, 1876-11-03
6, Francisco Correspondence.
SAN Francisco, Sept. 90, 1876.

SAN L hANCloOOs OOPb' 49, WV
If any one were to take walk along
.bs city front at the present time, he
~onId in some respects be reminded of
.ho flush days of 40, when the bay was
srovded with ships from every quarter
- the earth, bringing to these shores
tbo adventurous Argonauts, who came
Lora in search Of the golden fleece.
p-ottv well feeced many of them were,
too before they got through with it;
Init still they poured in, and tonnage
vss in demand for live freight, and the
.nnnlies to feed that freight in its long
t,in round the Horn; but there was very
l;tle to fill up with on the return voy-
age except the ballast torn out from
tbe rough declivities of Telegraph Hill.
Now the conditions are turned about
almost completely. The ships are
here. The bay is fairly crowded
With them, as in the olden time; but,
instead of bringing thousands of ardent
snirits in hardy bodies, to delve in the
channels of rivers. and tear up the face
Of the country right and left, north and
south. in their eager search for the
"color of gold," they bring ballast,
coal, Yankee notions, or anything else
thew can obtain at a nominal figure,
with the intention of making up for
DOOR outward trip by heavy cargo of
wheat on the return. Once we pro-
duced nothing but precious metal, and
the world brought its products to lay at
our feet in exchange. Now we are piling
the banks of our rivers, filling every
means of transportation, and crowding
\ our storohouses with the products of
our soil. and the nations come to US for
bread. This suggests the thought
whether it would not be sound finance
To make the above remark rather more
literally true. Would it not be a wise
idea TO give them their bread in rather
more condensed form? Under present
circumstances, it requires an immense
feet to carry away our grain. Much
to our shores for the purpose of sup
plying our import demand. As q con-
sequence, our wheat has to nearly pay
the expenses and profits of all these
ships for the round voyage, instead Of
one way only. Hence it is that, with q
fair European demand, the local market
remains depressed, while freights follow
the upward turn of Liverpool quota
tons. The ship-owner who sends his
vessels here, making scarcely enough
on the outward voyage to pay for wear
and tear Of sails and rigging, amid the
bowling tempests Of Cape Horn, must
get even in some manner, and therefore
he cinches the Grangers, and demands
q charter which brings their profits
down to the bed rock. Now if we were,
as 1 above suggested, TO
ooSDENsE THIS FRR1aHr LITTLE.
II we were to make up some Of this su-
perabundant yield of grain into -four,
ham, bacon, preserved meats, etc., and
ell up this wheat feet with such prov
ender, exporting greater value in less
space, besides keeping at home the
price of the labor involved in the con-
version of the raw material into the
manufactured article, and avoiding the
financial blunder of importing Eastern
hams, lard, candles, leather, and the
thousand and one articles into the COM
position Of which live stock and their
iced enter. query-wouldn't we be q
richer people, with o stronger and more
even market for our goods? Wheat
may be king, but so the South held that
cotton was king, yet, while the States
Of Dixie remained poor and sparsely
settled under the reign of their fluffy
monarch, New England cotton spinners
waTed rich in working up the raw ma
terial and selling it back to those who
produced it. History repeats itself,
and there's kernel in this nut for Cali
iornia farmers to crack. One fact re-
mains, however: that the presence of
TINS stately feet, which is now crowding
tne bay, makes things decidedly lively
ior the large element in this community
which Is more or less intimately con-
nected with our foreign trade, and any
complaint OF dullness might be consid-
ered oy them decidedly out of place,
yet' ior all that, as q news-monger 1 am
Sompelled to advance the statement that
there is
NOTHING DOING"
we nave been frightfully hard up for a
sensation during the past week. The
uemands OF commerce seem to have
OaS' an incubus upon everything else.
THE STOCK MARKET
remains as fiat as stale beer, and, for
want OF something better to do, opera
sOrs nave invented a new gamble, and
re 3qsy In betting whether Consoli-
Sased Virginia will pay its October div
ttoend; and, in order to get some ground
~ ~ 70 on, some Of them fixed up q nice
mule mule JOB to enioin the company from