COMMERCE. 337 



lately failed it was asserted that they had paid one hundred 

 and eighty thousand dollars of interest. It is a general prac- 

 tice among farmers to borrow money, and, if before harvest, 

 give a mortgage on the crops ; if after harvest, store the grain 

 in the lender's warehouse as security. One of the most profit- 

 able branches of business in the state is " grain commission." 

 The commission merchant has a quantity of ready money 

 which he loans to the needy farmer, who stores his grain with 

 the lender, and the latter charges about two per cent, a month 

 for the money, a dollar a ton per month for storage, and two 

 per cent, commission for selling. 



§ 241. Spect.dati07i in Land. — Speculation in land is one of 

 the most important branches of business in the United States, 

 and the increase in the value of land has been one of the main 

 sources of the wealth of the country. The American farmer 

 going into a new district, expects to purchase his land at a low 

 j^rice and see it gradually rise in value, until it makes him, if 

 not wealthy, at least comfortable. Lands in Illinois which, 

 twelve years ago, were to be obtained from the government 

 at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, are now worth 

 thirty and forty dollars per acre ; and a similar remark will 

 apply to most of the land in the Western states, though the 

 average increase has not been so great. This increase has been 

 one of the greatest inducements to the rapid settlement of the 

 ^Mississippi Valley. Unfortunately, California has not been per- 

 mitted to derive much benefit from this source of wealth. The 

 fertile valleys near the coast had been granted away in large 

 ranches by the Mexican government, and the American gov- 

 ernment refuses to sell the land in the mineral districts. 



It appears to me a matter of the utmost importance to the 

 welfare of California, that the land in the mineral districts 

 should be sold. Xot more than one acre in forty within 

 the limits of the mineral region is now occupied for mining 

 purposes, and not more than one acre in ten will ever be 

 worked. 



§ 242. iVb Paper 3fop.ey. — There is no paper money in Cali- 

 15 



