Grass Valley telegraph., 1854-04-06
For the telegraph.
RoUGH AND READY, April 1st. l854

ROUGH AND READY, April lst, 1854
Mr.. EDITOR:
In former communication limited at
few of the evils arising from the discovery of
gold on the Pacifc-and promised at a con-
venient season that Iwould give you the 9th
er side of the question.
The treaty with Mexico, securing to the q.
States her vast and rich possessions upon the
Pacific, was made prior to the discovery of
gold, and Independent of the gold excitement,
the population of this Territory have been of
slow growth and perhaps century might
have passed before it would have entertained
population sufficiently large to have given
it the commanding notice which it now re-
ceives from its sister States.
The rich valleys on the coast, together with
those bordering on the great rivers of the
State, would have been dotted in time by the
restless wanderer from the East, while the
immense territory in the mountains would
have remained unbroken by the hand of civil
lzation until the resurrection morn.
The announcement of the discovery of gold
in California produced a kind of electric shock
upon the American people. The pleasurable
emotions of which have not yet passed away
A new impetus was given to business in the
commercial world a disposition to emigrate
! was awakened, unprecedented, which contin-
ues to the present time, the results of which,
I our cities and towns and mountains fully
show.
In the short space of five years from
small trading post on the Pacific. San Fran
cisco, has arisen to be the third city in the
Union so far as commerce is concerned. and
in population, exceeds that of the city of Bos-
ton after it had been settled two hundred
years. Judging from the past, San Francis
co has glorious future. When the Atlan-
tic and Pacific Railroad shall have been COM
pleted with double track, Gas sure it must;)
when the revolution in China shall have been
decided in favor of the liberal party-when
Commodore Perry S mission shall have been
fulfilled in opening the ports of the japanese
to the commerce of the world, when the
Sandwich Islands shall have been annexed
to the United States (as snre they will be j
when the two great oceans shall have been
united by an Isthmus route, so that the larg-
est class ships can pass with ease,-when the
wants of the Pacific shall have been properly
consulted, and ocean steamships of adequate
strength, speed and numbers shall have been
given us.-when the commerce of the world
shall be revolutionized, and we shall COM
mand the trade of all nations, all Europe
must pay tribute to San Francisco by trans
mitting their fabrics destined for the East
through our hands; the wealth of China, Ja-
pan, and the Islands of the Pacific must pass
through the emporium of California, en- route
for the Atlantic States and Europe all this,
and much more than have suggested, must
manifestly take place within the next twenty
years. Mr.. Clay in his great speech on the
floor Of the Senate Chamber in 1849, said
that the cash capital of the world did not ex-
ceed twelve hundred million dollars. The
youthful State of California has already ship
ed from her shores within the last six years
about one third of that amount. What other
state, however old or pOpulous it may be, has
done as much in the same time for laboring
humanity? ''The everlasting hills" are be-
ing worked down by the untiring hand of the
miner the valleys are dotted with cities and
towns of no mean Importance; agricultural
interests are keeping pace with the demands
of the country. The same causes are now
acting as heretofore, only in an increased ra-
tic to make this State one of the first in point
of wealth and population, and San Francisco
second to but few cities in the world
J. B. B.