The weekly Columbian. [volume] (Columbia, Tuolumne Co., Cal.) 1856-1???, 1856-12-27
From the Alta California.
The Chase for Wealth.

The Chase for Wealth.
The recent discoveries of the immense HIM
| tington forgeries in the city Of New York have
again set people to thinking and watching have
| again loOsened their confidence in human ma
| ture. and particularly in men who make great
outside show of wealth, with the intention of
! dazzling those who see them into belief in
| their pecuniary greatness. Occasionally these
! astounding developments" break upon us with
| a force as powerful as the thunder-clap on a
warm. still. clear summers day, and we wonder
then that we had seen or heard none of the pre-
monitory symptoms of the coming crash
| Huntington has been dazzling and delghting
| the parvenu aristocracy of New York. by whom
he was considered as remarkable man, so long
as his forgeries remained undiscovered and I'M
suspected. Now that they have been made
known. he will cease to be idolized and made
much Of; no more fine dinners and reunions will
be given to him. or by him. His butterfly
friends ofthe days of his prosperity will desert
| him. and his probable change will next be from
the gay and gaudy society of New York to the
dungeons and the working rooms of Sing Sing
| SIC transit gloria n4adi. and so fadeth away HUI
man pomp and pride and greatness.
| Within the past few years there have been so
many eases similar to this, that We may almost
| begin to cease to wonder at them. The cases of
| furnish sad commentaries upon the eager chase
| for quickly-to be-acqnired wealth. and should
| teach us all some valuable lessons. Here. in
California, we have had our share of these won
| derful Developments Men who have stood
| fair in the eyes of our communty-men whose
characters the breath of suspicion had not even
tainted-have suddenly been found to be vii
lains of the deepest dye and their acts have not
only Gisgraced themselves and their families.
! L,tb H. -
upon all who have trusted to them. When it
was found that Henry Meiggs. man who had
| previously occupied high and honorable posi-
| ton in the estimation of our whole community.
man who had been entrusted with the highest
and best interests of our city, was found to have
| grossly violated all his obligations and his du-
| ties, was found to have unscrupulously robbed
all who had placed confidence in his honor and
his honesty. we asked the question, Whom can
we trust?'' And since that time, other 'sas-
founding Developments" directly in our midst.
have caused US to reiterate the same inquiry.
and matters of the same kind have raised in En-
gland and the Atlantic States the pertinent
question, Whom can We trust!'
In the present condition of society; in the
universal system of the worship of the golden
calf: in the eager race for wealth which char
acterZes the world at large, there is little
enough ofconfdence between man and bis fell
a IOW. anu Every udS cAppTltLCt is itSsHU1Hr IT,
To those who have still an abiding faith in
the future good time coming" SO long fore
told ny the seers and the prophets of all ages,
this breaking up of confidence brings sadness
and sorrow. and tends to lessen our faith in the
future. We learn melancholy but profitable
lessons by the developments brought to light in
the histories of such men as Huntington. Schuy-
Ter ard Meiggs.
This is the ..age of gold The eilded but
| terfy of wealth is what are all pursuing with
| too eager haste. and if men stumble in the chase
| fthcy fall into the slough of disgrace and crime
! il is not to be wandered at when we calmly
think that all of US are liable. in the same race,
to make similar fall. Lack of patience in the
pursuits of wealth. a too great desire to sudden
ly acquire it, is the great misfortune. not to use
harslier term. of the present generation. To
| California and to CalifOrnians this truism may
be particularly applied. Despite the fact which
the experience of eight years has fully proven
that there is not under the canopy of heaven
more desirable region to live in than this State:
that there is no section of country where by
earnest application and honesty. untiring indus
try not only good and easy living may be
obtained. but wealth acquired. we still find a
large portion of our present population looking
forward only to few months or, at most few
years residence amongst u.s. during which time
nought is to be thought of ut getting rich. and
then speedy exit from the country is looked
upon as the great diseratum. 1t is not strange.
in this view of the case. that ilegitimate means
are resOrted to: that men perform acts which
tend naturally to the destruction of confidence
and that we constantly feel as though we were
standing over the crater of slumbering volca-
no. which may at any moment burst forth and
engulf us all in ruin.
God has given us in California goodly heri-
ta@e. Here 'our lines have fallen in pleasant
places" A land of broad, extended plains and
smiling. verdant valleys. teeming with agricul-
tural wealth. A land OF lofty mountains and of
stretching river banks. where gold is scattered
with prousion hitherto undreamed of. A land
blessed with climate. of which even Wanted
Italy cannot boast. A land situated on the face
of the globe. in the very path of empire; point
on tn earth to which the whole earth must at
some distant day pay tribute. We need but
patience, but industry. energy and determine
ton to achieve, individually and collectively
the attainment of the worlds great desire
wealth Let us overcome, SO far as may be- the
feverish excitement consequent on its too eager
chase; let us look upon California as our future
home, where we are laboring not only for our
selves but for posterty, who. if we live right
ly, and lay for them the nrm foundations of a
future greatness, will yet ''rise up and call us
blessed
COOP ADVICE TO THE PoIITIcIANs.-The New
ark Mercury administers the following excellent
advice. which will suit men of all PARTIES
"Let them cultivate the acquaintance of their
wives and children. By turning to the big Ri.
BILE they will find the names of their neglected
little Ones and if they will study out the re-
nod hu