Volume 12 (1866) (428 pages)

catty z Zs, ] f = a J ouvnal of Useful Arts, Srience, and Auning and Brechauical Progress. DEWF And Patent Sollcttors, ¥ & CO,, PUB Tet SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1866. { Mee CAE XII, Number 6, TABLE OF CONTENTS. — Memorial ofthe Minersof Gal Te New Grenada Mines. lornin, {To Correspondents, The Central MIM, ¥lrginla/Exerlalor Mines, ClLy. jspectmens Received, Stale nud Prospects of Maing: Petrole at Auslin, Reese River—Ke Mech: Tustitute. pls tu Osmiton fMtocks hnproving Letier frum Fulsc—ny ourjA Waslive Concentrator. Spechil Correspondent Folie ve af California, Tater trond MW. Ormion, [Mining Sian Roastitiy of sulpbucets. Fallturlal aud Seleeted. Quartz Mining in Toba, Mining Sharetiolders’ DirecUMpravement ia Mott's Doub} tory. le Revolving low ok ue and reper t furguts’ Slop-bHeapocr. Sab Pranchee Pricus Curren pan : Northern Pa-. Sew Mining and Other Ad9. duel of the Pent uot Field veriiseinents, cfc, EXOELSIOR MINES. THE CROSBY & THOMPSON DRSULPHURIZINO PROCKSS. Accounts of an extremely favorable nature eontinue to reach us from the nines of Summit City and vicinity (formerly known as Meadow Lake). A gentleman has furnished us, the past week, with the following fucts, with regard to the Enterprise mine ard mill. The ledge was loeated in July last, in Excelsior district, about three miles from the Dutch Flat road, and six miles from Summit City. The Enterprise mill, built by Goss & Lombard, of Sacramento, is expected to go into operation about the middle of February. The Crosby & Thompson desulplurizing process, which’ has been introduced with euch success at the Pike’s Peak mines, will he emplvyed in connection with this mill. The works for tho same are heing put up under tbe superintendence of Mr. King. We shall watch the results of this new process with niuch interest; and shall embrnee the earliest opportunity to lay the same before our readers. Mr. James’ Battershy, Secretary of the En. terprise company, lias shown us several very fine samples.of ore from this mine. One of these specimens, heavy with sulphurets, and snid to contain nickel and eobalt, with no gold visible, assays $800 per ton in gold, and very little silver. Another is thickly interspersed with free guld. ‘Nhese samples were taken from the first shaft, und from a depth of twenty-four feet. ‘The ledge. is uncovered on the surfaee, showing thirty-fonr feet of vein rock, while the walls are found indicating that the ledge is seventy-five feet in width, Ata! depth of twenty-five feet a drift.has heen commenced across the vein, which bas been driven . forty-five feet, revealing the same character of rock as that found near the surface. A second shalt has been sunk to a depth of forty feet, from which Mr. B. ehowed us a specimen profusely covered with free gold. ‘Len tons crushed at Virginia City, in, August last, returned $150 per ton in gold; five tons since crushed in Nevada City gave $250 to the ton, Five ond a half tone were crushed at Howland's mill in this city, last October, whicb ossayed $411.50, nud upon which an advance of $245 was made for shipment to Europe. The ore worked at Nevada City produced some three tons of sulphuret tailings, whicb are found to contaiu by assay $80 per tou. Enterprise City has a fine location, with plenty of wood and water,and it is in the direct line of travel between Summit City and Pauly’s Station. Some 300 locations have alreedy becn made in this vicinity. The Pacitic Railroad will soon be completed to» point opposite the city, and a railroad station will be located within five miles of tbe place. Hlewovial of the Mivers of Califor, To the President and Congress of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior and the Commussioner of the Land Office: On the Lith day of January, 1866, a general Convention of miuers of California was held at the eity of Sacramento. After full eonsideratiou the following resolutions were pussed with great ununintity : Whereas, Since lhe discovery of gold mines In California, It bas been the policy of tho Generul Government 16 allow nll those whe desired to mine tor the precitus metals In this Siate n free and unrestricted right to search for and discover the'sanu:, and whou found, tw hold and develop their several clnimg, subject only Lo such restrictiuns and rnlos ns might be nudapted by Conventions helt hy those who wert engaged In actual mining enterprises in the several mining districts of the State; nud, whereas, we helieve that by the adoptien of that policy the miming interests of the sinte have been developed more thoroughly aul tea much greater extent than they would lave been onder any other policy that conld lave been adopted; aud wherens, legislation for the survey wud sale of mineral lands is Uhreatinmed