The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-08-18

- o " every country and men
WIN no country to boast their own-in
snorG, fortune hunters the world over who
could Dy nook or crook get passage to the
new Ell Dorado hied there with the. dasnar-
alton of spirits bound to make or break
And they didn't go in driblets. giving
Clme Tor assimilation; there was food, a
deluge, and the population jumped from
oo'oOo souls to 25O,O0O in year from the
time the first Australian Nuggets were dis
played on the Strand in London. The rich
diggings Of the time were located in an in
significant strip of mountainous coast at
the extreme southern point of the island
about 400 miles long by 200 wide.
The country about that time became a
separate political division under the SUPER
latively loyal title of Victoria, although. of
course, there is nothing in name
The population of mining camn is not
specially qualified to make any great sacri-
flee to uphold an attribute so shadow as
mere political dignity, and vast squatting
ground of diggers was what the British
queens young protege speedily became. A
coCemporary historian wrote of it's people:
From California came wild men. the
walfs OF societies which had submitted to
or practiced lynch law The social testers
a
lions upon Australia. The rebellious ele-
ment OF Ireland was there. The disap-
pointed crew who thought to brighten the
British Isles from their propriety in 1s4s
were represented in some strength"
The convict element of Australia COM
pleted the vile ingredients With ship
loads OF such immigrants unloaded daily
at the Victorian ports the colonial authori-
tles-which means officials sent out by the
home ernment-wouldn't naturally find
their rule holiday outing under the best
of circumstances. And circumstances
could not we'll be other than tough as
things were. The land was thousands Of
miles from the worlds storehouses, and in
itself produced nothing to make life worth
living, for gold alone cannot do that. Pro
visions became SO scant that the govern
ment could barely feed the convicts of it's
penal colony. Freight from the seashore
100 miles inland, rose to e1OO ton. And
all classes went gold mad; servants bolted.
ships crews, porters, drivers and even DO
icemen ran off to the diggings. The lucky
ones returned to the capital town and port
to display their wealth and incite the
cupidity of the conservative stay at homes,
and this thing going on for months pro-
uuceu d lever Ihat upset everything and
chaos was at no time far away. The best
thing and about the only good thing was
gold, gold in heSps at that, and this every
body couldn't pick up just to the liking.
Poverty will not abolish itself even in an
Ell Dorado.
After the boom had reached state
bordering on permanence, the colonial Off
GERS hit upon the clumsy idea of making
the camp pay it's own way in the matter Of
administrative expenses through license
tax on individual miners; that is, every
spade and pick, practically must flaunt it's
license stamped with the colonial seal.
The tax at first was 81 los month and
was soon doubled, and every delinquent
was torn from his pit and placed in chain
gang to work out the fee at hard labor.
The lucky fellows in the diggings didn't
mind such trifles as pound or two at all,