. N. and went to bed; was walked three
times duriag the night to dress wounded
men, in ~a;general row that took place in
the hotel where l am living. l have just
returned from an inquest that was being
held on a body found dead on the road t.
the Fort. This is q common occurrence;
rarely a day passes that some are not
killed.
The people here are taking steps to or.
ganize a government. They are neglected.
There are no regular custom house officers,
and the receipts from customs are $4,000
aday. There are no post Office arrenge-
Tnents, and more letters are carried from
the Sacramento to this place and Monte
rey. than there are on one-third the mail
routes in the United States. There are no
courts, no laws, no protection to citizens,
and there are thousands of citizens re-
quiring projections. There is no mint, and
III gold goes to Valparaiso and Mazatlan
for coinage, and is sold for $l4 per ounce.
and 8 per cent. is paid to the Mexicans and
ChilIenos for the privilege of coinage, &c..
Sc. II is q fact as certain as any thing can
be, that if our wise-acres at Washington
delay furnishing us with a government, and
allow sectional ~prejudices and such things
as WilmOt provisos to interfere with their
duty and our rights, that the prediction so
often made in the United States, of q
separation from the Union, will be realized.
1 The mining operations are not on as
large a scale as in the early part Of the
season. The ground is becoming frozen
and the waters Of the rivers are exceeding
ly cold; nevertheless, those that purpose
wintering in the mining district, mansge tn
make it profitable still. Nearly all Of the
volunteers that were stationed in Lower
Califofnia, are living OF the Stauislaus and
McCumaiy river. Colonel Stevenson is
there. VI rfI .Ia- so ssr ss .it
I may as well give you q word or two on
the state Of society among the miners. Muir
der aud highway robbery ave every day oc-
%currences. Many and many a poor fellow
is waylaid, and his life taken without its
ever being known to the world. 1t is a
common thing to hear a party of miners
say, I'VE have lost suchss one ; we do no,
known what has become Of him. and
bodies are frequently found in the noun
tains half devoured by the wolves, and not
recognizable.