in the Congress of Lhe United states, aud Jt 18 seriously proposed to tlestrey the property Iuterests which have been created iu this oiutu, under the license of the Genernl Government, for seventeen years past, and to revolutionize tho whole system of mihing business and tenures under which the mines hive been’se fur devotoped, the State has prospered, the Goverument bas been supplied with the slnews of war, trude will advantugeous markets, aud tbe revenue a valuable and in. ereasiig resvurce, theretore, be it * Resonven, by the miuers ‘of Cilifornia, in General Convention assembled, That we ure opposed to any survey, lease or sale of the mincral lands of this, Slate, as wjurious le the best intere ts of the General Govorument, aud uf this State, and utterly ruinous to Lhe miming commuuitics, Resonvup, That uay iucrease of the tax upan the proceeds of the mines would bu onerous and injurivus to the mining interests ol this eaast, Resowven, That the hill introdueed into the Sonate of the United States by Hon. Jol Sherman, of Ubio, is singularly caluulated tu work the utmost contusion and loss Lo tle Present holders of mining property, wlio lave invested their labor aud cnpitalin veveluping tbe'imines; lo destroy the vast canal iplerests of Ube Stute, the existrnee of which is uecessury to the prosecution of mining, and to expel the great bulk of the population of the mining distiets from their homes, their busluess and possessiuns, Resonvep, ‘That the mlners of Calitornla respoctlully petition the Congress of the United States to respect the rights and properly inferesis which the policy of the Government, loug continued, has creuted aud fostered, Resouven, ‘lhut we iuderse the ectien of the Legislature of Ibis State requesting the delay im Ute issnanco ef patents to the Central Pacific Raftroad Compaty, or any other railroad company, anti) lhe Governmeut has employed elfective meusures to segregate the mineral from the agricultural Jands lyiug within tbe lines of the gront te the railroad company, and, while willing and unxiaus to aid und Cheourage in the cousiraction of said road—the great tntioltal higlway—we most emphatically protest against the cession of a vust section of tumeral ind timber lands for that purpose, involving the savritice rad destruction of private rights alresdy veeted, 4 Ruspiven, ‘That a Committce of five be appointed by the President of ths Conventiun, the subl President io act As Chulrnian thercof, Lo prepare 2 memorial to Cougress emDod; ing the sentiment contained in [hese resulutions, and to cunse the siime ta be presented, th. ough our delegatiun in Congress, to the President of the United states, the Seeretary of the Juterior, and Commisgiouer of the Genoral Lund Office, Tn accordaace with the sixth resolution, the undereigned Comnlittee present more in detail than is proper in the form of resolutions, the reasons which iufluenced the action of the Convention : EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERY OF OOLD IN CALIFORNIA. The first impertant discovery of gold in the territory now embraced withiu the State of California was made in February, 1848. immediately thereafter an unparalleled emigration by sea and land commenced and continued until the territory hecame numerously populated. A State Government was speedily organized. The principal lure to these shores was tne gold iound in the beds of the streams and deep in the hills ip the track of old water courses. Alter a few years quartz veins, pro. ductive of gold, were discovered, aud the important intereet known as quartz mining grew up. Within the mineral regions thriving cities were founded, and many villages ; while tbe agricnltural portions of the State found markets for their products, commercial interests grew to great importanee, and San Francisco, the principal port of the State, became great and opulent. By the laws of ‘trade, the States on the Atlantic side ol the contineut soon felt the itipulse which a large and varied market suddenly opened to their manufactures, and the whole uation shared in the harvest ‘ ° which was first reaped hy the adventurous population which created this State. POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. The Govetnument, the owner of the mines, for cighteen years acquiesced in the oecupution and development of the mines, by allowing hundrede of millions of dollars in labur and capital of its eitizens to bo expended in opening the nines and introducing costly machinery. But it went Inrther, and by the eluracter of its legislation eeemed to license this order of things. In view of the fact that the minere were occupying the mineral lands, it exempted these lands from survey and sale ; it eolleeted a yearly license for mining on them; it levied a royalty on the gross'proeeeds of the