MR. WESTGARTH'S ADDRESS TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, MELBOURNE.

Otago Witness, Issue 55, 5 June 1852, Page 3

MR. WESTGARTH'S ADDRESS TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, MELBOURNE.

(From the Lyttelton Times.) Although treating of the condition of a neighbouring colony, the subjects with which the following paper deals cannot fail to be of common interest to all colonists. Especially it is valuable for the views which it contains upon the economical and social phenomena likely to result from the Australian gold discoveries. Mr. "VVestgarth is one of the most respected, and we need not say most able, of the representative members in the Legislative Council of Victoria. In the first part of his address he proceeds to show the advantages which such associations confer on the mercantile interest, as well as their usefulness in watching over the commercial and trading relations of a community, and then, in reference to the general condition and rapid progress of the colony, goes on to say — v . ' " Among the events of our official year just j concluded, are comprised several circumstances of the deepest importance to this colony ; for example, the separation and independence of Victoria, lately a division of New South Wales ; and the discovery of gold in this and the adjacent colony. The new colony of Victoria, which dates her separate official existence from the Ist July

i last, has commenced her independence under ' circumstances highly auspicious. The prosperity or capabilities of a colony may, ' cseteris paribus,' be tolerably well estimated by the proportion of its export produce to its population. The importance of exports consists in this, that they are the independent and permanent means in a colony of purchasing the import. I need scarcely say that, for the economy and efficiency of labour, for the despatch, of general business, for the comfort and embellishment of social life, it is widely different for us that innumerable articles of human wants are, during our present early history, rather the finished workmanship of Manchester, Birmingham, or Sheffield, than the ruder attempts, however laudable in themselves, which under other and less fortunate circumstances it might have been necessary for us to make for our own well being. By means of our exports, therefore, we are enabled to introduce from other countries a quantity and description of articles that could not have been produced in equal measure and efficiency amongst ourselves by the extent of lnbour required for these exports, and that, most likely, in many instances could not have been produced at all. This is consideration which forms to some extent, a key, to resolve the oft propounded question as to the prosperity, the progress, and the social comfort of modern, as compared with more early colonial experiences. When we compare with the present day the rudeness and discomfort of American colonization two centuries back, we must bear in mind that we compare a time when the fabrics of Manchester and Glasgow, and the hardware, machinery, and in- ! numerable inventions and appliances of Birmingham and Sheffield were, as regards cheapness and efficient construction and application. i altogether behind the exhibition of the present day. When to this we add the facility, rapidity, and safety of navigation, and the ample market of our parent state and other parts of the world for our produce, together wi'h the progress of taste and refinement that has accompanied our industrial devclopements, we may perceive that I our colonial career is now placed under widely j different and far more inspiring circumstances j than those that attended the efforts of our ancestral fellow colonists, whose rude faring existence has long proverbially associated the idea I [ of inelegance and discomfort with colonial life, j ! The history of Victoria is well calculated to institute an opposite and more cheerful proverb. Even prior to the discover}- of^her gold fields, ! ! her export produce was proportionately larger j than that which any other of our colonies has ' exhibited. For the year 1850 for example, j when the value of colonial produce exported '■ was £1,042,000, and the average population ' about 70,000 souls, we have an export at the rate of nearly £15 per head, which, for every , person in the colony, gives a power for the in- I troduction of all kinds of necessaries that must i effectually promote at once the business of the j colon}', and the resources and enjoyments of its society. j Since 1850 the Gold produce, which begins I to affect our official figures on the export lists, towards the end of the following year has | largely increased this amount, threatening us, in fact, with a plethora of wealth, which in the unsettlement cf our regular industry, caused by the attractions of the diggings, may leave us, for a time perhaps, losers in a social point of | view, by our present grand developement. I Table exhibiting the progress of the Colony of i Victoria, from 1844 to 1851, inclusive. I

