, 1865-12-15
NUMBER o.s.'i
Mine Lepislation.


General lang Code Nesded-M Mining Trilainals
and Burcau ard Collage Of Mines required, etc.
| In The last issue of the AmerIea,r Hsiso N.
der we alluded to the growing feeling ia favor
( ott Miners Conventions, and the, necessity Of
niue inspection, arising from the careless man
/ ner 10 which mines are generally worked We
1 desire in this article TO suggest the need of a
Bureau Of Mines with headquarters at the city
\ Of Washington. Its duties would be manv aud
onerous-7not toe least of which should be the
compilation aud digest Of the many district
mining laws and the dNWlhg up Of a General
Mining Code for Congressional action thereon.
] If that code could DE made to conform In It's
prominent features 20 the Spanish mining code
/ It would be very neutrality-suspicious. in the
method and manner of locating" silver. gold
and copper veins. By the system adopted in
most Of our silver and gold bearing districts,
/ the miner " locates so many feet-lO0 gener-
| ally-Rlong the line or supposed Rpe of the VENT
and claims that lode for that distance with all
its dips, spuls and angles) as far down as it goes
Here is the germ Of an evil that prevents a great
deal Of capital from investing in American
mines, and discourages many prospector from
/ labors of discovery. Under this sysem, Il
/ Smith is working rich lode aud Jones 6nds an
other rich vein near by, Smith claims the latter
as his property, declaring that it isR sput or On.
! gle of his lode Litigation ensues, and in many
cases the best man is he who has the most
money, and can bring the largest number Of ex-1
| perts upon the witness stand. We're the Span
sh plan ptcd-whereby the denomesr is al
! lowed a stated surface measurement from which
imaginary but easily determinable lines drop
vertically into the earth-hOw much better it
would be both for the pockets and feelings Of
the4uiners and the development of the country's
| mineral resources! In this case if one company
| is suspected of trespassing on the grounds Of
/ another, statement. of the fact is madg~4p the
Mining Judge who orders a survey to be made
and determines accordingly. The complaint is
laid, survey made and decision given frequently
within one day and the expenses are very trfing.
How different with US. We have known hun
| dreds of thousands of dollars to be spent
1 in such a matter in the State Of Nevada-as
/ for instance in the Ophir against Burning Nos
| COW. 1t will te hard, we admit, to change the
| long settled notions Of American miners in re-
gard to this matter, but by truthfully placing
before them the many great advantages to be
] gained by adopting the good features of the
| Spanish code, they will ultimately be brought
to the same earnest conviction that animates US.
! The chief opposition to such measure would
| arise from the legal fraternity who naturally
would struggle hard with most ingenious soph-
| istries to continue the present system which
| brings into their pockets plethora of wealth
but if the greatest good to the greatest num-
/ Der is sound axiom, and if il is true that
/ e" majorihes should rule, then may we not hope
! that the advocates OF litigation Under the pres
eut rotten system will be routed horse, foot and
/ dragoon? To sum up in brief the work that in
our Judgment is needed ,f ~
FirSt-A Mining Bnreau at Washington City.
/ Second-A General American Mining Con-
gress to meet once in every five or ten years at
Washington. ....r-- .r.-
| Third-Statc and Territorial mining Con-
| crosses to meet biennially or annually
| Fourth-State and Territorial mine Inspectors
and Surveyors General.
Fi,th-A United States Inspector and Sur
veyor General. .......
Sixth-Miuing Courts, District and Supreme,
local aud general, for speedy determination of
causes. .- .-. -. -.,--.- .,.-, -.--a ,..+-
Seyentb-The establishmentof of United States
College of Mines, for grataitous instructions at
government expense at the Military and Naval
! Colleges.
As all this will he for the direct beneft of the
mines a small direct tax might be levied to sus-
tain the College and pay the expenses of the
Bureau and General Mining Congress. Thedn-
spectors aud Surveyors General and the Courts
might be paid in fees Congress we hope will
at an early day authorize some such system. Of
organizations rs we have indicated, and en-
power the Mining Bureau to draw up such a code
of mining laws as is needed for the entire eoun-
try The whole system from the lowest to the
highest officials, should closely follow that which
Government of the United States We shah re-
sumo this interesting topic at some future time.
-HlHing IgdsE. ASA.
-~-l,y-~--L L-.o.-.sl -. ga. .1Ef
WHO KrLtED SToSEwALL JAcKsoy.---The Rsb,
els have epdeavored to create the impression
that StOnewall JACKSON was accidently shot by
his own men. The matter however seems to
be put at rest by a letter from Adjutant- General
schouler, of Massachusetts, quoting first pas
I sage from his annual report for 1868, PIP $3.50,
as follows: . ............. ..f. ..r
al will be seen from the following narrative
of the regiment that the lst Massachusetts had a
very advanced position in the front on the Plank
Road, in the battle Of Charlottesville; SO far,
indeed that two or three Rebels officers came
down, supposing it to be a part of their own
army They were taken prisoners and sent to
the rear Colonel Mclaughlin relates this cir
eumslapce. go la .......f- ..,ari.,,..bg-,sjd
The regiment being in that position, Colonel
! McLAughlin's report says: lSJ 1dj bGt Q
.tAt 81 o'clock P. N. a cavalcade Of dozen
/ horseuren drove down the Plank Road, when my
men opened fire upon them; they irnHIediafely
! turned around and rode furiously back up tho
| road From the official report OF the Rebel
| General Lee am led to believeihat General
Stonewall jackson formed one of the cavalcade,
! and that be was killed by my men" -1' PEI
II is settled therefore, that on the evening
! when ia ck son was killed, and at the exact time
when he was killed, the fst Massachusetts Regi-
ment occupied position near the place where
he was killed, and such position that several
Rebel officers thought il to- be a, Rebel regiment.
To the regiment in that position and at that
time rode out cavaleade Of Rebel hotsemen,
received volley, and retrfatediin just the nan
ner jackson aud his party rode out, and were
fred on, and retreated. Il is scarcely possible
to doubt that the ecayalcade which me !'tl Aas-
/ sachusetts fred into was Jackson and his STAT,
and that it was from this regiment, and-not isom
his own men, that the Rebel leader receiYedh his
death wound. - d. @. --.. ...
A Louisiana paper declares bat the town
Of Natcbitoches has feas that can ,jnmp
higher, auicl er, bite 6ardeF, opttddOdge, and,
run faster than any other fess.1 They are