The Placer herald., 1862-04-05
NUMBER 81.
The Government and the Mineral Lands.

The Government and the Mineral Lands.
Attorney General Bates, in an opinion as
to the best method of protecting the newly
discovered coal fields on the public lands Of
California, makes the following important
suggestions relative to making the mineral
lands Of the Government a source ofrevenue
to the Treasury:
do not know that the Government has
any we'll settled policy in relation to its
mineral lands. On some of them settlers
and intruders are allowed to enrich themse-
YES without hindrance or the exacton Of
tribute, whilst on other persons in possess.
ion have been restrained from working the
mines by process of injunction, obtained at
the instance Of the Government. In my
opinion, the time has come when the gov
ernment should adopt policy which, whilst
just and liberal to settlers and miners, will
turn a portion Of the stream of wealth which
flows from these mines into the National
Treasury. We are now struggling under
the financial burdens imposed by the work
of suppressng rebellion, and in searching
for new sources of revenue, it seems to me
that the rich mineral fields Of the public
lands in California and elsewhere should not
be overlooked The method Of extracting
revenue from these mineral lands, whether
by tax upon the production or reservation
Of part thereof, or by lease of the lands
AS well rs tie amount Of revenue to be thus
derived, are questions for the consideration
of Congress. Examples Of the manner Of
dealing with public lands containing miner.
ais, was afforded by the act Of ll,h July,
lS45 70 statute 37,) which authorizes the
the President to sell certain reserved lands
supposed to contain lead ore; and the act of
March l, ls47, 20 statute l46) to provide for
sale of mineral lands in the State of Michi.
gan. Whether these statements furnish
suitable precedents for legislative action in
relation to tbs gold fields Of the Pacific
States and intervening territory, will be for
Congress to decide; as also whether the
newly discovered coal fields of California
shall be embraced within such legislation.
MORE OF THE ERupTIoN OF MoUNr VEsU--
vIUs-A whirlpool, some 800 feet in diam.
eter has been formed in the Tore del Greco.
10y the late eruption Of Mount Vesuvius I.
The sounding gave 20 fatboms of water, and
the plummet brought up sand and sulphur.
fIOIt pdIt VI luo circumference tAlI, so
to call it, about 60 feet in width, runs away
IN the direction Of Sorrento, and is of a.
beautiful green color. All the water here
was tepid, haG strong suIphurous smell, and
many fish have been destroyed. The erup.
ton Of Vesuvius appears to he increasing at
latest dates instead of snbsiding. There are
IL crate's above Tore del Greco, all emit
ting sulphurous vapors, and the largest is
from 70 to 80 feet deep and 100 feet wide.
From this point, after heavy rumblings and
heaving of the surface, the ground was split
open, and frey tissure WAS made almost to
the outskirts of the city, through which the
dread unseen power passed, opening the
streets and laying bare some parts Of the
former buried town, and then running off.
into the sea- Strangers were going from all
parts Of Europe to Naples to behold Vesuvi-.
us in its glorious burning and devastating
anger.