Yank remarked that he had been thinking of doing so, and as soon as he had an opportunity he would see what could be done.
Mike again remarked:
“Well now, me b’ys, ’tis many long years since ther news was afther bein sint across ther continint that ther was jest slathers av gould lyin’ around loose here, an’ aisy to git, do yez moind, an’ indade thin thet’s jest what brought us here too, the lot av us. An’ pwhat a change, begorra, has been afther takin’ place since we landed upon the shores of California, for ’twas thin a wilderness, an’ the Indians, the grizzlies an’ a variety ov other strange animiles, were monarchs ov all they surveyed, thin, with not a blessed wan to dispute ther title, do yez moind. But ther discovery ov gold changed all this, do yez see? Fur now, where we was afther findin’ a wilderness thin, we see a number ov towns an’ cities, an’ in the short space ov toime ov forty years we now are afther obsarvin’ an empoire containin’ a million ov paple or more, begorra. Doorin’ that space ov toime, too, there has been taken from our gould moines an amount excadin’ a billion and a half dollars, which has been scattered about among ther paple of ther country, do yez moind. Indade, thin, ’tis thrue enough, be jabers, that ther b’ys who was afther diggin’ it from ther sile, recaived a moity small share ov the same for ther labor ov diggin’ it from the hills an’ mountains about, for it saimed the whole toime to obsarve the same law as runnin’ wather, do yez moind; an’ as fast as ’twas afther bein’ taken from the earth, it run in a containious straim down to ther big cities below, an’ divil a bit could we be afther stoppin’ it, at all, at all.”
Another old-timer remarked that although the boys who dug out the gold retained but a small proportion of it, yet the whole country in general received the full benefit of it.
“Yis,” Mike replied, “thrue enough that same was the case, an’ do yez call to moind, thin, ther wise spaich in ther Bible where it says that to him who hath much more will be afther being given to that same, and to him that hath nothin’ at all, at all, they will be afther deproivin’ him av the same troifling quantity, begorra. Well, me b’ys, that’s jest the style av it, for ’tis a law av money now, do yez obsarve, that, ’twill be afther continually concintratin’ into the hands av the b’ys who have got the most av it, do yez see? An’, in me own opinion, ’tis jest as well, for they are the b’ys ginerally who know how to use it for the benefit av the rest av us, do yez moind. For didn’t Mr. Lick, thin, use his money in a dacint manner for the benefit av all the b’ys? An’ didn’t he give thim a foine Hall down at the big city below, where they can howld their matins’ to talk about ould-timers, rade ther papers, an’ enj’y a quiet nap, begorra! and indade, thin, did not the same ould gintleman spind his money frayly in erectin’ an obsarvatory with a big tilliscope, do yez moind, to sarch ther hivens with, expictin’ the whoile to discover in some av ther planets above anither rich moining counthry where yez can be afther emigratin’ to whin yez have wuorked out this wan? An’, indade, thin, wasn’t it another wan av ther b’ys who gathered up more than his share afther spindin’ his kine fraly in the buildin’ av an ixtinsive univarsity, to give our children a bit av larnin’ av a louder style, begorra? Yis, indade thin, the construction av foine buildin’s, av big warehouses, ther monstrous staim ships, ther great manufactories, and ther railroads all over the counthry, as well as ther extinsive canals and ditches, constructed to give wather to ther barren places in ther counthry, begorra, is in me own opinion an evidince that a fair portion ov the gould, at laist, that we b’ys helped to dig from the river beds an’ mountains in ther moinin’ ragion has collected into ther hands ov the b’ys who are jest afther knowin’ how to use ther same for the binefit ov all, do yez moind.”
Another old miner declared that there was something wrong about it; that he couldn’t understand at all why so many of the miners who dug so many millions of gold from the earth should all be so poor now, and he believed ’twas owing to the greed and selfishness of the business classes. They took all the advantage to rob the miners of their well-earned share of the gold.
“No, not at all,” said Mike; “that, indade, is not the raison, but ’tis all owin’ to ther nater ov the moinin’ industry, an’ that I’ll be afther ixplainin’, thin. Do yez obsarve the difference now betwain the business ov mining an’ all other koinds; for, indade thin, has not the moiner got his rich moin in ther beginnin’, whilst in all other koinds it requoires long years to wurruk for it. As a man puts in his toime and his money in any business, sure thin is it not incrasin’ in vally continually? An’ so it is with the lawyer, the doctor an’ with the mechanic too, now, do yez moind. Wan ov the b’ys takes up a pace ov land; spends his toime an’ money in improvin’ that same, and, begorra, the longer he works upon it, thin, the more valuable it is afther growin’ the whoile; but divil a bit is the rich moine growin’ in vally at all, at all. But do yez moind, thin, the longer yez are afther wurrukin’ it thin the poorer ’tis growin’, an’ when ’tis wurruked out, devil a cint can many of yez show for the toime an’ labor yes have spint upon the same.”
Another one remarked, “Well, ’tis true enough, as you say, that the gold we dig out flows into the big cities into the hands of a few wealthy men, and ’tis for that reason that the rich are getting richer whilst the poor are gittin’ poorer.”
“Well,” says Mike, “now yez are afther encrouching upon a question in political economy that we ould miners are hardly competint to dale with, begorra. But in me own opinion ’tis not thrue, as yez have stated, that the rich are afther gittin’ richer, whoile the poor are gittin’ poorer, at all, at all. It only saims to be the case, but not so in fact, as oi will explain to yez. ’Tis thrue enough, that in consequince ov the large quantity ov gould yez b’ys have dug from ther hills above an’ thrown in circulation, the facilities ov scrapin’ large quantities ov it in a hape by a few ov the b’ys in the big cities was an aisy job, an’ by use ov the same, in a few years they were very rich men. An’ if all the b’ys who were fortunate enough to do that same could continue to live in the same manner, and ther children afther thim, to inherit such conditions ov great wealth, why, then, ’twould be thrue as yez hav sthated. But divil a bit is that the case. But why not, are yez asking?
“Well, thin, jist be afther lookin’ back for a few years an’ callin’ to yez recollection ther b’ys who were wealthy thin, and where do yez foind thim or ther descindents now? An’, indade, thin, couldn’t yez spake ov many ov the b’ys who were ther poorest ov the lot a few years ago, an’ are now the richest ov thim? An’ don’t that prove to yez that changes are afther takin’ place containualy? The poor ov to-day may be the wealthy b’ys ov next wake, an’ the sons ov the b’ys who are now rejicin’ over ther good fortunes may be the b’ys who’ll hav the hard wurruk to do in ther future, do yez moind. An’, agin, me b’ys, as obsarvation shows us, more than noine-tinths ov the wealthy b’ys to-day were poor, or the sons ov poor wurrukin’ min wanst, which is an ividince that the opportunities for scrapin’ togither a hape ov wealth is not confoined to any won class ov min, at all, at all; but ivery divil a won ov yez has an aiqual opportunity wid all if yez only go ther right way to wurruk to git it, be jabers.