CHAPTER III.
SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA.
Having looked into the financial condition of California, let us now briefly consider the moral and religious state of its society, We know that we are undertaking an ungrateful and painful task—that we shall awaken the animosity of those who have an interest in enticing settlers to this golden region—that we shall provoke contradiction, and probably excite controversy; but we beseech Heaven to pardon us for speaking the truth, and challenge our antagonists to disprove our statements.
We cannot, indeed, pretend to disclose all the terrible iniquity of that society in the compass of a single chapter—the theme is too extensive, the facts too revolting. It requires space to unfold the scroll which records such damning facts—it needs time for the mind to become sufficiently reconciled to the hideous details, to be able to listen to them without impatience or disgust. We can, at present, do no more than open the way for a fuller exposition of the subject in subsequent chapters. Suffice it to say that we know of no country in which there is so much corruption, villainy, outlawry, intemperance, licentiousness, and every variety of crime, folly and meanness. Words fail us to express the shameful depravity and unexampled turpitude of California society.
How much of this is attributable to the metal which attracts the population, we leave others to determine. One thing, however, is certain; mining districts do not generally enjoy a very enviable reputation in any part of the world. Gold, especially, is thought to be so easily accessible, and the return of the miner’s labor is so immediately visible, that it has ever attracted the most unthrifty and dissolute. Men who could not be induced to work at any thing else, will spend days and weeks delving for the precious bane, hoping against hope, and laboring with an eager energy which nothing else can excite, and almost any thing else would more surely reward. Hence, the immediate neighborhood of a gold-mine is too liable to be a sink for all the idleness and depravity of the surrounding country. How these evils are multiplied by the absence of individual proprietorship in the land, and by the remoteness of a mining district from the beneficial restraints of public opinion, any one who gives a moment’s consideration to the subject will perceive.
The exclusive devotion of labor to this one pursuit is another cause of increased laxity of morals. In the Atlantic States, gold-mining is only a branch of industry, and not a very important one, compared with the other pursuits of the population; but in California it is the chief and almost the only occupation of the inhabitants of the mining districts; so that while, in the former place, the general virtue of the people keeps in check the particular vices of the miner, in the latter, the good intentions of the few are overruled and stifled by the vices of the many.
We must not, however, commit the mistake of supposing that all the depravity of California is attributable to the nature of its industrial pursuits. This is but one of the elements which assist in producing the deplorable state of affairs under consideration. There are others which spring from the character of the people, and the circumstances which have brought them together.
It must be borne in mind that all the adventurers to this country have come for the express purpose of making money, and that to this end every other consideration is sacrificed. They have come to “put money in their purses,� and as a large majority of them are of a class who are rarely troubled by any qualms of conscience, they are determined to do it at all hazards. Mammon is their god, and they will worship him.
If it be deemed desirable to make further inquiries into this state of things, it is only necessary to philosophize a little upon the physical structure of society. A single glance at it will suffice to convince the most superficial observer that its ingredients cannot be compounded into a harmonious, perfect and complete whole. Will a panther from America, a bear from Europe, a tiger from Asia, and a lion from Africa, organize in peace and good feeling around the body of a fresh slain deer? If not, will the Americans, English, French, Germans, Chinese, Indians, Negroes, and half-breeds, greet each other cordially over a gold mine? These are problems which those who have leisure may solve as their reason dictates. In the present case, it is more my province to relate the condition of things, than to account for their existence; yet, in preparing statements upon a variety of intricate subjects, owing sometimes to the difficulty of making one’s self understood, it is both consistent and proper that, now and then, a few remarks in the way of explanation should be given.
Another very important cause of this wild excitement, degeneracy, dissipation, and deplorable condition of affairs, may be found in the disproportion of the sexes—in the scarcity of women. At present, there is only about one woman to every ten or twelve men, and the result is what might be expected. The women are persecuted by the insulting attentions of the men, and too often fall victims to the arts of their seducers. Nowhere is the sanctity of the domestic hearth so ruthlessly violated as in California. For proof of this, we need look no further than the records of the courts of San Francisco, which show that, in the course of a single week, no less than ten divorces had been granted, while, during the same time, only two marriages had been solemnized!
Not long since, an English gentleman, of whom myself and others had purchased some real estate in this city, came to me, requesting that, inasmuch as his wife had left him the day before, we would not let her have any money on his account. After finishing his business instructions, he gave us the following history. Listen to it. Said he: “Four years ago, myself and wife, and six other men with their wives, came together in one vessel to this country. Shortly after our arrival, family feuds and jealousies became rife in the domestic circle of one of the parties. The man and his wife separated. Soon their example was followed by another couple, and another, and so on, until all the marriage ties of our company were broken, except those that happily existed between myself and wife. Left alone thus, and having been true to each other so long, and through so many opposing circumstances, I cherished the hope that we might remain together, and be true to the end. But, alas! my fond thoughts and anticipations have proved a sickly dream. My hopes have been blasted, my happiness wrecked, and my children disgraced and deserted. My wife, whom I loved and held dearer than all else on earth, the partner of my life, has been basely seduced. The last link that bound the remnant of our seven families together has been severed, and the consequence is, we are a disbanded and disreputable people. Cursed be the day and the incentive that started me to this damnable country!� These were his own words, almost verbatim; and he uttered them as if partly speaking to himself, and partly addressing me.