mines; it also taxed their net proceeds as ineome ; and at a very rocent period made the customs, rafes, and regulatious of matters hy which they determine the location and possession of elaims, which bad long heen recognized in the State Courts, the rule of deeision in the United States Courts, by enaeting that each ease shuuld be adjudged by the rule of possession. Under this policy of the Government the miner has'never considered himself a trespasser on the publie domain, and has never been treated as such; hut whilo gratefully appreciating the generosity uf tho Government, has availed himself of it to acquire possessory rights to limited . quantities of mining land, ealled claims, ereeted his home near at hand, toiled for years to reap wealth therefroin,and eontributed hy his labors, very often unproductive to himself, to swell the current of gold thnt has flowed in the channels of trade. ‘The possessory rights which the miners have thus acquired under this express and implied license of tbe General Government huve been protected hy the State Courts, and are as distinctly defined as a homestead right or any otber. These rights soon acquired a varying moneyed value, and hence miners sometimes sell their elaims where they cannot alford the expensive means for working thei; and thousands of claims are held by different individuale by purehase as well as by location. Very frequently before a vein of quartz or sravel deposit tying within rocky hills ean be reached, long and expensive tunnels have to be . dug out, or blasted out with powder. These costly improvements give value to the clams which in their original condition they did not possess. Many of such improvemente are now in progress, and it will be years before they will be completed so as to reach the deposits, and their owners ineur heavy debts to complete them. Most quartz mines and many gravel deposite lie below the water level, and are only worked hy powerful pumping machinery which has been placed upon them; and the gold is extracted from the quartz by ponderous machinery and curious processes, whicb are only set at work at great expense. ‘These fucts are stated, and many more of a kiudred nature might be, to show the great interests which have been created here by the policy of the Governnient, and the injustice and disasters which must tollow arude change in a system that has been consolidating during nearly twothirds of a generation. AN ESTOPPEL. By that system the miners have heen treated practically as the owners of their claims ; they have been iuduced to expend their labor and) money to improve them and bring them where possible to productiveness ; their customs reeulating the tenuree bave heen recognized by legislation, aud innocent purchasers have been induced to make investments; all husiness interests have become interwoven into the existing order of things, and nothing but imperative necessity overruling all considerations of publie faith and local wellaro, if such necessity can ever exist, can be urged to justily tbe seizure of these lands trom their present possessors. Between private parties tbe facts would work estoppel in the jndyment of any respectable Court, from the extreme -injustice of attempting to resume rights eo loug dormant, which had heen waived hy explicit aets and words, and where the parties to suffer conld not be reeompensed. Hence, we respectfully urge that the faith of the Government is pledged, by. its course of dealing for so many years, to continne the system its policy hus insugurated and hrought to such magnitude and perfection. IMPOLICY OF CHANOE, The prosperity of the general mining interest . and the reflex advantages to trade and to the revenue already aceruing, show the impoliey of change. A system thut huilds up great , States in almost desert regions; that opens new and inereasing morkets ; that supplies the precione metals to fortify the credit of the Government, aud strengthen ite nrm in war; that bas vindicated itself by its:great suecess in producing for the use of the country the long-neglected treasures of these distant regions, and which gives employment to 60 much enterprise and capital, cannot be broken up without confusion and distress to every interest involved. The disasters that will follow to trade and commerce by the temporary or permanent diminution of the supply of gold and silver should he fairly understood, and we shall discuss these considerations hereafter. These disasters will fall largely upon the, East, and will be the penalty it will suffer for innovating legislation ruinous to our great local interest, That the present system is well adapted to the productiveness of the mines is beyond douht; and that produetiveness will he increased by a senee of security in the intentions of the Goyernment. But