[January, Illinois. The first gold was discovered in North Carolina as early as 1801, and in 1803 a negro discovered, on the land of Mr. Reid, a lump which weighed 27lbs., and yielded, at the United States mint, some $4,868; other lumps were subsequently discovered. One of 75 ounces yielded the owner, Mr. Peck, of Lancaster, S. C., $1,000. Mines continued to be opened, both "vein mines" and "surface mines," or alluvial deposites, in all the states above mentioned, and, in 1830, great excitement prevailed throughout the country. Many companies were formed, and much capital invested for the prosecution of business, guided by a report upon the subject by Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, who represented the gold country as 1,000 square miles in extent. The following extract from a New-York paper, in the year 1831, shows the state of things then existing :— "It is not five years since these mines began to be worked to any considerable extent; indeed, it is hardly half that period. And yet many of thein are worked upon an extensive scale, and mills for grinding the ore, propelled by water or by steam, are erected in vast numbers. One of the Messrs. Bissels, who are probably doing more at the business than any others, told me, recently, that their company employs 600 hands. And he stated that the whole number of men now employed at the mines, in these southern states, is at least 20,000. He also estimated the weekly product of these mines to be equal in value to $100,000, or $5,000,000 annually. But a small part of the gold is sent to the United States mint. By far the larger part is sent to Europe, particularly to Paris. "The chief miners (I mean laborers) are foreigners-Germans, Swiss, Swedes, Spaniards, English, Welsh, Scotch. &c. There are no less than thirteen different languages spoken at the mines in this state! And men are flocking to the mines from all parts, and find ready employment. Hundreds of land owners and renters work the mines on their grounds on a small scale, not being able to encounter the expense of much machinery.-The state of morals among the miners or laborers is represented to be deplorably bad. The village of Charlotte, in Mecklenberg county, is in the immediate vicinity of several of the largest mines. It is growing rapidly. Before I conclude this brief account of the gold mines, I ought to state one fact, which is of deep interest; that is, that there are indubitable evidences that these mines were known and worked by the aboriginal inhabitants, or some other people, a long period since. Many pieces of machinery which were used for this purpose have been found. Among them are several crucibles of earthenware, and far better than those now in use. Mr. B. told me that he had tried three of them, and stated that they last twice or three times as long as even the Hessian crucibles, which are the best now made." In 1840, Mr. J. R. Wheeler, superintendent of the branch mint, at Charlotte, N. C., which, with the branch at Dahlonega, Geo., had been established in 1838, to coin the metals extracted from these mines, made a report to Congress, by which it appeared, that although the vein mines continued rich, they were, to some extent, abandoned. The companies had been dissolved, the capital lost, the negroes withdrawn to cotton plantations, and the mines were worked only by neighboring farmers, and others, when the circumstances of regular employments permitted leisure. The census of 1840 reported 157 gold smelting houses in all the states, and the annual product at $529,605; 1,045 men were stated as employed, and $234,325 capital invested. The quantity of United States gold deposited at the mints for coinage, from 1824 to 1848, has been as follows: YIELD OF UNITED STATES MINES, 1825 To 1848. Charlotte, N. C.................1,662,764......New-Orleans... Dahlonega, Geo.. Total.... ..3,211,960.. Philadelphia... $127.532 7,739,391 $12,741,647 The highest quantity obtained in one year, was in 1846, reaching $1,139,357. In 1847, however, $889,081 only was produced-being less than in any year since 1842. The working of these mines has, by no means, fulfilled the hopes their discovery excited, but the actual product of the California gold already realized, is far in excess of anything ever obtained in the Atlantic states. Comparing the quality of the gold, that of California is as good. The following are comparative averages of all the gold deposited at the mint from different localties; all the mines vary greatly in the quality of the product. One mine, in Georgia, yields gold, uniformly, 980 a 990 thousandths; another, a few miles distant, 830 thousandths. In North Carolina, the difference is 580 to 980 fine. The averages are as follows: 825 to 875 .....894 to 897 .850 66 66 ..895 California, recent arrivals, The fact of large quantities of gold of great purity existing in California, and of its rapid extraction by increasing numbers of miners, gives rise to many serious questions;-first, in relation to the duty of the government in the matter, and of its ability to act; and second, in relation to the effect which large supplies of gold will have financially upon internal industry and international commerce. In relation to the first matter there exists the most urgent necessity for the prompt action of the government. The great difficulty is, however, as to its mode of action. This is the great problem. All idea of force or restraint would seem to be to the last degree puerile, yet many such plans are presented. One of them, as an instance, requires the organization of a force of 10,000 volunteers to guard the gold region, and prevent the ingress of all but those licensed, and to require these to deposite two-thirds of their produce, one-third to go to the government, one-third to the volunteer force, the miner retaining