Some years ago the Russian government changed its policy, and began throwing open its mining works to private enterprise, exacting from the miners a liberal percentage of the gross amount of gold and silver which they had obtained. The result was, that under the stimulus of the enterprise,—in which private organizations will always excel the government,—the mining interest in Russia increased rapidly, and the government now obtains from its percentage a much larger annual revenue than it had obtained before from the gold.
The discoveries of gold in America date from a very early period. There were large quantities of gold and silver in the hands of the Peruvians and the Aztecs at the time of the famous expedition of Pizarro and Cortes. A story is told of one of the captured kings of Peru, who, in order to secure his ransom, agreed to bring together in two months gold and silver enough to fill his room. This would have been a sufficiently great undertaking had he been confined in an ordinary prison cell; but his captor, with an eye to business, had put him in a large apartment, suited to his royal state. The room is said to have been twenty-two feet long, seventeen feet wide, and nine feet high. Such was the richness of Peru in the precious metals, that the old king had no doubt of his ability to meet his contract; and he did fill the room in the time. When his work was finished, and the metal was melted, it was found that he had collected over fifteen millions of dollars—a very handsome sum to pay for his liberty, which he did not get after all.
DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AMERICA.
From the time of the discovery in America until 1520, there was more gold than silver exported to Europe; but about that time Mexico was conquered, and large quantities of silver were obtained. In the first three hundred years succeeding the discovery of America, the receipts of American gold were estimated at three and a half times the production of the old world, and those of silver at twelve times the amount of this metal produced outside of America. Gold was dug in America many hundreds of years ago. In some portions of Georgia the ruins of ancient huts and utensils were uncovered a few years ago in working some of the mines, and they are supposed to have belonged to a race of men now extinct, though it is contended by some persons that these gold works belonged to the period of Ferdinand de Soto. In the early part of this century gold mines were successfully worked in the Carolinas, Georgia, and other states; but latterly the yield from these mines has greatly declined, and the returns of gold are quite small.
The discoveries of gold in California in 1848, and in Australia three years later, are events in the history of the human race of more importance than the discoveries of Mexico and Peru in the days of Cortes and Pizarro. These discoveries have given a new impetus to the migratory population of the whole world, built up large cities and regions where before there was only a wilderness, carried civilization and commerce where they were never known before, brought together strange people of all nations, mingling them in harmony side by side, and have done more, perhaps, in the cause of universal peace and good will among all nations than any other discoveries of the present day.
In California, more than in any other part of America, people of all nations are assembled. In the streets of San Francisco one may see the synagogue, the church, and the pagoda. Christian and pagan, Jew and gentile, are mingled in the crowds that pass along the streets, and they are found laboring side by side to obtain the chief end of a large part of human existence—the possession of wealth.
ROMANTIC STORIES.
The discovery of gold in California, like many discoveries of gold and silver elsewhere, was not the work of science. It very often happens that those find who do not seek. A shepherd, a poor laborer, and even children are chosen by Nature to reveal to the world the treasures which she holds beneath the surface. It was not Columbus, nor Cortes, nor Pizarro who discovered the silver of South America, but an Indian hunter. The most famous silver mines of Peru were found in the same way. One day a shepherd, leading his flock to feed on the slopes of the Andes, lighted some bushes to prepare his frugal meal. A pebble heated by the flame attracted his attention through its brightness, which reflected the rays of the sun. He found the stone massive and heavy, and finally carried it to the mint at Lima, where it was tested, and proved to be silver. The poor shepherd through his discovery became a millionaire.
A hunter, climbing the rocks in search of game, pulled up a bush, and found pieces of silver imbedded in the earth which the roots retained. A child, playing one day in the valley near the cottage of a poor peasant in Russia, picked up a shining pebble, and brought it home. The pebble was found to be very heavy, and on examination proved to be of gold. Investigations followed this discovery, and an extensive gold field was opened.
The discovery of gold in California was accidental. Captain Sutter, who had seen many vicissitudes and adventures in Europe and the wilds of America, arrived in California in 1839; and two years later he obtained a grant of land, and built a fort, which soon became the refuge for people coming into the country. The pioneers of California all bear testimony to the generosity of Captain Sutter at the time when his fort was the capital, and he was king of the American colony in the valley of the Sacramento. The legislature of California a few years ago recognized his claims to the generosity of the people of the Pacific coast by granting him a small pension for the remainder of his life.