some few of the effects on the miners of a survey and sale of the mineral lauds by any system which does not give the present possessors the fea to their claims without price, we propose to advert to, and then to remark upon some evils necessarily incident to any system for the general sale of the mineral lands. * 2 MOST MINERS CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY, Strange as it may seem to those who judge of the results of mining by tbe published shipments of treasure, the great mass of miuers are too poor to purchaso their eluims at any priee likely to be considered an equivalent. A fact that ie appareut here may he hard to demonstrate to tbe people of the East, whose ears have been abused by the extravagunt representations of superficial observers who have vieited this coast. ‘lhe days when surface diggings repaid slight labor witb large reward have passed, and miners now have to contend with stubborn ores dragged from groat depths to the surface, or glean the fields already reaped. In the former case the expense of production ie so great that moderate returnoe ‘only are expected, and these are often expected in vain. Inthe latter the gains are usually slight. A dry wiuter consumes the profit of a favorable oue for the placer miner; and the experieuce of many years in this State shows that the unfavorable seasons for this large branch of mining outnumber the good onee. A vast amount of labor is expended in “ pros-" pecting,” or digging for new mines, which never yields any return. It is estiniated by competent authority that all the gold ever extracted in thie State, after deducting the cost of machinery, would not pay for the labor that has been spent in prospecting and mining since tbe settlement of the State at tbe rate. that ordinary lahor during the same time has commanded inthe Hust. This is because paying deposits of gold,ure so otten hard to find, and su difficult to work; and for this reason thousands bave lived in poverty, returned to the other States, or given up the business cf mining for other oceupations. Again, taxation is necessarily high in a new State like this, where difficult roads are to be huilt, all public buildings, hospitals, churches and schoolhouees erected; and nothing is inherited trom the past. ‘The expense of living is great. Much capital has been sent here, but our gold flows continually out of the State to buy the . ss 4 we

catty z Zs, ] f = a J ouvnal of Useful Arts, Srience, and Auning and Brechauical Progress. DEWF And Patent Sollcttors, ¥ & CO,, PUB Tet SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1866. { Mee CAE XII, Number 6, TABLE OF CONTENTS. — Memorial ofthe Minersof Gal Te New Grenada Mines. lornin, {To Correspondents, The Central MIM, ¥lrginla/Exerlalor Mines, ClLy. jspectmens Received, Stale nud Prospects of Maing: Petrole at Auslin, Reese River—Ke Mech: Tustitute. pls tu Osmiton fMtocks hnproving Letier frum Fulsc—ny ourjA Waslive Concentrator. Spechil Correspondent Folie ve af California, Tater trond MW. Ormion, [Mining Sian Roastitiy of sulpbucets. Fallturlal aud Seleeted. Quartz Mining in Toba, Mining Sharetiolders’ DirecUMpravement ia Mott's Doub} tory. le Revolving low ok ue and reper t furguts’ Slop-bHeapocr. Sab Pranchee Pricus Curren pan : Northern Pa-. Sew Mining and Other Ad9. duel of the Pent uot Field veriiseinents, cfc, EXOELSIOR MINES. THE CROSBY & THOMPSON DRSULPHURIZINO PROCKSS. Accounts of an extremely favorable nature eontinue to reach us from the nines of Summit City and vicinity (formerly known as Meadow Lake). A gentleman has furnished us, the past week, with the following fucts, with regard to the Enterprise mine ard mill. The ledge was loeated in July last, in Excelsior district, about three miles from the Dutch Flat road, and six miles from Summit City. The Enterprise mill, built by Goss & Lombard, of Sacramento, is expected to go into operation about the middle of February. The Crosby & Thompson desulplurizing process, which’ has been introduced with euch success at the Pike’s Peak mines, will he emplvyed in connection with this mill. The works for tho same are heing put up under tbe superintendence of Mr. King. We shall watch the results of this new process with niuch interest; and shall embrnee the earliest opportunity to lay the same before our readers. Mr. James’ Battershy, Secretary of the En. terprise company, lias shown us several very fine samples.of ore from this mine. One of these specimens, heavy with sulphurets, and snid to contain nickel and eobalt, with no gold visible, assays $800 per ton in gold, and very little silver. Another is thickly interspersed with free guld. ‘Nhese samples were taken from the first shaft, und from a depth of twenty-four feet. ‘The ledge. is uncovered on the surfaee, showing thirty-fonr