that
much the larger portion of this gold went into the private refinery,
and subsequently into the mint as " fine gold " from that
establishment. Again, the directors' reports do not designate
localities at the mint here prior to 1862, and up to that date all
domestic gold has been credited to California. At the Philadelphia
mint the first receipts of gold from Oregon were in 1853. As all gold
from that State was first shipped to this city, doubtless large amounts
went into the mint here, and that which did not was exported East under
the stamp of some San Francisco aSsayer and there credited to
California. From about 1864, and for a number of years subsequent
thereto, heavy shipments also set in from Idaho and Montana via Oregon,
ranging for quite a period from five to eight millions per annum. From
1862 to 1883 nearly $40,000,000 of domestic gold is credited at the
mint here to " other States and Territories "; and as the private
refinery and the other assay offices did a much larger business in the
aggregate than the mint, it is fair to presume that at least an equal
amount of this gold went into these establishments, and its identity
was thus destroyed before it reached the mints. I therefore consider it
a very low estimate to say $25,000,000 of this gold has been credited
to California through fine gold from private refineries and assayers'
imported bars. This, however, does not affect the accuracy of the
statement so far as the aggregate result is concerned, but only its
distribution.
In
the analysis I have been compelled to make of the exports of uncoined
domestic treasure, a suspicion I have long entertained has been fully
confirmed, and that is that a very considerable amount of the gold
contained in the produce of our silver-mines has been exported under
the silver valuation. This is clearly evident from the fact
that in quite a number of years the gold so contained, and not
accounted for by " gold parted " "from silver " at the mints and
private refineries, exceeds considerably the entire exports of
uncoined domestic gold.
