The Placer herald., 1872-01-06
MINERAL or AGRICULTURAL.

We have stated facts in previous articles
justifying the order of Commissione. Drum
mond declaring, for the present, all lands in
the mineral belt or foothills of California
mineral. The Commissioner had not the
facts that we have stated before him when
he issued the orde.. He prelicated the or
der on the fact that applications were being
made for mines of vast extent and richness,
with tens of thousands Of dollars worth Of
improvements and machinery on them, To-
Gated on these very lands returned TO him as
agricultural lands" The order, we repeat,
does work temporarily great hardship on
the agricultural settler, but at the same time
the exigences demanded it and demand its
continuance until some means are devised to
definitely and finally segregate the mineral
from the mineral lands in this mineral
belt. We indicated in our last week arti-
Gle what, in our judgment should be the
policy of the Government on this question,
at this time. A communicated article in the
Stripes takes about the view of the case
that we do, though very bitter on the land
officials at Washington. The writer Of that
article doubts the practicability of our sug-
gestion for more land Offices in the mining
districts, and suggests that Justices Of the
Peace be authorized to take and report testi-
mony on all land questions in their neghbor-
hoods. This the Government will not do
will not admit an affidavit Of the printing or
the posting of a notice by these local officers.
The Government has, and will, adhere to
the policy of disposing of its public lands by
and through its own officials only. The
question to be solved is, as to the cheapest,
most expeditions and accurate way to deter
mine what legal subdivision of every section
of land in this foot-hill belt is mineral in
character above its value for any other pur-
pose TO accomplish this our delegation in
Congress should work for one of the follow
ing methods: A land Office should be estab-
lished at some central point in each of the
large mining counties, and for the lesser
counties two or three could be made one dis
trict This would enable applicants for land,
either mineral or agricultural and contest
ants, to make all the proofs at small expense
without travelling hundreds of miles with
witnesses, that now deters them from at
tempting to purchase. Or, the mineral bell
should be divided into convenient sized dis
ricts and commissioner appointed for each
whose duty it should be to take testimony
and decide as to the mineral or non-mnera
character of every legal subdivision of public
land in the district and report the same t'
the Commissioner of the general land Office
aggrieved parties to appeal within specified
time. This testimony should be taken by
Congressional townships, after due notice
given to the people residing in the specified
township, of the day and place of takins
such testimony, the place being of cours,
the nearest business point to the people o
the designated township. The decision thu
had, where no appeal is taken, and after ap
proval by the general land office, to be final
and to be the guide to local land officers il
selling to pre-emptors or mining applicants
all lands without further proof or expense
except as to the parties in the legal occu
pancy of the land. BY this mode one OF
two days, or at most a week, would decide
the character of every 40 acre tract of land
in township of %, ,040 acres The entire
expense of commissioner, and clerk to take
the testimony down, would cost the Gov.
eminent not 10 exceed one-half cent per acre
whereas it now costs the settler over thirty
cents per acre to make this same proof at dis
tant land offices, under the cumbersome
and onerous rules now applying, and in some
cases more than the Government price OF
the land. In mining cases it costs the appli-
cants on an average more than five dollars
to one the Government gets. Let our dele
CATION in Congress strive to secure legislation
such as we have above indicated, and both
the worthy farmer and miner will be satisfied
the country prosper anu the Government be
gamer in money, property and population.
But for this order one half of all the mines
and mining land in this county-the odd
sectons--woud in few days have passed
out of the hands of the occupants and Gov
enment ownership forever; and we maintain
that the order should not be revoked or
changed until the question of the mineral or
non-mneral character of the land has been
determined by some such mode as we have
above suggested, and by competent author
ity. The Legislation to effect this is simple
the mode of carrying it out cheap and expe-
ditious, and the decision final; and we hold
that our delegation in Congress should lose
no time in pressing the matter on Congress
and the Interior Department.
A NEGRO at Rochester, n. Y, violated
the person of little girl, on the I'd inst. +,
and was put IN Jail A great mob assembled