The Gold Fields. — Let us now turn our - attention for a space to the great commercial topic of the day — the discovery of gold in this and the adjacent colony. In August a number of persons had established " diggings" on Anderson's creek, 16 miles to the eastward of Melbourne, and many townspeople visited the newly found " Victoria Gold Fields." In October 7000 persons were congregated at Ballarat upon anaieaofless than a square mile. The diggings presented a scene impressing the mind with a sense of vast and incessant labour. Success was very unequal, and very far from general, at Ballarat, and prospecting" went on incessantly, in the hope of more propitious diggings. The superior richness of the Mount Alexander district, became known during October. Ballarat was then the great metropolis at the foot of the " Golden point ;" 3000 busy hands rocked the cradles that formed a continuous line for a half a mile on either side of the small funning creek ; 3000 more were either digging 3r dragging down to the water the auriferous

soil ; while another thousand cooked the food for their comrades, or guarded their respective tents. At night the numerous fires gave an animated aspect to the scene, and permitted a boundless range to the imagination. The celebrity of Mount ' Alexander has since far exceeded that of Ballarat, and latterly the continuous prospecting has led to the discovery of gold throughout an extensive area of the surrounding country. Fifty thousand persons are estimated to be now engaged at the diggings, nearly all of whom are at or around the Mount. The scarcity of water, usual at this season of the year, greatly limits, for the present, the yield of gold from so great a multitude, many having to cart the soil a distance of five or ten miles ere they can meet with water for the purpose of washing. The rains may be expected in June, and tho capabilities of the soil will then be better tested. It must be borne in mind, however, that even yet, and probably for some time to come, the apparatus for extracting the gold is of the rudest and most inefficient construction. i These considerations, in connexion with the I immense export of our gold produce now taking place must impress us strongly with the pre-eminently auriferous richness of our soil. If we compare the results of mining and washing gold in some of the old established seats of the precious metal, the results in Victoria are altogether astonishing. In Brazil, for example, the solid rock is crushed by machinery, for the purpose of extracting, by careful scientific treatment, a proportion of half an ounce of gold to one ton of stone. In the Russian dominions the auriferous sand of the mines of Yegoro Ivonknuiski produce one pound troy to every 140 tons of material, those of Troulubinsk to every 190 tons, and the mines of Marynisk only the same to 216 tons of refuse. Our Victoria diggers, who grumble at an ounce or two to a cart load, who are grievously disappointed if

half a cubic foot of each is washed in a tin dish without yielding a shilling's worth of gold, may, however, find consolation in reflecting that they are engaged upon a gold field that is probably the richest hitherto known in the world. At the present moment, among the goldproducing countries California stands pre-emi-nent. It was anticipated that the produce of the past year would not fall short of fifteen millions sterling in value, and that of the present year may be taken at somewhat more. The annual produce of the Russian mines is estimated at four millions. Prior to the discovery of California, Kussia stood most conspicuous in the production of gold. But already Victoria appears to be producing a larger quantity than the average of the Itussian dominions. The ent're quantity exported from Victoria up to the Ist April is 563,471 ounces. The following are the amounts of fees raceived for Licenses and Escort to Feb. 29 :— i ITKS FOR LICENSES. I To 31st Dec. j To 29th Feb. £ s. d. £ s. d. Ballarat 7,447 11 0 : Sos 10 0 Mount Alexander .. 17,979 5 0 29/283 0 0 Anderson's Creek . . 27 10 0 Murray District 27 10 0 Total 25,481 19 0 , 30,138 10 0 j KSCORT FEES. To 31st Dec. To 29th Feb. £ s. d. £ s. d. Ballarat 527 10 0 13 7 0 Mount Alexander .. 2,777 7 0 3.141 15 0 Total 3,634 17 0 3,1.38 2 0 The effects produced by the gold discoveries upon our social and commercial relations form v a subject of constant and rather anxious discussion amongst us.

i r ear. Imports. Exports. Total Trade External. Popu- ! lation. J 1844 1845. 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 I 151,000 248,000 316,000 438,000 374,000 480,000 745,000 1,056,000 i 257,000 464,000 425,000 669,000 675,000 755,000 I 1,012,000 1,423,000 408,000 712,000 741,000 1,107,000 1,049,000 1,235,000 1,787,000 2,497,000 | 24,000 28,000 34,000 I 42,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 | 82,000 |