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Show UHPATOmD cms SUBJECT 10 TMl Possessory Rights of Locator Loca-tor Subject to Levy, According Ac-cording to Decision. Taxation of mining claims has commonly com-monly been assumed not to be permissible until the title had passed from the United States to an individual, says the Mining a nd Sclent If ic Pre.ss. Tills opinion is so widespread, and the failure to assess unpatented un-patented claims for purposes of taxation has been so nearly universal, as to give the sanction of custom to such exemption. exemp-tion. Neve ri heir s, I hp laws of Ca 11 -fornla. and of some other western states ha ve taken a ccmmt of the possibility of deriving revenue from t his source, and the possessory right of the locator is made amenable to a lax demand. Cases have been decided by the supreme rourts of the United states Hnd of the state of California holding that the possessory interest in-terest in public mineral lands acquired by location is subject to taxation by the state and lis municipal subdivisions as real property. Only this possessory interest in-terest can be sold under a tax sale, and the purchaser must perform the annual labor, otherwise the ground is again open for location. The same ruling applies to quarries a nd to timber beloncring to individuals in-dividuals or corporations on the lands of the United States. |