The gold utensils found among the simple-minded and
philosophic Peruvians (who wondered at the eager desire of Christians
for what they scarcely valued), will be esteemed trifles with our
golden palaces, and halls paved with gold, when California shall have
poured this vast treasure into Europe. Assuming in round numbers each
2,000 lbs., or troy ton, to be equivalent to L100,000 sterling, the
above amount in one year would represent _six hundred_ tons, and in ten
years _six thousand_ tons of gold! The imagination of all-plodding
industrious England is incapable of grasping so great an idea! Can
there be any doubt, then, of a revolution in the value of the precious
metals?
PROHIBITION FROM THE GOVERNMENT.--It would seem that the government
have at length taken measures to preserve the gold districts from the
bands of foreign adventurers who are daily pouring in from every
quarter. Towards the end of January we learn that General Smith had
been sent out by the United States government, with orders to enforce
the laws against all persons, not citizens of the States, who should be
found trespassing on the public lands.
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