feet of vein rock, while the walls are found indicating that the ledge is seventy-five feet in width, Ata! depth of twenty-five feet a drift.has heen commenced across the vein, which bas been driven . forty-five feet, revealing the same character of rock as that found near the surface. A second shalt has been sunk to a depth of forty feet, from which Mr. B. ehowed us a specimen profusely covered with free gold. ‘Len tons crushed at Virginia City, in, August last, returned $150 per ton in gold; five tons since crushed in Nevada City gave $250 to the ton, Five ond a half tone were crushed at Howland's mill in this city, last October, whicb ossayed $411.50, nud upon which an advance of $245 was made for shipment to Europe. The ore worked at Nevada City produced some three tons of sulphuret tailings, whicb are found to contaiu by assay $80 per tou. Enterprise City has a fine location, with plenty of wood and water,and it is in the direct line of travel between Summit City and Pauly’s Station. Some 300 locations have alreedy becn made in this vicinity. The Pacitic Railroad will soon be completed to» point opposite the city, and a railroad station will be located within five miles of tbe place. Hlewovial of the Mivers of Califor, To the President and Congress of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior and the Commussioner of the Land Office: On the Lith day of January, 1866, a general Convention of miuers of California was held at the eity of Sacramento. After full eonsideratiou the following resolutions were pussed with great ununintity : Whereas, Since lhe discovery of gold mines In California, It bas been the policy of tho Generul Government 16 allow nll those whe desired to mine tor the precitus metals In this Siate n free and unrestricted right to search for and discover the'sanu:, and whou found, tw hold and develop their several clnimg, subject only Lo such restrictiuns and rnlos ns might be nudapted by Conventions helt hy those who wert engaged In actual mining enterprises in the several mining districts of the State; nud, whereas, we helieve that by the adoptien of that policy the miming interests of the sinte have been developed more thoroughly aul tea much greater extent than they would lave been onder any other policy that conld lave been adopted; aud wherens, legislation for the survey wud sale of mineral lands is Uhreatinmed in the Congress of Lhe United states, aud Jt 18 seriously proposed to tlestrey the property Iuterests which have been created iu this oiutu, under the license of the Genernl Government, for seventeen years past, and to revolutionize tho whole system of mihing business and tenures under which the mines hive been’se fur devotoped, the State has prospered, the Goverument bas been supplied with the slnews of war, trude will advantugeous markets, aud tbe revenue a valuable and in. ereasiig resvurce, theretore, be it * Resonven, by the miuers ‘of Cilifornia, in General Convention assembled, That we ure opposed to any survey, lease or sale of the mincral lands of this, Slate, as wjurious le the best intere ts of the General Govorument, aud uf this State, and utterly ruinous to Lhe miming commuuitics, Resonvup, That uay iucrease of the tax upan the proceeds of the mines would bu onerous and injurivus to the mining interests ol this eaast, Resowven, That the hill introdueed into the Sonate of the United States by Hon. Jol Sherman, of Ubio, is singularly caluulated tu work the utmost contusion and loss Lo tle Present holders of mining property, wlio lave invested their labor aud cnpitalin veveluping tbe'imines; lo destroy the vast canal iplerests of Ube Stute, the existrnee of which is uecessury to the prosecution of mining, and to expel the great bulk of the population of the mining distiets from their homes, their busluess and possessiuns, Resonvep, ‘That the mlners of Calitornla respoctlully petition the Congress of the United States to respect the rights and properly inferesis which the policy of the Government, loug continued, has creuted aud fostered, Resouven, ‘lhut we iuderse the ectien of the Legislature of Ibis State requesting the delay im Ute issnanco ef patents to the Central Pacific Raftroad Compaty, or any other railroad company, anti) lhe Governmeut has employed elfective meusures to segregate the mineral from the agricultural Jands lyiug within tbe lines of the gront te the railroad company, and, while willing and unxiaus to aid und Cheourage in the cousiraction of said road—the great tntioltal higlway—we most emphatically protest against the cession of a vust section of tumeral ind timber lands for that purpose, involving the savritice rad destruction of private rights alresdy veeted, 4 Ruspiven, ‘That a Committce of five be appointed by the President of ths Conventiun, the