Dunedin, Saturday, June 12, 1852.

Otago Witness, Issue 56, 12 June 1852, Page 2

Dunedin, Saturday, June 12, 1852.

In every file of Australian papers we meet with " Gold ! gold ! gold !" in large lettered advertisements — gold from the diggings — gold brought down by the escort — gold exported j — in fact, the whole papers are bespattered with it. We have a pretty accurate idea of the quantity collected : £3,000,000 worth is estimated to have been gathered, adding greatly to the wealth of the country, j But we are at a loss by what means to ascertain the average earning of the producers of all this large sum. Some are evidently most fortunate, and of these persons we are 'sure to hear ; but of the number of those who waste the little they have, sacrificing health and strength, and enduring the greatest privations, in a vain pursuit of the glittering metal, we hear nothing. As far as we have learned, it would appear that those who have gone to the diggings with some property — though many have returned without improving their circumstances — have generally succeeded : but this is at variance with the supposition, that those who were dependent upon their exertions for their subsistence were kept by that circumstance to the extreme point of labour and perseverance, without which apparently little success can be hoped for. This variation from our first accounts is accounted for by the fact that all have times of ill fortune, and unless they have something to fall back upon their fate may be terrible.

Many of the Australian, and some of the Home journals are speculating upon the effects upon the world which the i late extensive discoveries of gold will produce. Upon this important subject we have not the necessary facts and statistics at hand to form an opinion. Whether they will ultimately reduce the price of gold in the whole world is a matter of conjecture, and can never be ascertained until the fact itself is apparent ; because the amount of gold that in future is to be raised cannot be calculated upon until it is so raised, when its effects will be obvious enough. Our remarks are therefore confined to the effects that the gold discovery are producing, and are likely to produce, upon us and the neighbouring settlements. We observe, by the Adelaide papers, that that settlement is fast sinking, ordinary occupations being thrown up, and the population in shoals rushing to the diggings ; property is therefore of less than half its ordinary value, and can scarcely be realised at all ; and an ! extensive system of credit having been ! carried on, the check produced by this sudden fall in value is likely to involve all more or less in ruin. Efforts are being made to divert some of these evils, by a system of giving a current value to bullion, by stamping it and making it a legal tender. This measure may do something to mitigate the severity of the shock, but we fear will not produce much effect in the natural law regulating such matters. How far, then, New Zealand may be placed in the same position as Adelaide becomes a matter of enquiry, upon which we shall endeavour to draw a conclusion from the relative position of the two places, and then the inducements that exist for the | population to migrate.

Adelaide is within an accessible distance of the diggings ; while New Zealand is so placed, that an emigrant must expend £15 before he can reach the same spot. In Adelaide the lands are held in large tracts, and the labouring classes do not generally possess any ; while in New Zealand every man can,

and the greater number have acquired land, which, if a general movement took place, would be difficult to sell except at a great sacrifice. Again, in Adelaide much of the land is barren ; while in New Zealand scarcely any of it can be said to be so, though much of it, from its location, may at present be of little use. These, we believe, are sufficient reasons to prevent a general movement of the population of New Zealand ; buj there are other causes equally powerful i to prevent, to a great extent, even individual emigration. We do not make these remarks with a view of dissuading those who may intend to proceed to the diggings, but rather as a stimulant to the increased exertions of our settlers to supply the wants that must be created under the new state of affairs. We know there are some men of such restless spirits that, having once started from the mother country, the impulse to be moving is so powerful that we find them roving from one settlement or colony to another, until some extraordinary good fortune or equally great mishap fixes them to a locality. To such men it would be useless to say stay ; but there are others who might be induced by the dazzling and apparently brilliant prospect to seek the diggings. To these we would say, If you cannot find employment here, why, go ; but if you are in any way bettering your circumstances, then stay where you are ; but if you will go, take a calm view of what is before you. The extremes of fortune in this speculation are — great wealth, or starvation. You will probably not reach either of these extremes, but will occupy some intermediate station between the two, — most likely nearer to the latter, for every large fortune made by the lucky digger abstracts so much from the average earnings of the others ; therefore, unless the average be very high, the greater number will be nearer the latter extreme. You will be exposed to the competition of the increasing number of emigrants who will be flowing in from all quarters as long as the occupation is reported profitable | even to a few, or until the average earnings are reduced so low that even the thirst for gold must give way under the I pressure; for where there is hope of profits, and just in proportion to the height that such profits attain will be the amount of competition. The fact of there being a diminution of emigration, notwitstanding the news of the gold discoveries, in no way affects the question. The news, like leaven, must have time to work, and in proportion to the delay in starting will be the continuance of the stream. We have said we have no means of judging of the effect that may be produced on the currency of the world by the sudden introduction of all this gold, but we can judge of what is of more importance to the digger. We see clearly the effect it is having upon the market he has to resort to, gold being at London, in round numbers, £3 17s. per oz. ; it has been depressed in Sydney to £3 per oz., and at the diggings to £2 per oz. This tells most on the least fortunate ; for whilst the fortunate can afford to wait a return from distant markets, the former must realise to buy food, and at greatly increased rates. But supposing you to be moderately fortunate, you cannot desire to spend the remainder of your days in searching for gold ; you cannot reasonably expect to make such a fortune as will keep you the rest of your clays without labour. If you are a married man, your expenses in moving a wife and family will be great — your expenses at the diggings will be greater. If you intend to return, this will take away from your profits. On the whole you will find, that if, instead of moving, you had invested in cattle the sum necessary for the first outlay to proceed to the diggings, and worked at your land from daylight to dark, as a man may be supposed to work who expects the next spadeful of earth he turns to make his fortune, at the end of a year or so you may depend upon being worth more than you would have been had you proceeded to the diggings, to say nothing of the security and comfort you have enjoyed, and the prospect of your family

reaping additional advantages after you. We do not question the ultimate advantage to the Australian colonies ; but looking at the following statement of profit and loss at California, as put forth in an American paper, — " We have carried into the harbour of California five hundred millions' worth of property. We have sacrificed 50,000 lives in California. We have lost the work and labour of 300,000 men for three years in California. And, as our only recompense for all this, we have received from about eighty to ninety million dollars' worth of gold!" — And judgingfrom analogy, we believe that if the £3,000,000 produced were put down on the one side, it would be more than counterbalanced on the other by the loss of time of those engaged in the pursuit, and the deterioration of property of various sorts in which capital has been invested, and which, from the sudden abstraction of labour, has become unprofitable.

This deterioration may be only temporary, but it is a great evil, and every man that leaves a settled occupation adds fuel to the flame. If he have property, he subjects it to its share of the burden. Such an argument of course would have no effect upon the agricultural labourer or the shepherd near the spot. They would naturally proceed to the diggings as almost certain of bettering themselves," without considering any abstract question of the benefit to the colony, or whether their respective masters would lose more by their deserting them than they would gain by seeking their own fortunes at the diggings. These sudden changes then must have the inevitable effect of raising the price of food throughout ail the Australian colonies ; and as the export of wool will probably decrease from the same cause, a rise of price in the ensuing year may be expected ; of both which circumstances we trust our settlers will not neglect to take advantage by producing as much as possible.