The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-12-12
From the ~ W Epeninr Post.

| a statement which presents gloomy picture Of
the condition Of affairs in the whilom land OF gold
1t was drawn up and signed by the passengers Of
| the Alabama, returning from California to New
Orleans, and handed to the Delta by Col. Mills,
formerly Of Texas. The editor introduces it with
| the following comments
"Co Mills is an observing and sagacous gen
| teman. He has spent several months in the min
ing districts of California, and vouches for the
correctness ofthe facts contained in the commune
cation. The Colonel assured us that he had never
witnessed such scenes of suffering pre-
scented by the mining districts at this time. TWEEN
ty thousand miners have been engaged all the
summer, IN the southern mines, in damming and
turning the rivers S,anisIaus, TowaIame, Merce
des and other streams, the beds Of which have all
proved barren Of the precious dust. They have
! exhausted all their in this Improbable la
bor and are deeply in debt to the merchants. The
rainy season, which commences in November,
wi force them back, pennlless and destitute TO
! the towns, where they must be fed and supported
during the winter, sent back to the States eth
err Of which, appears almost impossible. Colonel
| Mills fears that this desperate situation Of the
miners will give rise to excuses and disorders Of
| the most alarming character.
"The great object Of California emigrant is
no longer to make fortune, but to save enough
to pay his passage back to the States. This is
sometimes the labor of months. A party of emf
| grants composed Of eigh persOns-applied to
Col. Mills, when he passed through Panama, for
means To prosecute their voyage to Cali ornla.
Col. Mills advanced eight hundred dollars to
them, condition that they should f'llnw him
and work for him until they would reimburse him.
Tney agreed to his terms, lahored faithfully and
persevernglv during five months, and could re-
pay only one hundred and thlrty-fve dollars Of
the amount advanced by him! The Colonel
lated many other DISTANCES of disappointment and
unrewarded toll, which occurred under his own
observation. Out Of seventeen personal friends
who labored ia the same dlgglngs with him, only
three had collected f Ough Of the dust to defray
their exnenses back to their homes-the others
had not only lost all the money which they
brought with them, but had gone in debt.
"Thus is the golden mirage of California van
ishing!"
STEAMER ALABAMA, !
November 81, 1850. (
We, the undersigned, passengers ia the steam
ship Alabama, direct from California, in view Of
the many false AMI exaggerated statements in cir
collation. regards the productiveness Of The mines,
deem it a duty give some facts, which came
under our immediate observation, for the con-
sderation Of those who contemplate visiting thai
State FOR the purpose Of mining. In thus volun
tarlly laying before the public our experience and
observations in California, we wish it distinctly
understood that our statements can be relied upon
as strictly true, and thu, we are octua,ed by no
motive desire to serve those who may be
induced to leave present comfortable homes for
The desperate chance Of making fortune by gold
digging.
We have viewed with regret the many false
statements circulated in newspapers, based on in.
formation derived from the press in California, the
conductors Of which are engaged in the transpor.
tation business, or the Atlantic and Pacific. The
bankers, merchants, aud traders, whose business
transactions extend throughout the entire length
and breadth Of the gold region, assist, in no small
degree, in misleading the public in regard 10 the
aauering prospects Of those engaged in mining.
They have induced thousands and tens of thou.
sands to seek fortunes in California at grea, sacr-
fees, who never would have tried the experiment
il they had been informed Of the real condition
and prospects of those engaged in working the
mines.
We believe that thousands have been induced
TO emigrate to California, during the pnst year, on
account Of the exaggerated report made by the
government agent, (Mr. King) and by the state
ments made by the delegates in Congress, in rea-
ton to the g" db airing quartz. They stated that
worth from one to three dollars per pound These
statements coming to the miners through the
newspapers published abroad struck them with
profound astonishment. Now, there is not one
miner in FIVE hundred who has found in all his re-
searches pound Of qunrtz rock worth fifty cents
per pound and the undersigned, WHO have been
deeply interested in the matter, having carried
machinery 10 the mines at great expense to work |
the quartz know that none be found there
worth the present price for labor to work il.
IL mas been estimated that about one hundred
thousand Americans were in California at the
commencement of the present year. The emf
grafton tins year is put down at sixty thousand
across the plans ten thousand over land, through
Texas and Mexico, and fifty thousand across the
Misunderstanding two hundred and twenty thou.