subl President io act As Chulrnian thercof, Lo prepare 2 memorial to Cougress emDod; ing the sentiment contained in [hese resulutions, and to cunse the siime ta be presented, th. ough our delegatiun in Congress, to the President of the United states, the Seeretary of the Juterior, and Commisgiouer of the Genoral Lund Office, Tn accordaace with the sixth resolution, the undereigned Comnlittee present more in detail than is proper in the form of resolutions, the reasons which iufluenced the action of the Convention : EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERY OF OOLD IN CALIFORNIA. The first impertant discovery of gold in the territory now embraced withiu the State of California was made in February, 1848. immediately thereafter an unparalleled emigration by sea and land commenced and continued until the territory hecame numerously populated. A State Government was speedily organized. The principal lure to these shores was tne gold iound in the beds of the streams and deep in the hills ip the track of old water courses. Alter a few years quartz veins, pro. ductive of gold, were discovered, aud the important intereet known as quartz mining grew up. Within the mineral regions thriving cities were founded, and many villages ; while

tbe agricnltural portions of the State found markets for their products, commercial interests grew to great importanee, and San Francisco, the principal port of the State, became great and opulent. By the laws of ‘trade, the States on the Atlantic side ol the contineut soon felt the itipulse which a large and varied market suddenly opened to their manufactures, and the whole uation shared in the harvest ‘ ° which was first reaped hy the adventurous population which created this State. POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. The Govetnument, the owner of the mines, for cighteen years acquiesced in the oecupution and development of the mines, by allowing hundrede of millions of dollars in labur and capital of its eitizens to bo expended in opening the nines and introducing costly machinery. But it went Inrther, and by the eluracter of its legislation eeemed to license this order of things. In view of the fact that the minere were occupying the mineral lands, it exempted these lands from survey and sale ; it eolleeted a yearly license for mining on them; it levied a royalty on the gross'proeeeds of the mines; it also taxed their net proceeds as ineome ; and at a very rocent period made the customs, rafes, and regulatious of matters hy which they determine the location and possession of elaims, which bad long heen recognized in the State Courts, the rule of deeision in the United States Courts, by enaeting that each ease shuuld be adjudged by the rule of possession. Under this policy of the Government the miner has'never considered himself a trespasser on the publie domain, and has never been treated as such; hut whilo gratefully appreciating the generosity uf tho Government, has availed himself of it to acquire possessory rights to limited . quantities of mining land, ealled claims, ereeted his home near at hand, toiled for years to reap wealth therefroin,and eontributed hy his labors, very often unproductive to himself, to swell the current of gold thnt has flowed in the channels of trade. ‘The possessory rights which the miners have thus acquired under this express and implied license of tbe General Government huve been protected hy the State Courts, and are as distinctly defined as a homestead right or any otber. These rights soon acquired a varying moneyed value, and hence miners sometimes sell their elaims where they cannot alford the expensive means for working thei; and thousands of claims are held by different individuale by purehase as well as by location. Very frequently before a vein of quartz or sravel deposit tying within rocky hills ean be reached, long and expensive tunnels have to be . dug out, or blasted out with powder. These costly improvements give value to the clams which in their original condition they did not possess. Many of such improvemente are now in progress, and it will be years before they will be completed so as to reach the deposits, and their owners ineur heavy debts to complete them. Most quartz mines and many gravel deposite lie below the water level, and are only worked hy powerful pumping machinery which has been placed upon them; and the gold is extracted from the quartz by ponderous machinery and curious processes, whicb are only set at work at great expense. ‘These fucts are stated, and many more of a kiudred nature might be, to show the great interests which have been created here by the policy of the Governnient, and the injustice and disasters which must tollow arude change in a system that has been consolidating during nearly twothirds