San Andreas independent., 1857-10-24
From the Sacramento Daily Union.
Letter to the Miners of California No. /.
BY CAxToN.

her prosperity, and laid the solid foundations
of her empire Were your hands not at work
in the mountains, no ships would navigate her
waters, no ploughs turn up her virgin soil.-
The rich merchant whose aristocratic broad
cloth decorates the dress circles of our thea
in oceans in our vallies; the bluff mechanic,
whose hammers ring in so many workshops
and forges all these have sprung up like
parasites in your pathway, and without your
mighty shoulder to lean upon, would wither,
and droop, and die. Uproot the majestic oak,
and the ivy, the mistletoe, and the honeysuckle
perish together.
Is it not somewhat strange, that every other
great interest in the State, depending as it
does upon the Mining interest, should combine
together to plunder and Cypress it? Is it not
wonderful that the parasite, that feeds upon
the substance of the forest monarch, should
attempt to poison the very trunk upon which
it hangs, and choke the friendly limb that
lends support to its helpless tendrils? But the
statesman, as well as the man of the world,
soon learns that no vice is so common as in
gratitude. If it cannot be called a law of ma
ture, it is at least the practice of man every
where, both in his associative and individual
capacity. The truth cannot any longer be
concealed, for the fact stares US in the face
from the lids of the statute book, from the de-
cisions of the bench, and from the messages
Of the executive officers that the Miner is the
frue ontcast IN California. His rights alone
if he have any--have never been defined and
his wrongs-they are battalions-have never
been redrcsscd. Hitherto he has toiled on
uncomplainingly. Majestic cities have risen
by the sea, under the influence of his match
less wand flourishing plantations have grown
up, like the creations of Persian fable, at his
side; the white wings Of commerce have been
spread upon the remotest sea to catch the
faiuteSt niurmur Of his breath. Wealth has
broken forth in rivulets from almost every
mountain gorge in the State at his bidding.
and like the melted SHOWS, have run down
their sides and fertilized other soils, but have
never returned to bless the hands that unclosed
their golden fountains; still the Miner has
worked on uncomplainingly. In the bottoms
of deep rivers, in the bowels of lofty noun
tains, down in the shaft blasting the quartz,
up in the gulches picking the native granite
washing away the hill-sides by hydraulic
sluicing, rocking the cradle on the margins of
the swiftest rivers delving, diving, stamping
grinding and prospecting. he has hitherto
passed his busy life away, regardless of his
grievances. But he has neuer FORGOTTEN them
Often have they loomed up like giants be-
fore him, as he has lain in his distant cabin
sick, friendless and alone, and contrasted the
condition of the toiler to that of the opulent
beneficiary, rolling in luxury and f,ttening
upon the proceeds of his neighbor's labor
The day of reckoning has come; the voice
heretofore silent is soon destined to make
itself heard, and though the Miner seeks not
retribution, he will be contented with nothing
less than justice. Let it not be said that the
writer of these letters is seeking to embroil
the several interests of California in interne-
Give war. Such is not his object His aims
are neither mercenary nor vindictive. But
having witnessed, for the past seven years,
the studied contempt with which Legislatures,
Courts and Governors, have treated the "para-
mount interest" of the State, and well assured
that combined effort is now being made by
the great landholders throughout the mining
regions to render that interest subservient to
themselves forever, both by positive legislation
and judicial precedent, he deems it no less the
instinct of patriotism than the call of duty, to
enlist on the side of the oppresscd and if a
patient hearing can be obtained. to prove, by
incontestible facts, that the Miners claims
have always been ignored, his interests me-
elected, and his rights tramplcd upon and de-
spiscd.
But vain were the voice Of lamentation, if
no means of redress were at hand. Useless
exposure of errors, if they were irremediable.
the Miners of California to regain all they have
lost by inaction, to redress present grievances,
and to establish guarantees for future security.
But as COMBINATIONS exist throughout the
State, whose aims are destructive of their
so if they would overcome the
opposition arrayed against them, they too must
combine, for the protection of their interests.
1t will be the main object of these letters,
to paint boldly but truthfully the evils which
Cypress the Miner to trace them to their pro-
per source, and to point out the remedy
Happy should be, if some abler pen were
enlisted in this great work--if some wiser
head more familiar with the subject should
undertake it. But confident that the great
men OF Calfornia--the politicans--are too in
tent upon personal agsrandisement to devote
one moments attention to so contemplate a
theme as the public prosperity, and believing
that il the next Legislature adjourns without
some action on this subject, II will be too late
to effect anything hereafter, the task has been
and no matter what may be the
opposition, whether heard in popular clamors
or private protestatious, it will be efcarlessly
rrrfosyaei