The New York herald., 1851-09-08
Our California correspondence.

SAN Francisco, August !, 1850.
The Fyfy Dollar Ingots-1he Collector and the
Newspaper Prsss--The Banking Rousss-GoA
Dust--7he Funded Debt of San Franeisco.
A subject Of public interest, which has called
forth warm discussion from the newspaper press,
and not little from the business public, Is the
coinage Of the $50 ingos, under the law Of Congress
The ball first opened by the Star, the organ Of
the democracy, and the CowiT, he mou.t-pece
of the anti Thomas Butler King faction Of the
whg party; the former charging that the Col.
lector unauthoritatisely received the ingo.s for
government dues, in violation Of the sub-;reasury
act, and the latter denounclng Mofatt & Co.-.he
establishment at which they were manufactured-as
mammoth swindling concern. The statements Of
the Star, SO far as they related TO Mr.. King, were
most emphatcally rebuked, by the production Of the
letter from the Hon. Thomas II. Bailey, chairman
of the Committee of Wsys and Means, in the House
Of Representatives, who reported the bill creating
the United States Assay Office, and also the letter
Of Mr.. Secretary CoTwin, authorizing their reseip.
for dues.
Among the sns Of OMISSION and commission Of
this ambitious collector and keeper Of the public
moneys, this one was thus blotted from the cata-
logue.
The charges OF the Courier were broad, Wholesale,
aud sweeping, tig natizing the state Assayer, and
& Co, as swinlers, charging an exorbitan. per
cents ge for coinage, and sIIassog wealth at the
expense Of those who swing the PICK and work the
rCck,r in the mountains. These statements were,
u course, made inignorsnce of the sube or, what
is likely, fo- the purpose vt CRAFTY ing poli
cal animosity, By reaching others through Mofa;t
&C. The business public, on both the Atlantic
and Pacific sides, are of course interested in the
proIeI settle OF the question as to the conduct
of the assayng establishment, and the value Of the
irgots which are made circulating medium by the
az: uf Congress
Nv hen tie law was enacted, authorizing the issue
Of the ingots and the appointment ofan sssaye the
same per centage was fixed foe tho labor Of coinage
ss wss established by State laws, passed by the
frat Le gslatafe Of California under the very cor
rect suJpos.ion that local body would better un-
derstand what remuneI alton was proper where labor
and material were exorbitantly high. Under this
suTpostion, the rate was fixed az u per cent "A
contract was made with MoGat & Co and in order
to iu6it On their part, an outlay OF over $4,000
was necessary f0- he err, ction Of building and the
procurement Of tle necessary machinery. They
have thus far. performed their part Of the contrac.
with fidelity worthy Of remark in locality 50 la
mentally n sted for disregard Of obligations.
Tie Assay Cfiice was established as temporary
expedi,nt, 20 ans yer the purposes Of mint, until
one could be authorized and established. But
yben the people clsmor for the latter in preference
to the iucr, they 10 Il under the impression tha.
the expense will befsr less. such will not be their
experience when properly tested. lhe law au'ho-
staup requires that there shall be 800 parts
Of gold, IS copper, and 1' silver; bat, owing %
the scarcity Of silver, but two parts Of tha.
metal are now used. In coming the $50 ingots,
the silver is nat extracted, in consequence Of
the fact that the necessary acids could not
be procured. Ship loads Of nitric acid would not
stnioe for the purpose aud 1t is not unlikely tina.
these pieces will eventually find their way to
France, to be essayed, and the silver extracted,
where acids are abundant, and labor cheap. The
actual value, therefore, Of the ingots by permitting
the SILVER 10 remain in them, Is about twenty eight
cents more than their face. mint could not be
carried on in California, in consequence Of the high
price Of labor aud acids, and the scarcity of the