The Nevada journal., 1852-02-14
STATE JOURNAL AND TnE MINES.

we uilU All ATtlCIe III the otAtc jour.
nal ofthe 18th which, though directed
mainly at the Times and Transcript,
contains sentiments interesting to 9th.
ers, which we will notice - in doing
which, however, we do not wish to
meddle with the "family quarrel" 60.
ing on between these two papers. In
the article referred to the Journal
says:
docs that paper not know that the
almost unanimous voice of the people is
that the mines shall for the present, at
least, in the language of the Governor,
remain free rs the air we broatheH'-
DO they not know that this was the po.
sition taken by all Of our candidates and
stump orators in the last canvass, and al.
80 by the editors Of that paper them
Selves?
! That the candidates and stump ora
tors assumed the ground of non-inter-
ference with the mines is, perhaps,
true. But to say that the "almost
unanimous voice Of the people" has
been expressed that such should be
the settled policy of the government,
is not true. AS we have before said,
the time has been when the wants and
interests of the miners were not un-
derstood, and Congress wvs likely TO
impose upon us conditions ruinous in
their tendency, and calculated to de-
feat the very object they were design
ed to promote. While that state Of
things lasted, the people demanded
that if Congress could do US no good,
they should do us no harm, and as
they knew nothing of our wants, the
best they could do was to let US alone.
From this circumstance, most of the
politicians and newspaper writer's,
who neither knew nor cared what we
wanted, and who had scarcely seen
the mining region, concluding that the
policy of non-interference was going
to be popular, made it their watch
word, and have since seemed to vie
with each other which should most
literally declare themselves in favor
Of the absolute freedom, as it is called,
Of the mines or in other words, of the
entire obsence of all legal enactments
by which men can be secured in their
rights and possessions. And so anx-
ious have they been TO make known
what they have adopted as their ia
vorite theories, that they have been
unable to hear or comprehend the
opinions of those most interested.
''Do the Editors not remember that
this was made an essential pre-reqni-
site in the qualifications of candidates
in the late Senatorial contest! Do
they not remember the interrogatory
that was put to each on this subject,
and also that every candidate for this
high Office expressly declared his op-
position to any interference with the
mineral lands: Vas not John B.
Weller elected by the unanimous voice
of all the Democracy, avowing and
entertaining these opinions?"
1t is not true that every candidate
to whom the interrosatory referred to
was addressed, declared his opposi-
tion to aoy interterencs with the min
eral lands James Walsh, the only
practical miner among them, and we
believe the only one who understood
the mining interests, expressed an
opinion directly opposite to this; and
doing SO he evidently consulted, not
only the interests, but the avowed
wishes of a large majority of the mi
ners.
1t is not true as implied in the above
extract that John b. Weller received
the unanimous support of the demo-
cracy in consequence of his avowal of
this sentiment. On the contrary more
than half the democratic delegation
firmly resisted his election, chiefly on
the ground that he did not understand
the mining interests, until it became
certain that unless concession was
made bv soma narfv CaIifornia would