i85a 



GOLD IN CANADA. 



inorial has, for some time past, engaged bis Excelleucy's most 

 anxious consideration, and tliat liis Excellency lias ah-eady taken 

 the necessary measures to pre\eut, if possible, the proposed dis- 

 mantling of the Observatorj', by the Imperial authorities, at the 

 end of next month." [See March No. Can. Jour.] 



It is now our "pleasing duty to announce that the very liberal 

 sum of two thousands poimds has been voted by the Provincial 

 Parliament for the reorganization and temporary maintenance of 

 the Scientific Observatory at Toronto. 



The prominent part taken by his Excellency the Governor 

 General in securing the maintenance of an Observator}-, which 

 has already won for itself an American and European fame under 

 the admirable management of its late accomplished Director, will 

 secure a grateful acknowledgment from all interested in the pro- 

 gress of scientific enquiries in this Proxance. We shall return to 

 this subject in the next number of the Journal. 



Gold in Canada. 



The extraordinary discoveries of Gold in California and 

 Australia during the last four years, have so absorbed the 

 attention of the public, that announcements, however important 

 and advantageous, of the existence of other less dazzling but 

 perhaps far more useful Mineral Deposits, have hitherto failed to 

 excite that amount of public and private enterprize which, during 

 other less Golden periods, would have stimulated to active 

 exertion. 



We shall not, probably, greatly err, if we venture to express 

 the opinion that traces of a healthy reaction are now distinctly 

 discernable in the Golden Fever of the day, lately so prevalent 

 among classes in the enjoyment of permanent and remunerati\-e 

 industry. 



The excessive toil and continued privation required on the 

 part of the Gold Digger, — not always with adequate results, — 

 coupled with the well-ascertained fact, that those who continue 

 to occupy themselves in the regular routine of established industry, 

 more generally accumulate a sufficiency for independence and 

 comfort, are happily arresting that unquiet spirit of adventure 

 which has been so greatly aroused during late years. 



We have elsewhere drawn attention to the admirable letter of 

 Mr. Miliett, on the Minei-al Wealth of Nova Scotia. Coal, Iron, 

 Copper, Barytes, and exquisite Marbles, constitute a noble Gold 

 Field for our sister Pro\ince; and such ti-easures, with the 

 exception of Coal, exist, too, in Canada East and West, inde- 

 pendently of the more dazzling Metal to which we shall now 

 call attention. Let us, however, suppose for a moment that a 

 widely distributed auriferous soi', rivalling in richness the famed 

 fields of Australia, were to be brought to light, and without due 

 preparation and precaution on the part of the Provincial 

 Government, thrown open to the cupidity of those uneducated 

 masses now crowding into the country. What eflFect would such 

 a discovery have upon the construction of the vast system of 

 Railways in progress or in contemplation throughout the 



Province? What difficulties would soon arise with our Gold 

 worshijjping and not over scrupulous or tractable neighbours ! 

 What a sudden and destructive check would the agricultural 

 industry of the country receive, and all other branches dependant 

 upon that expanding source of our present unexampled prosperity ! 

 What a flood of vice and crime would rush in to disturb, with 

 its unhallowed and demoralizing influences, the quiet pursuit of 

 intellectual and moral wealth, which now bcgii:s to display itself 

 so vigorously amongst us! Hei'e and there, throughout Western 

 Canada, we find a painful solution of the question, in the case 

 of a few misguiding or misguided individuals. Digging for Gold 

 is a positive fact in various parts of Canada West. Delving 

 sixty feet deep through the rich and teeming clays of the Valley 

 of the Thames, and in the black bituminous shales below the 

 veritable Golden Field (of Grain), the discoveiy of a few 

 glittering lumps of Iron Pyrites is enough, in these days of 

 Golden Fevei-, to turn men from remunerating Industry to waste 

 their means in the hopeless search for Gold where no Gold 

 exists. If digging for Gold under such unfavourable conditions 

 be sufficient to secure the present ruin of a few, and to produce 

 much local excitement, what might one expect if a rich auriferous 

 soil in a thinly settled district were suddenly revealed to the 

 eager and unfettered grasp of the uneducated labour of the 

 country ? 



But does Gold really exist in Canada ? Is it found in quantity 

 likely to prove remunerative ? To both of these questions we think 

 we may answer in the affirmative with certainty. We may also 

 hint to our Western friends, who are anxiously searching their 

 own and their neighbours farms for the precious Metal, that the 

 region which may truly be called Golden lies some hundred miles 

 to the East and North-East of Western Canada. There ajjpears 

 no longer to exist any doubt that Gold is distributed over veiy 

 considerable areas in Canada East, and in sufficient abundance 

 to cause it to become a source of some anxiety to many interested 

 in the progress of our Public Works and the general Industry of 

 the Provinces. 



We \vrite, however, in the firm belief that precautionary 

 measures are in progress, under the sanction of the Provincial 

 Government, which will convert what would otherwise be a 

 lamentable discovery, into a source of real advantage and profit 

 to the country at large. 



We have for some time past been aware of the existence of one 

 powerful Association, — embracing some of the most distinguished 

 individuals in the Provinces, — frame.l for the purpose of working 

 a portion of the recently discovered Gold Fields on the Wage 

 system, abjuring the Leasing system: a system at once ruinous 

 to the labourer and destructive to order and morality. 



We entertain and venture to express the opinion that whatever 

 may be the extent of the Gold deposits in Eastern Canada, it is 

 of the utmost importance that all Mining operations should be 

 conducted systematically, — should be under Government super- 

 vision, — and that labour should not be dependent upon the 

 success of individual exertions, but be in strict subordination to 

 the Wage system. 



