Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/136

 no ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Legislators Thousands of wagons, drays, carts, and foot passengers pursued a tedious journey overland, and thousands of men went to Victoria by sea. The Government, to stay the outflow, offered ;^i,ooo for the discovery of a payable goldfield in South Australia, and this amount was supplemented by a guarantee of jCsoo by private subscription, but the reports of fabulous discoveries were difficult to withstand, and the "gold mania" increased every month. The city suffered as acutely as the country ; the business of tradesmen dwindled away until they closed their doors and joined the gold seekers. Mercantile depression was intense, and " Hindley Street in 185 1," writes Mr. H. Hussey, "saw a repetition of the state of things that had obtained 10 years before, the street being largely deserted. Upwards of 50 shops in this thoroughfare alone were closed, and many private houses were without tenants, as it was often the case that two families whose bread-winners had gone to the diggings would occupy one house instead of two." The Banks were "drained of coin by the numbers who had left the Province," the hands employed at the Burra Burra copper mines "were reduced from 1,042 to 366," Government officers resigned, the police force by diminution in numbers became disorganised, and wives and families were dependent on the Destitute Board for subsistence. The withdrawal of specie "involved the necessity on the part of the Banks of restricting their note circulation, and of diminishing their discounts of commercial bills, which had the effect of paralysing trade, and left the already glutted markets without purchasers for their commodities." It was apprehended that this egress would permanently rob the Province of a large portion of its population, but such was not the case. Indeed, by attracting hundreds of thousands of people to Australia the Victorian goldfields were invaluable, apart altogether from the wealth which the old settlers obtained. The land laws of Victoria were not sufficiently liberal to hold the great mass, and South Australia, as well as other colonies, gained an accession of population. By the beginning of 1852 numbers of people were returning to Adelaide possessed of considerable quantities of rough gold which, however, could not be accepted as a general mercantile tender. It is said that in two weeks in February about ^16,000 worth of the metal found its way to Adelaide, quite a large number of South Australians being among the lucky diggers. Proposals were made for utilising this gold as a circulating medium to overcome the financial congestion, and Mr. George Tinline, Manager of the Bank of South Australia, suggested that the metal should be assayed and moulded into stamped ingots of a fixed value. A memorial was presented to Governor Young, and a special session of the Legislative Council was summoned. A Bullion Bill was introduced, passed all its readings, and received the Governor's assent on the same day, and made "gold assayed and cast into ingots by a Government assayer a legal tender, at the rate of ^3 los. per ounce." The Banks were authorised to issue new notes against this gold, and to pay for the notes with the gold at the rate stated. " Sir Henry Young," writes Stow, "as.sumed great responsibility in assenting to this Bullion Act, as it was called, for it was opposed to the currency laws of the British Empire, and repugnant to Imperial legislation ; but he hazarded his own position to save the Colony