It is a mere pushing out of boundary lines, under the political
aggression of the South.
Even Benton, cheering the departing thousands Westward, grumbles
in the Senate of the United States, on January 26, 1840. As the
official news of the gold discoveries is imparted, the wise senators
are blind in the sunlight of this prosperity. "I regret that we
have these mines in California," Benton says; "but they are there,
and I am in favor of getting rid of them as soon as possible." Wise
senator!
Neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet is he. He cannot
see that these slighted mines in the future will be the means of
sustaining our country's credit in a great war. This gold and silver
will insure the construction of the overland railroads. The West
and Northwest, sealed to the Union by bands of steel, will be the
mainstay of the land. They will equalize a broader, grander Union
than he ever dreamed of.
Benton little thinks he has found the real solution of the wearying
strife of North and South. Turning the surplus population of these
bitterly opposed sections to the unpeopled West solves the problem.
His son-in-law, Governor Fremont, has been a future peacemaker
as well as a bold pathfinder.
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