one portion to himself. By this project a circumference of 2,000 miles is to be guarded by 10,000 men-say five men to one hundred square miles! to prevent people from digging gold! The difficulty of which may be estimated in the fact, that the best regulated gold mines in the world lose one-half their profits through the facility with which miners can conceal the choice lumps. It is however stated, that the gold region is accessible only by certain passes which can be easily closed. All the laws of Spain with the penalty of death, could not prevent gold from leaving that country at the calls of interest. In relation to the share of the government, it may be remarked, that the worst possible evil which could befall the country would be for the government to command any considerable quantity of money. The guarantee of republicanism is governmental poverty. In the next place, the community at large can be benefited only by the freedom with which the metal can be made available for public use. The only safe principle for governmental action is conciliation; to avoid all approach to coercion or restraint, and to facilitate the mining by every means in its power, and this can be accomplished only by coming in aid of the diggers. This may be effected, first, by the speedy establishment of a mint or government agency. As soon as that is done, let the agency take all the gold that offers, giving the owner a certificate at a margin of ten or perhaps twenty per cent., payable to the order of the owner, say in four or five months, in New-York or some Atlantic city. All the gold thus collected and coined by the government could then be sent round in the government frigates to meet the drafts here. The important conditions to be fulfilled are: First, to see that the government gets a per centage of all dug. In the case of the copper and lead mines this is fixed at six per cent. Second, to see that the miners get the full value of the gold they dig. Third, to see that the gold comes to the United States, to act for the benefit of the whole community in its operation upon the trade and prosperity of the Union, and that it is not stolen by foreign nations. Fourth, to see that the gold is transported safely, and does not tempt swarms of pirates to infest the seas through which undefended merchant vessels, laden with gold, would come home. All these conditions may be fulfilled by the plan indicated. The memorial of the California people to Congress sets forth the fact that they "cannot get a fair price for gold." It sells at $8 for an ounce, worth $16. If, now, the government gives $13 or $14 per ounce, in a certificate payable in coin in New-York, it will get its tax, the miner will get $5 per ounce more than he gets now, and, being saved all risk and expense of transportation, will be eager to avail himself of the privilege, and therefor yield up all he digs. The employment of the navy in transporting the coin to the Atlantic border will avert all danger of piracy, while the influx and disbursement of the money in our cities will impart a portion of its benefits to all classes of society. The only means of regulation is clearly to meet the interests of all parties; coercion or restraint is not only impracticable, but the attempt will be in the highest degree injurious. This matter of receiving the gold in exchange for the treasury drafts should not be delayed a moment. It is not necessary to wait until the mint is built. One or two frigates may be ordered to the spot, and overnor Mason, as assistant treasurer, aided by competent and sufficiently responsible officers, allowed under the existing law, to take the gold for drafts at once. A margin of twenty per cent. would readily be submitted to by the miners, and will be more than sufficient to ensure the government against loss. Should the gold continue abundant, the resulting production may be approximated. Thus there are reported to be 4000 persons, one-half Indians, at work. Of the whites, one-half is composed of the New-York volunteer regiment, under Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson, and the remainder are individual adventurers. All these persons are at work without adequate utensils or tools. The fingers and hands of most are their only instruments. Poorly provided as they are, the lowest estimate of their actual average production, man, woman and child, is $8 per head per day. Mr. Cutting, a gentleman recently from that region, and who was in poor health, reports on his arrival at New-Orleans, that 42 days' labor produced him $1,500, which is at the rate of $35 per day, and on account of his health, he did not visit the best localities, which are in the streams. From November till March, on account of the rains, but little digging is done. By the time the working season commences 100,000 persons will probably be on the spot from the Sandwich Islands and the Atlantic states, as well as from Oregon and all the neighboring states of North and South America, with every instrument and means to facilitate the largest production; and these persons will not be satisfied with less than the minimum now produced, say $8 per day, in which case the product of the whole must be $1,000,000 per day, or, say $350,000,000 per annum. But the number of miners will constantly in crease, and should the supply hold out, by March, 1850, double that sum will have been produced! The magnitude of such results is startling, and leads to the question of its financial effects upon the commerce of the United States, and ultimately of the world. In this connexion it becomes necessary to consider in some degree what the general production has hitherto been, the probable existing quantities of the precious metals, and the effect which the opening of rich mines has hitherto produced. It is scarcely possible to arrive