New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-21

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After that one can toy ndhfcrently with pictures
of miners picking coarse gold about the size OF
bcans) out of rotten slate and dccomposed quartz,
with their jack-knivcs, at the rate OF one or two
hundred ounces day One comes. TOO, TO under
stand how the feverish atmosphere of the mines so
affected men that they could not endure to stay
upon ella ms yielding such triGes as $500 day 10
the hand. They reflected that to make half a mill
ion at that rate would take quite number of DAYS,
| and thing could satisfy them but the swift ana
sudden access Of fortune. They dreamed IN tiose
days of universal ha'lucination, of mountains oil
solid gold, Of which the rich placcrs were merely
! offsets. and so 10 speak, skirmishers 30 dream-
| ing many gave up substance for shadow, and lost
everything 1t is Il curious irony of circumstances
that when find themselves at the sources OF
| god-production they seem TO lose every grain OF
prudence and economy and proceed to scatter their
winnings crafty. This the California place
miners did, and so cfrectualy that very few oil the
pioneers who engaged solely in mining brought
even modest competence out OF the undertaking
A still more curious fact, however, and one
which Mr. Bancroft has done well to emphasize,
is the relation of the gold product TO its cost
After all the apparent wealth and luxury spring
| ing from the gold discovery, after the incontro-
vcrtibe demonstration of an output reaching 10
search shows that the cost OF producing this gold
was in the ratio Of 3 to that is to say that il
took an expenditure Of three dollars TO market one
dollars worth of gold Nor was this The worst of
it, The emigration TO California for several years
represented an expenditure in passage money and
| freight amounting to $50 900. 900 per snnum, and
all this passed out Of the State completely. Not
that California cared, for in the beginning nobody
had any intention of staying there. All expected
to make rapid fortunes ard then return home.
East West, the mig6 be. With the
comparative exhaustion of the placcrs, q change
in the character of the mining and the miners
together followed. The adventurous class. pur-
suing nothing but grub-sta1e,' lost its oc-
cupation Machinery and capital were called into
rcQusition, and the corporate system began TO
grow up, though slowly at first II was even
feared for while that with the end OF placer
mining CALIFORNIA; prospects would be cXtin-
giShcd. Nobody Thought of it as agricultural
country. Nobody thought of wheat or fruits or
vineyards Surely there never rich
RECON the CAPACITIES Of which were slow in be-
ing found out by the inhabitants.
Mr. Bancroft in other volumes heretofore
viewed in these columns. has dealt in detail with
the picturesque and yaregatcd life of the mines
and here he properly confines himself to gen
eral outline sufficient TO give connection and CO.
herencc 10 the OF evidence he brings to-
ccther respecting the progress of development in
every part Of the aurifcrous region IL the course
Of tine some fragrant wrongs came TO he perpc-
rated upon foreign miners. but chiefly upon the
Sranish-NIcXcans, the melting motive being the
savage and ignorant prejudice imported by the
lowor class CT Western immigrants The wrong
was the crucler because the men thus dscrimi
mated agains: were the recent owners and occa-
piers Of the country and in the Treaty OF Guada-
loupc Iiidaleo they had been guaranteed full pro-
tccton--whch they never received either at this
stage later In fact, the treatment Of the
tive Cdlifornans from first 10 last is perhaps only
less discfcditable TO the Government than the
treatment IS the Indians In the mines they were
brutally banishcG and. If they resisted, were shot
or hanged. Later, as land owners. they were h.
r9ssed by American courts into ruin, for the
most pare on the absurd pretext of securing TO
them the cquel protection of the law. 1t
the old practice of Woe 10 tho conquered" The
squattHr element no doubt exercised q strong in
fucnce upon the course taken ny Congress in set
Ting Mexican lea, and tho lOCscness Of tho
Mexican land laws WAS in a manner responsible
for tho evil consequences which followed. Squat
ting introduced by Western immigrants, who
tool, the Ground that since California had been
conquered by American arms, the previous owners
of the land had lost ali posscssory rights Thcsr
people ignored the treaty provisions altogether
and they did not hesitate as in the Of Sut-
Ter, 10 deny tho titles even Of American citizens
Mr. Bancroft has given an interesting account Of
~" Neutrality-suspicious. reaching to riots-whicb
this lawless practice gave rise TO.
His chapter on Mexican titles is a clear and
strong, though necessarily condensed presentation
Of i've facts He makes it plain not only that it
would have hcon easy 70 preserve the equities o,
the native Californian grant-holders but that
ore. '"ativelv simple and inexpensive methods
OF securing justice were proposed 10 Congress
The SO prof" sd m earnest desire and intcn-
ton to carry out the treaty provisions in good
faith and liberal spirit, but at the same time
adopted measures for settling titles which opened
MP wide field for the operation Of all thOse
crafty devices by which lawy trs succeeded in i'm
pOVcrishing the landowners to the loss not only
OF the latter but the settlers generally Mr.
Bancroft holds that the evil Of lond monopoly
bitterly complained of in California more
Gently had its origin in the faulty methods OF
dealing with the Mexican titles; for that on,
rfsu o. ms" m a urcs WAS 10 transfer largo
bodies OF land 10 Americans who were rich enough
to hold on to them, whereas had they continued
in the possession Of the original owners, they
would have been broken up into small parcels
at an early period.
The pioIeer politics OF the Golden State forms
the topic Of several deeply interesting chapters
Mr. Bancroft has written strongly and lucdly Oh
this subject, and il is which well repays the
most careful examination. Even before the ad-
mission OF the State 10 the Union il had been
marked down as an inviting political arena by
a number Of Southern political adventures, who
migrated westward with the double object Of
extending the area Of slavery and making fortunes
for themselves. William NJ Gwin. who soon ac-
qured practical control of California politics, of
cred no serious opposition TO that clause in the
new constitution which excluded slavery from the
State. lie had project in embryo which would
counteract that. His purpose WIS to bring about.
I.a.a ri IL tha Stata