Original Correspondence. CALIFORNIA. To the Editor of the New Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 309, 16 May 1849, Page 3

Original Correspondence. CALIFORNIA. To the Editor of the New Zealander.

Sir,— Tli e glowing accounts of the wealth to be acquired in California, merely for the labour of picking it out of the free c rth, have quite unsettled the epirit of our little community, and, diverting many of our valuable citizens from the steady coursa of industry and gain which they have pursued for some time in this colony, are inducing them to loie their hold of the j wraith which they have proved and eatily realised here, for the hope of advantag' ■ (in a foreign country and in an unhealthy climate,) which will, I fear, for most of them be diffi-ult of attainment, and tin pursuit of wkich, must for all be attended with danger, with discomfort, and wi h many privations. That California opens an admirable field for commer* cial enterpri»e there can at present, I th'nk, be very little doubt, un immense popula u>n bringing nothing but their wants, hare poured and continues to pour , into the El Dorad). That this population must have food and clothing, houses to live in, luxuries on which to expend thsir gold, is evident; and tint those who have the means and enterprise at once to send the \ materials to supply the3e wauls, will reap a rich har« j vest of jrofit, I think very possible ; but that the artizan, the mechanic, the labourer, will better his condition by migrating to California, may I think very reasonably be doubted. I will take the case of a mechanic, a cupenter for ins'ance, who proposes to quit this c lony. Curpentry has been a most profitable trade here for two or three years past, a good workman has been able to make his own terms, and to secure constant employment, his earnings may be stated at from eight to ten shillings per diem, and as the price of all the necessaries of life have been very low, he has been enabled to save a ha-d^ome sum out of his earnings. He is no doubt the proprietor of an allotment of land, on which he has c ected a comfortable house and is in all respects well t> do. Now Sir, thi« c-irpenter turns his eye to California, and he sees rivers, the sands of which arc golden, and moun'aiiH, in the bowels of which lie treasure* of preci -us metal, — and (here he must go. He abandons hit work, and idles about listening to absurd «toneu, and feeds his fancy full wi'h the glittering piospec\ A week or two is 10-.t in talking and tlii king about if, — no work, no ea-nings. He then sells his home and his land at an nnmenss sacrifice, fjr when tis known thnt he must sell, prcJi fa'l. He is employed two or time weeks in preparations for hisdei artu c, — no work, no earnings. Fe p.iys j£2o f r his passage— another loss, — two or three months j-re coiuumed on tlie vos'age— no vvoik, no'ea-n.ngs— at length he reaches Sm Francisco, and his frolden vi-ion is on the point of being realized. He is instantly hired at immense wtges, tay, ten dollars ytr diem, and he begins to think that he has come to the right place at last j but wait a little. Our carpenter mus" have a house to shelter himyand he must be ftd Now in S,in Francisco, every one of cou'Se has got his bag of gold ut least, which he cariies about in the bosom of his §h;rt lest his neighbour should rob him, »<nl as rvery one is rich and extremely independent, there are of cou se no servants, or very few. Men are obliged to club together, and to a boarding house therefore he must go. Now, as the wiges of a'• help " at one of these houses, is stated by the American Quartermaster to be nearly £>00 a year, our emigrant may consider himself well off if he is boa-ded and lodged for six dollars per diem. The weather is hot in California, and gold dust must make a working man very h rsty, " a modest quencher '' will cost him at" lust a quarter dollar; a "Pensioner's glass," if hi d ipofiition \3\ 3 a dry one, half dollar, this dose repeated twice will make one dollar per diem for fluids alone. Then he must have clean clothes, and as washing costs 8 dollan a dozen, he will be enab'ed to get a clean shirt on Sundays for one dollar and a half, and a pair of stockings, ditto. Boots are sated to cost ouly about dE3 a piir, and every other article of clothing will be in proportion. California it well known to be at certain seasons an unhealthy climate, aou 1 our carpenter will probably be affl cted with an ague, and a doctor — and doctors fees will no doubt be high in California, say an ounce of gold dust for a v'uit, and therefore the ague and the visits will both Ust some time ; our carpenter will find that doctors in San Francisco, cannot be "done " I likedocors in Auckland, but that as every man there | is his own judge and jury, the medical gentleman will | be provided with a bowie knife as well as a lancet, and with balls for hi« " revolver," as well at pills for j his patient, and that his fees must be forthcoming, or else he may chance to finish his work otherwise than secundem art em. That wag^s are high, there can be no doubt, and thatthe cost of board and lodging and the necessaries of life are in n. still more exorbitant ratio it equally ctt a n — we have it on official authority. Now if a mechanic in California c«n earn ten dollar! a day, and that it costs him nine dollars a day to support hi • self, will he be in a better position than the mechanic in Auckland who earns ten ih'lings, and need spend but three, —to say nothing of the •acrilice of property which he must make to quit this place, the loss of time incurred in gaining hit destination iv America, and the expense of his pass <ge thither. I would therefore counsel the intending emigrant to consider these things well ; not to be led away by such semi-official but land sharking advertisements as that of Captain Fulsom, who hae for sale, as he coutesces, "waste lots (oveied wiih bushes and aan hills," upon the sale of which he expects to gain 1000 per cen\ There is no honest and industrious man who cannot ma'ntuin himielfin comfort in this place, and at th a • ime time put something by for the future. Hit property and his person are safe under shadow of the law, which is Btroeg enough to protect him ; he u m rtach of opuortumty or education and of religious instruction for h s family. He has cheep food and high wages, and tnj ys good health it) the finest climate tbat exists. It ii the height of fatuity to imagine that tbe American Government, wlich his just paid so highly for the purchase of California, will permit its wealth to be plundered by evmy adventurer who choses to land upon its shores. The country produces no (oud—

every thing must be imported, and every thing will be enormously high. The immense influx of people must reduce the price of labour; while tlie same (Muse —the number of mouths to feed— will enhance the price of provisions. Lavr and order exist not— mi^ht is mht; the Bowie knife and the "revolver,'' gouging and Lynch law, u«urp the place of justice. Gambling, drunkenness, debauchery, and every hideous vice, from the character of the people already there, must be rife in the land : the clima c at certain times is unhealthy > ague and yellow fever are strong enough to chase men away from gold mines. Wild beaits and wilder Ind ans inhibit the back country, whilst snakes and reptiles of every kind are said to be abundant and venomous. Therefore, I would say, let thoie who are vrell off here cling to the good they have— 'et them pursue, in industry and economy, the course they have already pr. fited by, and they may depend upon it that if in California is to be found the immense treasure which is stated to exist there, it will not be without iti good eft eti upon tit here, but, that absorbed in England, as the fir greater portion of it will be.it will there revive depressed trade and manu'actuie-, .»nd come to us a golden shower in the shape of hi»h prices for our wool, our fl*x, our tmbcr, and our copper ore, which are now aimost unsaleable. I am, Sir, X. Auckland, May 25, 1840.