74 THE CALIFORNIA 



hend that the low price of labor is in no small degree 

 accountable for this ; and therefore the fact that the low 

 price of labor among those nations who will be our chief 

 competitors in the production of silk will make that 

 production more profitable to us. 



Is it not a fact that in England and our own country, 

 where labor is high, the capitalist is enabled to live well 

 and rapidly increase his means ; while in India, France, 

 and Italy, where labor is low, the very reverse of this 

 is the fact ; the accumulation of wealth is very slow ? 

 What do we care for the competition of India or the 

 nations along the Baltic in maritime trade ; while that 

 of England, where labor is nearly as high as in our own 

 country, we fear. 



The whaling trade furnishes a striking evidence on 

 this subject. This trade is open to the whole world ; 

 yet with all the low prices of labor, even among power- 

 ful and enlightened nations, this trade with us has con- 

 stantly increased, and our merchants have grown rich 

 on the profits of their ships, while with them it has uni- 

 formly declined, and the proprietors of the sluggish 

 ships of the North of Europe are scarcely able to live. 



But again. How can the price of labor operate to 

 our disadvantage when the silk-growing countries of 

 Europe generally, either owing to their negligence or 

 their climate, are in all cases obliged to make large de- 

 ductions for disease and death among their silkworms ; 

 while our attention, and the balmy nature of our climate, 

 render it unnecessary for us to make any such deduc- 

 tions. Some writers assert that even fifty per cent, is a 



