The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1850-08-20
Tn. Eject of California Gold in Europe.

merSial de engagements and social disasters Spain
is adduced as a modern example; and people refer
with fear 20 the probable consequences OF the re-
Cept auIilrrous doings on the Sacramento.
When most OF our contemporaries were treating
The alleg discovery Of gold IN California as de-
lu on Sud a5Oundlng m warnings against the folly
Of advenluuup on belief 80 false, we ventured TO
hint thal thry were wrong, because the evidence
was Of nature to satisfy US that the precious
mineral ennched the neglected sands Of the Sacra-
men,o. They have now altered their views, aud
are, We suspect, equally wfeng when they sppre.
hrud special evils as certain 10 result from AN n-
CSIt thie uiiQX Of gold. The silly sentimentality
which seeks a distinction between the labor en-
rloyed m getting gold and growing grain, obtains
sppTOhauoD, because the plainest of all sciences,
puliicel economy. is stll cauidre 10 the million.
Were people a little better informed. they would
know that al voluntary labor is equally productive,
aud that even the poor Nureaburgher, who fabricaes
the fragile toys which fdscnate infancy, is operating
as ceItaniy On The uiling OF land rs the man who,
in the broad fields OF Norfolk, holds the plough A
man nlust he fed and clothed, and food end apparel
are Cbiainahle only in exchange for some thing
deem ed Of equal value. Gold buys bo,h and the
Californian, in picking up grains of gold, IS stimu
lating The growth OF corn in America and the
spinning of cotton in Lancashire His desire ofgain
may be too intense; his morals may not be inn
proved by bis necessary location in an unsettled
region: hut these matters most concern himself;
society, on the whole, benefits by those created
circumstances which nightly augment trade. .
Two evils are npprehended from an increased in
iluN Of gold-iirst, monetary arrangement; and,
secondly. an undue speculation, resulting in an
excess Of the circulating medium.
These evils, we believe, are purely imaginary.
In the first place, California will not cause any ex-
cessive increase in The imports Of gold AT most,
ihe SUPPLY rs not calcI ded TO exceed 60 200 coo
year and five molsa year will hardly do more,
tor several years TO come thar afford quantity
adequate 10 the management Of the commercial
eXi2encies preceding from the discoveries on the
Sacramento. As we predicted, long since, and
have ffeau, n rpupaf.t uevy nd trad
has been created within brief period, and centres
III California. Commerce is geographical, and at
tends on territorial discoveries and manufacturing
facilities. 1t left the Bospborus for the Adriatic
the Mediterranean for the Atlantic and now San
francisco looks out upon an ocean teeming with
pTovocetIons to enterprise industry and adventure.
lie hind her extend fields containing that kind of
wealth which is AZ once ndestrucible and instantly
eXchangeable. The whole world is eager to pos
sess il; and in that eagemess abides an enduring
security for an Increasing trade. A magniied
England lies opposite-ro be peop,ed and culti-
waited. China peopled and cultivated, is already
her customer; and numerous islands, known and
Unknown, present profitable stopping places on the
way to India. This, however, is only distance
IN The picture. Nearer home, untitled regions Of
untold fertility complete the fore ground. On one
hand, South America expands into home for hun
dreds OF millions Of inhabitants and the United
States enlarges itself from ocean TO ocean, across
a world prepared for, II possible, still larger popu-
lation. The child is father to the man = and in
The infancy OF the new trade on the Pacific we see
The incipient germ Of that commerce, which, at no
distant day, will make that of Europe, at present,
look poor and insignificant. For the facility Of
such a trade, and for the people created by that
iIade, will the gold of California be superintendent
Will il be sufficient, according TO the mistaken
idea ofsufiiciency In estimating the future popu-
laDon OF California, We must admit data more ex-
tensiye Than present themselves al first view. The
slinulant will not be confined 10 the aurferous
gions il will extend throughout all civilized ma
lions, who will, undoubtedly, contribute TO the
popping OF all America, North and South, and. in
doing so, encourage the growth OF populations at
home, The Old countries serving in point OF fact rs
nurseries for the new The picture is not over
charged The experience Of the past guarantees
its iruthlulness.