of a generation. AN ESTOPPEL. By that system the miners have heen treated practically as the owners of their claims ; they have been iuduced to expend their labor and) money to improve them and bring them where possible to productiveness ; their customs reeulating the tenuree bave heen recognized by legislation, aud innocent purchasers have been induced to make investments; all husiness interests have become interwoven into the existing order of things, and nothing but imperative necessity overruling all considerations of publie faith and local wellaro, if such necessity can ever exist, can be urged to justily tbe seizure of these lands trom their present possessors. Between private parties tbe facts would work estoppel in the jndyment of any respectable Court, from the extreme -injustice of attempting to resume rights eo loug dormant, which had heen waived hy explicit aets and words, and where the parties to suffer conld not be reeompensed. Hence, we respectfully urge that the faith of the Government is pledged, by. its course of dealing for so many years, to continne the system its policy hus insugurated and hrought to such magnitude and perfection. IMPOLICY OF CHANOE, The prosperity of the general mining interest . and the reflex advantages to trade and to the revenue already aceruing, show the impoliey of change. A system thut huilds up great , States in almost desert regions; that opens new and inereasing morkets ; that supplies the precione metals to fortify the credit of the Government, aud strengthen ite nrm in war; that bas vindicated itself by its:great suecess in producing for the use of the country the long-neglected treasures of these distant regions, and which gives employment to 60 much enterprise and capital, cannot be broken up without confusion and distress to every interest involved. The disasters that will follow to trade and commerce by the temporary or permanent diminution of the supply of gold and silver should he fairly understood, and we shall discuss these considerations hereafter. These disasters will fall largely upon the, East, and will be the penalty it will suffer for innovating legislation ruinous to our great local interest, That the present system is well adapted to the productiveness of the mines is beyond douht; and that produetiveness will he increased by a senee of security in the intentions of the Goyernment. But some few of the effects on the miners of a survey and sale of the mineral lauds by any system which does not give the present possessors the fea to their claims without price, we propose to advert to, and then to remark upon some evils necessarily incident to any system for the general sale of the mineral lands. * 2 MOST MINERS CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY, Strange as it may seem to those who judge of the results of mining by tbe published shipments of treasure, the great mass of miuers are too poor to purchaso their eluims at any priee likely to be considered an equivalent. A fact that ie appareut here may he hard to demonstrate to tbe people of the East, whose ears have been abused by the extravagunt representations of superficial observers who have vieited this coast. ‘lhe days when surface diggings repaid slight labor witb large reward have passed, and miners now have to contend with stubborn ores dragged from groat depths to the surface, or glean the fields already reaped. In the former case the expense of production ie so great that moderate returnoe ‘only are expected, and these are often expected in vain. Inthe latter the gains are usually slight. A dry wiuter consumes the profit of a favorable oue for the placer miner; and the experieuce of many years in this State shows that the unfavorable seasons for this large branch of mining outnumber the good onee. A vast amount of labor is expended in “ pros-" pecting,” or digging for new mines, which never yields any return. It is estiniated by competent authority that all the gold ever extracted in thie State, after deducting the cost of machinery, would not pay for the labor that has been spent in prospecting and mining since tbe settlement of the State at tbe rate. that ordinary lahor during the same time has commanded inthe Hust. This is because paying deposits of gold,ure so otten hard to find, and su difficult to work; and for this reason thousands bave lived in poverty, returned to the other States, or given up the business cf mining for other oceupations. Again, taxation is necessarily high in a new State like this, where difficult roads are to be huilt, all public buildings, hospitals, churches and schoolhouees erected; and nothing is inherited trom the past. ‘The expense of living is great. Much capital has been sent here, but our gold flows continually out of the State to buy the . ss 4 we