I have fulfilled the promise I made you a few weeks since, by
translating, I hope intelligibly, your remarks on the subject of the
Production, &c., of the Precious Metals, which I read first in the
August number of the “_Revue des Deux Mondes_,” and which have been
subsequently published, somewhat amplified, in the reports of the
“_Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques_.” Since the date of your
remarks, the production of gold in Australia has been greater than you
anticipated; recent reports estimate the amount shipped, or ready for
shipment, from thence, at not less than £8,000,000 sterling; at which
figure, I think, we may safely place the produce of 1852.
A gentleman who was with me a few days since, just arrived from
Victoria, told me that the gold diggings at Bathurst were nearly at an
end, and that he did not believe that any more gold would be shipped
from Sydney. Although Sydney is only one of the ports of Australia
from which gold has been shipped, this would appear to confirm your
views, that the first gatherings cannot fairly be assumed as data
on which to found estimates of future production: at the same time
when we hear of so great an increase of production in other parts of
Australia, I can hardly agree with you, that there is so little ground
for alarm as to a depreciation in the value of gold, in consequence
of these late discoveries. The effects of the production in Australia
can hardly be felt at present, considering that the export of English
gold coin has been, up to this date, I think, equal to the amount of
gold we have received thence; but when the sovereigns lately shipped
are found to be in excess of the wants of the community in Australia,
and are re-shipped to this country, together with the produce of the
gold workings between this and next summer, I cannot but believe that
the supply in the market of the world will be found in excess of the
demand, and that ultimately a considerable and general alteration in
prices will ensue.
I shall be very glad if I find that by this translation I have in
any way contributed to increase the circulation of your remarks in
this country. The subject is one of considerable interest, and I
hope that you will, at no very distant period, give us some further
observations, and let us know how far your first impressions have been
then influenced by events which may have occurred subsequently to the
present time.