The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-04-29

Gloomy signs srcsn the P~<tns.
Our private letters and adviccs from Ssn Fran
cisco are not what could be called vcry favorable
or cheering. The outward signs o. decay Ia The
State Of California are not particularly psomi-
ncnt; the shipments Of gold, tAough deeiining.
still keep up, apparently, 70 respectable ngurv,
We hear, mall ter mail, that "eoa6deace Ia ~
wing" and the prospects Of the mercxrdle
community looking very bright; We are constant.
ly informed that tho mines never looked better
and that new placers are perpetuaily farming uP.
But tho undcrcurrent Of fact which uDderun
this surface Of plausible fiction Is Of very dins.
rent character and hue.
We are led 10 believe THAI he State Of Califbr-
MIA Is only jus, beginning 10 realize he reaction
from the unparalleled add unjustifsble expansion
which followed the discovery Of To- gold dcpo-
sta There have been several partial reactions
but they have been overcome by the energy Of
the people. and the uncommon good fortune
which enabled California 10 provide herself With
almost all the neceraries Of LIE as the cost Of
merchants on the Atlantic side, and Ia foreign
countries This reaction Is not OF the same a.
ture. II springs from natural and imperative
causes; ii admits, we think, Of no palliative, no
accommodation, no concealment Tho time hss
come when the enormous gains, and stupendoos
results Of 1852, '53, ard "a mast be made good
In the book of compensation.
We are led to believe that the mines have
been falling of in their yield for the last eighteen
months to two years This h strenuously denied
by the California prints which are In the interest
Of the merchants; they cndesvor 10 account for
the falling Of In the shipments to this aide by
telling US of the operations Of the California
mint, ard Of the immense quantity of coin re-
quired for home consumption on the Pacific bat
the fact is that the mines have been yielding lex
The first placers found were the best under the
spur of svarice and With the help Of the vast null
titude which Hocked to California when gold was
just discovered, the ground was pretty thoroughly
explored; what remains TO be dug win remune-
rate labor no more richly than digging for Iron,
lead, or potatoes. We are given to understand
that Of late the yield has enormously diminished
and that a large proportion Of the diggers dis.
gusted with repeated failures, and incapable OF
living on the profits Of gold digging, have
already betaken- themselves TO other callinss
We are credibly informed that real estate In
the city Of San Francisco has fallen 80 low that
parties who, ia the heyday of Cslifornis's
prosperity, lent money on bond and mort
gage on city property, have almost with
out exception become proprietors of the property
pledged. Real estste-which was once regarded
as the safe investment par ercelleroe-is now
tumbling about like our railroad stocks here.
Business is slack, and not particularly lucrative !;
hundreds Of merchants are retiring, and seeking
q general blight seems to have fallen on the in.
dustry, the commerce, the politics and even the
agriculture of the State.
California will ultimately recover from the
trouble into which she Is plunged. But we APP
prehend that things must grow worse, very con-
siderably, before they can improve, and that very
many of the men who have thanked heaven for
the impulse that sent them 10 the Pacific will
live to curse the hour in which that impulse was
obeyed. This gloomy prospect will not Be fore
shadoved in the California press. The San Fran
cisco journals have their masters to please, and
they will not utter word Of truth until the facts
themselves tell tbo story. They may DO relied
upon for steady rehash Of the old stories about
new placers, enlarged yield, bright prospects, In
creasing trade, until the final crash comes
The story Of California will be that Of sbe At
lsntc States. We have had no gold mines to
boost Us up but II We had had, our extravaganza.
our overtrading, our expansion could not have
been greater. And the state into which Che gold
hss dragged California, will be no worse than tho
state in which our railroads viii leave us, when
the time comes for their total ruin and the explo-
sion Of al parties concerned with them.