COMMERCE. 847 
Great numbers of poor men seek employment, but the capital 
is not here to pay them. The invested capital does not bear a 
proper proportion to the, population and labor. The lack of 
regular employment makes business unsteady, population un- 
settled, exposes the state to desertion at every ery of rich dig- 
gings at Cariboo or Salmon River, and prevents immigration, 
which we should by this time understand, is one of the great- 
est sources of wealth and prosperity. It is, or at least, previ- 
ous to the great rebellion, was 2 common assertion, that Cali- 
fornia was no place for a poor man; that it was far inferior to 
the younger states east of the Rocky Mountains, in the proba- 
bilities of steady employment, and the opportunities of grad- 
ually acquiring a capital of five or ten thousand dollars, such 
as a large proportion of those who were poor men in the states 
in the Mississippi Basin, a score of oe ago, have in that in- 
terval collected together. 
Is this complaint about the insecurity of the gold mines, as 
a sphere for the investment of capital, true? If so, why and 
how? Is it equally true about the quartz-mining, the placer- 
mining and ditching? Certainly it cannot be true in the 
same manner, for the three branches of industry are very dif 
ferent from one another. If it be true, is there a remedy ? 
These are questions which private enterprise has not solved, 
and for the solution of which a good government should make 
some provision. If we can but show how capital can be invested 
securely here, it will be invested, and population, industry, 
and the prosperity of residents and the state will swiftly follow. 
§ 244. Assurance.—The assurance of property against fire 
on land and against wreck at sea, has come to be an extensive 
branch of modern business. It is one of the chief channels 
through which capital runs to the great centres of trade. It 
is a legitimate, safe, and profitable investment. It is managed 
on careful principles. Allits operations are based on statistics, 
collected in the course of many years. The premiums are 
always set at such a figure that according to the ordinary 
course of human events, the company must realize a profit in 
