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Show MINING LAWS. I Interpretation of' t.'idr me mi ng by a, practical miner and engineer in the uumc of hundreds of other luincrs. 'Editors Herald: It seems to me that lucre is not a very great deal of misapprehension among mining men in regard to the exact meaning of the United Stales mining law of May, 1S7-. The misapprehension mis-apprehension of this law is only among lawyers, who are always, as everyone knows, making wrong right, and vice versa. I have very seldom met with a member of the bar who would honestly tell his client, "do not try that case, you are wronp ;" but they are always right if they talk alone. What is the use of a patent if a miner can follow the course of any lode in its strike outside the patent lines for l,o00 feet ? What confidence confi-dence can a capitalist have to invest his money in ono of two adjoining claims, if he has always to fear that the lede of his neighbor may run over his claim, as the course of lodes will vary in many cases and as in fuw cases only the croppiogs of such lodes aro visible above the surface ground, and as it would tako years and very great capital to ascertain the whole source of a lode for 1,500? Suppose a vein runs 500 feet north and south, then 500 feet north, sixty degrees east and after this north and south, and say Smith discovered the first part of the vein and Jones shortly alter the third part of the- same. Both claimants have oOO feet open space between their claims. They both apply for a patent alter having spent in developments develop-ments a considerable amount of money. Both are confident that they do not interfere with each other. Alter four or live years diligent labor , and all possible improvement, they ; find out that their lodes are one and that they have labored all the time under a mistake. Now, I do ask every ' sensible man, (no use to ask a lawyer; they of course would tell both Smith and Jones that they were right, and each for himself,) I say would it be reasonable that the United States congress should have intended to , decide that Smith should own the , whole 1,500 feet of the lode in its strike independent of his patent lines, and that Jones should loose all the fruit of his five years' hard labor and capital expended? If this is the case .what then is the use of a patent? ' what is the uso of slating the true source of his location? and what is the ( use for even marking the corners of , the ground on the surface? More, if Smith has patented his ground and paid for the same according accord-ing to his original location, and he : finds out that he may- claim and work bis lode, and Jones' original f ground, then I say the United States j will certainly lose an amount of min-eial min-eial land, which Jones would have bought, and which will now not he bought by anybody else, as Smith has 1 the principal use of the same ior nothing. No, 1 say, I certainly do not think that the United States congress in- : tended to harm Jones or anybody else . in his position like that, but that it was the intention to confinc!every body ! in following the course of a lode or vein in its strike to the boundary lines and in its dip, wherever it goes, for thousands of feet. MlN'IKG ESGISEEII. |