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Show TERHITO KIAL MINING LAW. V Lave nriv. .1 a .-..j-y of un .( imroJuJ by Mr. Jcimiitif in iln- 1-x i-lativri:uiiiu-ill rchihf to ili: ifiii, rt:i:onlinif mil o:--'---.-in uf uiiitinj? claims in llii-i Tciriioiy. Tin; tint ut In: bill wliii li pru ct il-tM tl.--t-1 1 etit ol' luiuiut- loi'niinii', in v.tfil.i Willi tin: Ui:t utVuinn "l-dl ill.: -nun' .,ul'(.:ct, hilL U ll:i-c.-aiily ilK'ur.irr:tt-cl ilK'ur.irr:tt-cl an llitj initial .-tuclioit tl a mining luW. '1 'lift .-ic:i:ouJ -ccti'jli Jlowiiia wi'llli Dl l! H lirrl, lint nl l-illl-T -ii-lu ul tic loilc, to It. iii.-ltidc-l in tin: W-Mlimi ul a claim, woiliink .-.juiM I'ulijy, a- U h tlic only burritir itain.st. litiitiuii. .lumpcm iumiaUy utta-- ii ;rior rirh local iun lute rally. Tliey a-oerlain lla; dip oft lie prouii.iioij UA'i, and fua,OH I lie r.i.1.: of the locati'in tuwuniM wliidi the lo-Ju trcri'N. Tlui Itiird s,'-iiun, n-Kulatiiik' ibo mumii-r of o.-'ting iiotiivri, u iiL-L'tary to nablo j.ros j.cchirs ami miner.1, to InmV wlii'tlicr tiiey aro irc.-paitii! on tin) prouiul of oaoli other. U' ili.-rf nr .similar nu-lutiuii.1 nu-lutiuii.1 liail bei-n rigidly culorccd hetc toloro in all of our mining dislrii-tn, it would Imve aav.'d a vat tl-jul of .a-it and prospect ivo I rouble. That portion of the fourth .clion which provides lr the ricgrei-alioii of I'laiun by agreement of locator.1", thiw avoiding the expense of ,i'i;iea-lion ,i'i;iea-lion by law, is awbo provision, as also the clauHC allowing tho work ncce.-sary to be done to maintain title to be ag-reutcd ag-reutcd upon a ninj-Io claim of the ae rie.-j. Our objections to the eoueludinu clause of this section ate tliat it confers con-fers title in perpetuity to a mine after improving it to a very limited extent. It frequently happens that men locaU mines, improvo them by a few days' work, perhups to the extent of tin liHy dollars required ly this seei'mn t( secure an indefeasible title, and then, failing to strike a satisfactory prospect; abandon their claim, and, it may be. limvn lb.! Territory. Subsequently. other parties may he snlialied that a claim thus left is a good one, but they are barred by hucIi a law as the one proposed from attempting its development, develop-ment, because of the possibility that il they did so, and dUoveted a rich mine, the oiiginal locators, or their heirs or aligns, might return and dis- possess them. The history of the Kmma mine is uu instance cxmlly in" point. If Mu' iit'iy-dollar guarantee of title had been ab-olulc, Mr. Woodman would not have iliseuveivd the Kiuma, and "it would he today in the exact condition in which he found it. A specitied time should be fixed within which a specitied amount of work mul he done, or else the mine be deemed abandoned. Wc also doubt the validity of such a law, although it might ho held valid in possessory actions, which are the only kind applicable in such cas.-s but waiving the validity of ii, we think il impolitic as it would give to a few men the power to blockade, at small cx peiu'e, the development of a large numU;r of mines. Section live requiring re-quiring all claims to he recorded in (he cilice of the county recorder, has the security of records to recommend it, and in a Territory thickly populated and divided into miiaII counties such a law would be a-lvUaM--, but in this Territory, even if it was not rendered Toid by tho congressional law and tho rulimis of the courts, il would work great hardship upon the miners. The expense of traveling a long distance to have claimn recorded, or to consult the records a frequent ueeessity) would bo ( very onerous, and for this reason, especially; es-pecially; wo think it inadvisable to en-1 net this section. What we have said j of the Utter clause of section four applies ap-plies to section sis. The rcmaming sjcIioih of the law arc very good, except as to tho clauses ; interwoven with the previous sections, the objections to which we have al-' ready stated. A statutory mining code requires to be well considered, as it involves a variety va-riety of intricate Ifgal questions. Congress Con-gress holds supreme jurisdiction over the title to the mines, but permits the State or Territory to regulate possessory posses-sory rights, and with mining property possession, in the absence of a patent, is all the title the miners have, and herein is the great difficulty in legislating legislat-ing upon the subject. We wilt hereafter, here-after, as the draft ol this bill is being-matured, being-matured, suggest some provisions which wc think ought to be incorporated incorpor-ated in a general milling law. |