The fear of evil from an influx of gold is there
fore Groundess. If gold comes from California,
gold will 20 10 il and probably as much has gone,
up to this time, as has arrived. The present
abundance Of money, and The low rate Of interest,
cen certainly have no reference 10 Californian i'm
ports. Both proceed from very different causes,
and people ought more seriously to estimate them.
A circulating medium IL required by the exigcncics
ct trade; when commodities are dear, more
money IN obviously required than when they are
cheap. When tea and sugar were double the price
at which they now sold, grocere. wholesale
and retail, needed ~ ice the sum ROW required 10
conduct their business II il the same in all o,her
trades and II so happens that almost all comnlo-
dlties are now unusually cheap. Cotton is almost
the only exception Of import ance but unfortunate
ly. in cotton, diminished quantity corresponds TO
an increase in pncc. No more money is required
than when the article Was lower in value and
hence II j. that money is eupcrabundsnt and dis
counts low-therc being no financial alarms no
undue Fpcculations. Gold is found not quite so
portable rs hank notes, and soyersiCns therefore
are permitted, by general consent, TO enrich the
safe vaults IN Threadneedle. street. This is one
reason Why money is plentiful there is another;
railways render large stocks IN the hands OF manu.
facturcrs and retail traders unnecessary. What
they now want they can obtain in few hours;
liz
the rapidity of the penny post.
ltrecple would pause moment from prejudice
to he wise, and make TN effort at emancipation
from hereditary isllacies, they could not tsil to
discover IN the laFt four years, lessons Of CONNER
cal Instruction pregnant with more Information
than was ever before pres, ned 90 briefly The late
panic and ts sequence faeily nearly all the theories
which had previously prevailed in reference 10 pold
and currency. TWAS thought, and IL stil believed by
many, ihaitrede can be regulated by the con,r action
or expansion II the currency: and in lSl7.S the
bank directors and her Maiesiy's ministers operated
in both directions, in the idea tina. they=werp
doing immense good. and 1id--imncnsc mischief
They did rot know then what they ought TO know
now-thai low rate of interest does not of itself
encourage speculation; and that high rate Of in
iioresi depends. not on The viii Of government or
hanks, but on an apprehension of individual in
solteney sufficiently extensive 90 be regarded a a
rcn.Tal cause. II can be hardly necessary TO re-
Peat The proofs of this, which we have, Of LATE so
frequently addneed. The facts, however accu-
discounts are unsrcccdcntedly low, and money is
cheap; yet there is no undue speculation This is
the reverse OF all preceding theories The present
state Of things refuies all the fond conclusions OF
Birmingham, and renders the query OF "whst is a
Poundl az difficult Of solution as the squaring Of
the circle.
The secret lies ia the proper answer to the quss-
ton, why do not people now speculate T. Sim
Ty because there Is little chance Of prohtinc by adj
venture. Free trade hes given, a. IL were. a per-
msncncy and n univeisaliiy 10 prices. Ia the pre-
schce ~ line weather there ]. no prospect Of grain
being dtutcr. Tea, sugar, and coffee present no
feature which promises undue gains. Cotton IL
almost the only article upon which rests a doubt
81 scarcity abundance, and, therefore. the COM
mercial instinct prompts 10 speculation in that
article but The limit IL prescribed by quantity,
and canno, operate 10 any general effect Let Va
have bad European harvest, q deficient sugar
supply, and another failure in the cotton crop, and
We shall have three ihings-a high rate Of dis
count, n decrease in the stock Of bullion, and
alarming speculation. al to be followed by loss,
ban sfupicy. end H-panic. In the law Of proba-
biiiy all these misforiuncs are not now likely 10
concur. but the sequence will always corresnoud