Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1852-07-09

l
). essential benefit, even if it were to con
d tinue, for money or moneys worth woul
l. quickly find its level it would only be a
e a higher guage than before.
i We would have no objection, Of course
r to witness an increased rate of wages
e generally applicable to all trades, but W.
/ should wish to see this arise from the in
creased demand of labor, and the ris'
, would be gradual, permanent aud healthy
and the result we firmly believe will be
brought about by the greater quantity oi
the basis of currency that California and
Australia will put the world in possession
. of. There will, in this case, be no tre-
mendous rise in the value Of the various
staples and luxuries of life, neither will
there be an extraordinary or sudden in-
crease Of the value of labor
If we did not believe that such would
eventually be the result of the late aston
ishing discoveries of the precious metal,
we should look upon the rapid increase
with fear aud trembling; to add to the
representatives of wealth without really
increasing the demand for labor, and pro-
crossing in commerce would have ruinous
tendency aud The auriferous produce Of our
Golden State would prove as fatal to us as
Peru did to Spain.
1t appears to be general law that the
natural resources of the world invariably
develope at the time when the progress
of society most requires them, and when
that progress is already such as to enable
US to avail ourselves of the greater ad
vantage of new discoveries. Formerly,
the stores of fuel which our forests con-
tanned suficed for our wants. Shortly
before the era Of railways, came the
knowledge of smelling iron with coal, and
Simultaneously with the knowledge, the
steam engine and the hot blast placed in
our hands the mineral treasures Of our
land.
More recently the increased fow Of
emigration to new and comparatively un-
explored portions of the globe has required
an augmented supply Of gold-the uni
yersally recognized medium for the inter-
change of wealth between the civilized
nations of the earth
The discovery of gold has at all periods
of history been the cause of crime, and
has seemed to develop new and heretofore
unknown corruptions. But then, be it
recollected, the very power by which the
world has been corrupted, gold itself, is
the great civilizer, and blessings unspeaka-
bic must flow from the unexpected de-
velopment of its hitherto latent resources
In the universal and toilsome search for
gold, our successors will extract the ma
terial of perpetual wealth out of the very
refuse elected by ourselves as valueless,
and the fable of the old mans apocryphal
treasure buried in the gold, in order to
induce his sons to pursue industrial hus-
bandry, will be pra ctically realized, proba-
bly, in the next generation.
The Spanish colonies in South America
ruined the mother country. If gold would
produce the effect here that many persons
appear to think it viii, it would ruin this
country also. Spain was not ruined be-
cause gold was supplied, but because the
metal itself was deemed to be real wealth,
instead Of the recognised representative
for the exchange of wealth, and thus gold
is 30 much idle dross until applied to
stimulate and set labor in motion for the |
creation of wealth; SO that by legitimate
use labor will be amply provided, and fair
remuneration will be given for labor; but
then wages will not be doubled or qua
drupled neither will prices be increased,
indeed the natural effect will be gradually
to lower prices so that the effect will be
rather to enable the laborer to purchase
more comforts with the same amount of
wages, than to purchase less with double
the money
Again, when We consider the wear and
tear of gold, its distribution in distant
countries where it exists in limited guam
tity, but whore other products abound,
notwithanding all that has been said of
it. vast increase. we much doubt whether
the supply will not still be within the
limits of the demand, however great that
supply may be. Gold ornaments and
trinkets and gilded materials are in use
among all classes nowadays, which never
were met with in the palaces of mobiles in
former times, and gold has ceased to be
merely an article of currency.
We think we have stated enough to
satisfy any one who will study the subject,
and who is not carried away by the crude
ideas formed by the excitement caused by
by the Astonishing influx of gold by, every
steamer from the Pacific, that while the
human family will be universally bene-
!