The Placer herald. [volume] (Auburn, Placer County, Calif.) 1855-1991, 1868-08-29
SARGENTS DEFENDERS.

judging from the way the author speaks of
the friends and enemies of the bill in Con.
gress. The author says:
by continually appealing to party pledges
the bill had been forced through both houses.
The opposition 10 it came largely from the Dem
ocratic members, but was not confined to them.
If the House was induced to nOrf-concur in the
amendments, there was danger of losing the bill,
etc. Under these circumstances, SO near the
close Of the session. the bill was aWOWed to pass
with some impcrfections, it is true, &c
Who could know all these inside matters
but Mr.. Sargent himself! Very well. No
one has better right to defend Mr.. Sargent
than Mr.. Sargent himself.
We said in our last issue that Mr.. Sargent
advocated and voted for bill granting the
alternate sections of public lands on strip
twenty miles wide, and about one hundred
and forty miles long, and that when said
odd sections contained minerals, the timber
thereon was granted TO the railroad, and ia
ken away from the miner, every word of
which is true. Mr.. Sargent wac member
Of the committee on the Pacific Railroad,
and when Campbell, the Chairman, reported
the bill, with the Senate amendments, one of
which was that granting the timber on the
mineral lands, be said: II now report back
the bill, and beg leave to say that the CON-
mittee have instructed me to move a concur
renee in all the amendments of the Senate"
Here we find Mr.. Sargent as one of the
committee instrucling the Chairman to ask
the House to concur 10 this very Senate
amend menl. granting the timber on the
mineral odd sections, and on demand for
The ayes and nays he voted for this same
amendment.
Now with more than three fourtbs of both
Houses voting for the bill, and twenlydhree
days before adjournment, how easy would it
have been to have concurred 10 all the other
amendments, and to have let this timber
grant gone TO committee of conference,
where it.could have been reported against,
and the report been adopted without oppo
sition. This every sensible man knows, and
especially those that have bad any legsla.
tive experience. Cradlebaugh's amendment;
was as foIlows:-
Excepting from said conveyance. all minerals
in the lands conveyed, and reservng to the public
the right to prospect therein for minerals and the
working OF the mines thereon; the owner Of the
lands to be compensated for such injury as may
be done to his improvements thereon. or to his
nSi1 sod lfur unIc ,-bio oh
penSation shall be assessed by jury. in such man
ner rs may be provided by law, and shall be paid
ny the person or persons doing said injury
Page 1909, Congressional Globe.
Here Cradebaugh proposed to reserve the
minerals in the lands granted to the railroad
under such limitations and restrictions as
could have worked hardship to no one,
and leaving it to such future legislation as
would be just and equitable, but Sargent OPP
posed made speech against it, and it
was beaten. But says the writer for the
Uniom This exception of mineral lands
was deemed by Sargent as better than a
mere exception Of 'minerals''
We explained in our first article what the
effect of simply excepting mineral lands from
the grant amounted to.
The rules and regulations of the General
Land Office in this regard are in substance
lhese The Surveyor General surveys the
lands and returns the Township Plats and
if the miner fails, within ninety days, TO file
aifidavits of two persons, both swearing TO
the fact, that each forty acres contains val
liable mines, and are more valuable for mi
ming than agricultural purposes, then the
lands are certified over to the company, and
lands, mineral aud timber, are gone forever.
But if the miner does file the affidavits with
in the ninety days, then the company takes
the timber. When, therefore, Sargent pre-,
ferred to reserve the mineral lands, be re-
served nothing but what was developed and
paying, and not even those, unless the
miner was quick enough with his atlida'
wits, but he reserved no undeveloped mineral
lands. The very hour the lands are patent
ed to the company, all the minerals they
contain 60 to the company, and no miner
ever dare touch them, though they may
contain mines as rich as the Comstock
ledge, and Sargent, as lawyer, must have
known that this is the decision of all our
Courts, when he made the speech against the
Cradlcbaugh amendment.
This same writer for the Union says, the
miners have not vet been robbed Of the tim
Der on their claims. This we also explained
in our first article, and will now only say {:
The Railroad Company is not green enough
BILE grant Of mines, timber, and lands, until
it has obtained its patents for the whole line
of the road. 1t has got too good thing,
| thrnuoh G.rOautss eNoooh