164 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



great as they themselves have passed with not only 

 the necessaries, but the comforts and many of the 

 luxuries of life. Houses have been imported from 

 China, Chili, and the Atlantic States of the Union. 

 All the materials required in building cities and 

 towns have been added to the wants of a people 

 so numerous, destitute, and remote from the sources of 

 supply. 



" These wants will exist as long as immigration con 

 tinues to flow into the country, and labor employed in 

 collecting gold shall be more profitable than its appli 

 cation to agriculture, the mechanic arts, and the great 

 variety of pursuits which are fostered and sustained 

 in other civilized communities. 



" This may be shown by mentioning the prices of a 

 few articles. Last summer and autumn, lumber was 

 sold in San Francisco at $300 to $400 per thousand 

 feet. At Stockton and Sacramento City, at $500 to 

 600. At these prices, it could be made in the terri 

 tory, and many persons were engaged in the business. 

 I perceive, by recent accounts, that the price had 

 fallen at San Francisco to $75. At this price, it 

 cannot be made where labor is from $10 to $15 per 

 day; and the difficulties attending its manufacture 

 are much greater than in the Atlantic States. Lumber 

 can be delivered in our large lumber markets for an 

 average of the various qualities of $16, and freighted 

 to San Francisco for $24, making $40 per thousand 

 feet. This price would cause the manufacture of it in 

 California to be abandoned. We may add $20 per 

 thousand, to meet any increase of price in the article 

 itself, or in the freight, and the result would be the 

 same. 



" It is probable that the demand, for several years 