accurately at the production of the precious metal in any country. Thus a high Mexican functionary estimates the product in that country at $80,000,000, while no data can be found by which to estimate it at more than $12,000,000. Nevertheless, a respectable English authority has given the product for forty years, ending with 1830, as follows: This gives an annual product of £4,700,000, or $22,560,000. Since then, that is, in the last 17 years, the production of the United States' mines has reached $1,000,000 per annum, and those of Russia alone produce $20,000,000 per annum. The progress in that country is indicated in the following extract from an official paper, dated December 3, 1847:— "The following appears, by the return of British consuls, to be the quantity of gold produced in the empire of Russia, in the ten years ending with 1846 It is added, in this return, that "there is reason to believe that considerable quantities have not been declared." And, also, that new mines have been discovered in the Oural; while the fact that an Imperial Ukase has lately forbidden the sale of public estates in the region of the auriferous sands of Siberia, justifies the inference that the government has made successful surveys in that direction. In the Ukase of March 31, 1847, which orders the investment of £4,600,000 in the English and French funds, the "bullion fund" existing in St. Petersburgh is stated to amount to 114,000,000 of rubles, or nearly £20,000,000 sterling." The whole production now, exclusive of California, is not far from $50,000,000 per annum. The proportionate value between gold and silver has also undergone a change, as well as the value of both metals as compared with other products of industry. Thus in Europe, prior to the discovery of America, gold was to silver as one to ten; as silver flowed in from America faster than gold, it depreciated in comparison, and by 1650, reached one to fourteen. At the organization of the United States mint, in 1792, it was held to be one to fifteen; and in 1834 was supposed to have still farther depreciated, from greater production, as indicated in the above table, and the gold bill of 1834 fixed the ratio at 1 to 16.215 This was found to be too low, and the bill of 1837 fixed it at 1 to 15.988 at which it has since remained. The total quantity of silver to gold has been esti mated at 55 to 1, although the ratio is 1 to 15 relatively. This depends upon various causes, among which is the great demand for silver for use in the arts, gold being too dear for such purposes, and this fact lowers its value much below what it would be if the demand for it for use was proportionably as great as for silver, which, although much more abundant than tin or bismuth, is much superior in price to those metals. Under the joint operation of the Californian and Russian mines, the value of gold may again fall to the relative proportion it held to silver before the discovery of America, viz. 1 to 10; both metals, however, being far cheaper in proportion to other products of industry. The mines of California, rich, nuïnerous, and easily worked by augmenting the mass of gold and silver, must lessen the value of these metals as compared with the objects of commerce, so that, other things being equal, there will be required a larger amount of money to transact the same basiness. The productions of the Russian and Californian mines may also have the effect of causing many old mines to be discontinued, through the fall in the value of the metal, and not because the auriferous sands or veins become less rich. If a sufficient supply of the metals are obtained at one ounce for a day's labor, those mines that yield but one-fourth of an ounce for the same labor will be abandoned, and the supply thus curtailed. It will also result from the relative fall in the value of gold, that that metal will displace silver in many works of art. Gold plate will certainly be preferred to silver, if it can be obtained as readily. Gold is more easily hoarded and concealed than silver, and will therefore to a far greater extent bury itself among the savings of the people of Europe and Asia. In relation to the quantities of precious metals in the United States, it is perhaps more easy to approximate a result than in the countries of Europe, but it must be still far from accurate. Thus, when the country was first settled, there was none here, yet as the population increased large sums were found to be here. Adam Smith remarks, in relation to exchanges, that through the operation of colonial laws, what is called "balance of trade," was found uniformly to be against the American colonies, which did not produce the metal, yet nevertheless always found sufficient wherewith to pay the balances. Very large sums came, doubtless, into the country in the hands of immigrants, particularly in New-England, as coin and as plate, some of which exist to this day. Down to 1820, there is no distinct record of the quantities imported and exported, in that year Mr. Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, in his report on the currency, stated the quantity of specie in the banks to be $28,000,000, and estimated $4,500,000 in circulation, making $32,500,000 in the country. From that time to the close of 1847, the import and export of the precious metals have given an excess of $103,170,012 of importation of foreign coins and metals. To 1839. 1810. 1841. 1842. 1843 1844 1845 1846 IMPORT AND EXPORT OF GOLD AND SILVER INTO THE UNITED STATES. 1847.. Coin. Gold Bullion. Coin. Silver Bullion. Coin. Gold Bullion. Coin. Silver Bullion. 4,692,280..30,965,798..9,112,286..122,943,951....347,588..12,497,182..880,591...93,366,816 5.585,388 74,821,809 13,735,619 152,645,817 514,124 21,373,127 991,291 120.740,009 .5,071,394 53,448,682 12,744,328 31,915,608 Excess Import.. |