Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-10-08

ARLOAT "A CONAU nPTIVR
STATE - LEGIsLATIVR INI.
QUITY. ~
.' SAN FnANcIsco, Oct. 6, 1870.
OF Ter the "spriaEs."
Another gentleman, who has until
lately occupied q high position In the
business world, has found it necessary
to take . trip to the "Sprngs." e.
C. Lowell, of the firm of Lowell q
Fisher, to whose financial ability San
Francisco il indebted for the incorpo-
poration Of many Of the wildcat
Homestead Associations, about which
every one went crazy a year ago, has
departed in q shroud Of obscurity for
parts unknown, leaving as many
'mourners as there r stockholders In
the various companies he formed.
MONEYS malady Is becoming conta-
gious, and until the proper remedy Of
a dose of San Quentin is applied to one
of the patients, We must expect a con-
tinuance Of the distressing complaint.
With the disappearance Of one of the
chief promoters Of the Homestead
mania, It may not be uninteresting to
show how completely that bubble has
burst.
Hsmesteads Fer Sale.
In the spring Of last year the good
people of San Francisco, as on many
previous occasions, thought they had
at length discovered how to get rich in
a hurry. The opening of the Pacific
Railroad was going to pour such a
flood Of population on to the coast,
that the whole peninsula laid out In
lots and built on would scarcely suffice
for the accommodation Of the new
corners. So, inaccessible tracts Of sand
and swamp were purchased by shrewd
spectators wherever thoy could be
had, within twenty miles Of the plaza,
and after being nicely mapped,
blocked, and incorporated with sonor-
Gus titles were offered "to those desir-
Gus of investing In real estate" at an
advance of eight and ten times on cost.
The ayaricious were told that their
property would yearly increase In
value, the credulous needed no induce
ments. Open scoffers were sllenced
by the oft-repeated story of the doubt
ing Thomases of 40 who, when land
now In the center Of the city could be
had for a mere song, would not be-
lieve it would pay to buy, and the du-
bious were frantically asked why they
would continue to pay rents, when by
subscribing to a share In the "Prom-
ised Land Association " each one could
live under his own vine and fig tree,
and forever laugh at landlords. So 1t
came to pass that the world and Its
wife went wild about "Homesteads."
It Is only eighteen months ago, but
what = falling of there has been since.
Take up any Of tho dailies and look
under the heading Homestead
Shares" "Felton Tract, $3.50 paid
In; will take $780," EBAY View,
offer wanted. No reasonable offer re-
fused" Estate University, $225 paid
in; will sell for $780," Eureka,
original lot. for one-third amount
paid" aud 80 on for half column.
The Homestead bubble, like a good
many other bubbles that preceded 1t,
and like many more that will follow
1t, has been pricked by time, and q
nicely Autographed piece Of paper.
with a highly Imagination view OF
"our tract" as ie will appear when
covered with streets. Is all-save a
small item of experience-that the
original shareholders have got for their
money.
Ihaye not the exact data at hand to
say reliably how many ~thousands-or
rather millions OF dollars-were ex-
tracted from invesvers' pockets blythe
getters up Of these land spectators,
but It must have been 4 very large
sum-indeed almost sufficient to cause
the Industrial and commercial dullness
that now prevails. The reaction In
the price Of real estate, since most Of
| these schemes collapsed, has quite
eoualied the previous Imitation and the
tendency Is still downwards. By 1880,
some Of the land sold Inst year. may
become worth the fictitious value 1t
then acquired, but until that time own
ers are not likely to again realize the
high rates that lately ruled.
A New Legislative swindle.
An unclouded title to a nice piece Of
centrally located property Is n Of the
most desirable things a man can have,
but like all worldly possessions, and
especially worldly possessions situated
In San Francisco, the ownership often
brings with 1t Its own peculiar cause
for cursing and vexation Of spirit.
The very last act passed by that con-
claye Of iniquity termed, by courtesy,
1.-THE California Legislature" has
been discovered within the last few
DAYS to contain rs much raw material
| of yillainy as 1t was possible to cram
into the limits Of q single law. II it
had been styled "An Act to rob tile
property-owners Of San Francisco and
provide funds for the maintenance Of
a Democratic War Horse 1t would
have been a literally correct designa-
ton, for to all intents and purposes
that Ia its scope and object.