The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-11-30

measure, extinguished the commerce of that re-
public The springs of industry have been dried
up. Many Of her most productive mines have
been closed, and others are worked only during
short intervals of peace. The virgin wealth
hidden in her forests and hills has ceased to give
man new hopes and to stimulate his industry.
Vast regions of her fruitful soil lie fallow The
herds have disappeared from her broad plains,
and her once populous haciendas are now de-
serted Her revenue has fallen from sixteen
millions to six millions Of dollars. The good
faith of the State has been violated, and its
credit has become shadow. Violence has usurped
the place of law, and robbers have driven the
ministers of justice from the land. Her
population is idle because there is no
security for the fruits Of labor and all the bonds
Of her society are loosed. Contending factions,
invoking respectively the sacred names of
liberty" and religion" plumber her cities
and carry desolation to her towns and villages.
Under this state Of things she has ceased to con-
tribute her quota to the tides Of commerce, and
her sons have become disheartened Everywhere
they are looking abroad for that help which shall
rescue them from this misery and restore them to
the class of wealth producing and progressive
nations.
This mission it is ours to perform. 1t is the
part we are destined to play in the great indus
trial and commercial movement that is now
dawning upon the world. We must restore
peace, order and the supremacy of the law to
her territory. We must open not only the old
mines, 80 long abandoned, but thousands of new
wealth Of commerce. Her numerous placers Of
gold and silver, far surprising those Of California
and Australia, and which are now known only
to few bold adventures, or are still hidden
among the secrets of nature, must be made to
give up their wealth to the industry of man.
The factious men and savage Indians that now
desolate her must be brought under control;
roads must be opened, railroads constructed,
tclegraphs stretched across her mountains
and valleys, steamers placed upon her rivers and
seas, and the busy hum of industry and trade
made to resound in her highways and byeways.
All this now lies before US to do. But in order
to do it we'll the national power should take the
lead, and guide and control the mighty move
ment If the government should fail in its duty
here the work will still be performed, but it will
not be done SO quickly and SO well. Private en-
terprise is full of competition, and even strife,
while none will be so bold as to defy the power
of the national arm.
How great will be the effect of this movement
upon the productive industry and commerce of
ourselves and Of the whole world, can be in some
ment whose effects are familiar to every one.
California was first opened to us in ls4s. In five
years three hundred thousand men had gone
there, and their industry rocked the whole
world. Commerce sprang up in quarters where
it had never before been dreamed Of The wheels
of industry were everywhere set in motion.
The day was not long enough for the labor re-
quired of IT, and the night, too, was forced into
the work reproduction. The tide ofwealth swell
ed on all sides to vast proportions. Public works
that had long been deemed too gigantic for
the age were suddenly found to be Of easy
accomplishment. The wages Of labor were
doubled; homes that had never before known
what lifnury was were now filed with all its re-
fnements; carpets covered the floors, mirrors
glittered upon the walls, pianos resounded where
music had never before entered, and the appli-
ances Of comfort and wealth were immeasurably
diffused. Gigantic fortunes rose on every hand;
he that had before been deemed rich was now
jostled by thousands far weather. than he, and
the fever of speculation seized upon the world.
The reaction came, and much Of this wealth that
was fictitious disappeared: but far greater por-
ton remained with us to improve the material
welfare Of man. The vast lines of railroads, the
giant ships and steamers, the telegraphs, the
new inventions in mechanics and discoveries in
science, the taste for new and better things than
those 10 which we had before been accustomed,
and, above all, the desire Of man to exchange his
products for those Of other climes and nations,
mightier proportions than il had ever bcforc pos
sessed.
Yet this mighty movement. which made
the last ten years an era in the history Of
the world, sprang from the labors Of only
three hundred thousand men who emigrated
To California, and about two-thirds OF that num-
Der who went 10 Australia II seems incredible
that half million of men only, by opening new
scenes Of labor, and hitherto hidden springs of
wealth, should have produced such remarka-
BILE effect upon the condition Of the two hundred
and fifty millions of civilized inhabitants who
are now within the boundaries Of the republic
of commerce. Yet there the facts stand palpa-
BILE to every one. Mexico contains within her
bosom far greater elements Of wealth than ever
California or Australia possessed Her mines
of gold and silver alone can pour out tide ten
fold greater than has been yielded by those
countries. When order and the guarantee of
good government are extended over her. she
will take at once million Of emigrants from
the rest OF the civilized world. who will not
only produca nf Themselves n vast tide NJ in