40 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



In former times the English government sought to 

 hinder as much as possible all digging after gold, silver, 

 and other metals, so that the working hands of a 

 country still young might not be withdrawn from agri- 

 culture, the one true source of the peopling of a 

 country, of its trade, and of its wealth. The export of 

 unwrought as well as of wrought copper from England 

 to America was always a considerable article of trade, 

 and in discouraging American mines it was a subsidi- 

 ary purpose of the government to bolster that trade. 

 There were and still are few capitalists in the country 

 rich enough to furnish on speculation great outlays of 

 cash in the slow and sure establishment of works. This 

 side the mountains, (beyond them conditions are still 

 less known), sundry minerals have been found, par- 

 ticularly silver and copper, but sporadic and so an al- 

 lurement and at the same time a discouragement. 

 There was a lack of capable miners, for among the 

 English such are found only in Wales and Cornwall. 

 Vagrant Germans were employed, at times efficient and 

 again only pretenders ; who, as the case was, failed for 

 lack of support or aroused false hopes. Finally, the 

 greatest difficulty lay in the scarcity of laborers, and the 

 high wages in a country where the people, it must be 

 said, are not the most industrious ; moderate outlay 

 therefore seldom left the undertakers a profit. From 

 these several reasons taken together, it has happened 

 that no establishments, besides iron mines and fur- 

 naces, have kept active. The more general use of that 

 metal, and the greater ease in handling the raw 

 material, made sales and profits surer, notwithstanding 

 the fact that the English government admitted crude 

 American iron duty-free, in exchange for which was 

 taken wrought iron. 



