Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-07-08
THE MINERS AND THE FARMERS.

hSAo Al SlLy wiz
tives OF the farmers and the hydrauli
miners. The latter were represented b.
, Hamilton Smith, Jr., and O'Brien o
Smartsville, aud the former by Mayor Bing
ham and the officers OF the Anti. Debri
Association. A proposition was made oil
behalf of the miners to the effect that the,
would within thirty days begin dan
across the Yuba at Roses Bar, twenty-si
miles above Marysville that they woulC
spend 100000 upon it, building it of tim
Der and rock, and carrying it to a hight o
eighty feet the first year that they woult
undertake to raise it whenever necessary
or to build supplementary brush or Other
dams, or to cease dumping debris into the
river if the dam failed of its purpose
They also offered to introduce and urge IL
the Legislature bill to compel all the ny.
draulic mining companies on the Yuba to
pay pro rata tax for the maintenance oil
the dam, and also to compel all such
companies, wherever practicable, to dam
the ravines into which they dump their
tailings, so as to prevent them entering the
rivers. They offered to place certain
sum in the hands OF Colonel Mendell for
the construction of the dam, and to give
him the direction of the work. They also
proposed that the dam should be utilized
for irrigating purposes, and showed that it
could be made to irrigate a hundred and
fifty thousand acres OF foothill and plain
lands. The farmers insisted, as a pre-.
liminary, that the miners should cease
working pending the construction of the
dam, and at this point the conference was
broken off, the miners declining to concede
this demand.
The negotiations, according to our dis
patch, are, however, not regarded as at an
end, and it is to be hoped that some COM
mon ground may be found finally. For,
although the farmers have established
their right to full protection in the Courts,
they must realize that they are, as yet, by
~ HiNttAo oalt, anu buab tlCtO 10 al ciSilGuL
of time involved which they cannot afford
to disregard. Thus if they should refuse
to accept any terms proposed by the miners,
it seems evident that the latter will avail
themselvesof every legal device to postpone
adverse action in the Courts, and so the
season for dam. building may slip away be.
fore anything is done. In that event the
people of Marysville and the farmers of the
surrounding country will have to face an.
other winter without any protection from
the debris. Even if they succeeded in
getting all the mines eujoined they would
have to anticipate the descent of large
quantities OF accumulated debris, and it is
question OF very serious import to them
whether they can encounter this prospect
without great danger. In fact it is neces-
sary for them to realizs that even when a
Court has rendered decision favorable to
them, there may yet be a difficulty in get.
ting that decision enforced and that even
if it was enforced it could not shield them
from the debris already in the rivers.
Ii they insist upon the stoppage of the
mines during the construction of the dam,
as they are certainly justified in doing
under Judge Temples decision, they must
make their account with having to compel |
such suspension by litigation, and however
clear case may be the processes of the
Courts are slow, as the people of Marys-
vile have had occasion to learn before
now. A vital consideration is that as to
the provision for the next winter. Ii the
matter is allowed to drift all through the
summer months the rainy season will be
upon the farmers before any material
protection ia afforded them. 1t is for them
70 consider whether that is a safe position
20 be in. On the other hand, if they accept
,he proposals of the miners, the dam will
De built across the Yuba before the rains
'ome, and in that case it may be regarded
Is certain that no more injury will be done
20 Marysville or the farming lands during
The coming winter. The question in the
main is practical one, but the chief danger
rises from a Misrepresentation as to the
Ibility of the farmers to utilize the victory
hey have already gained. By overesti-
mating their power to enforce Judge Tenn
lies decision Immediately, they may ex-
pose themselves to further damage and
injury. 1t is not to be expected that the
miners will undertake the costly engineer.
ng works required until they have some
ssurance that the farmers will accept their
proposition, nor can it be supposed that
hay will surrender anything which can be
defended if their opponents refuse to agree
o any terms.
In short the farmers are bound to con-
ider and determine whether they are in
position to force the miners into the last
Itch. OF course compromise implies that
10Th sides have something to gain by
making concessions. 1t appears to us that
his is situation to which that rule ap-
,lies very fairly. The farmers are not
and Immediately protected by
Judge Temples decision, and the extent to
which that decision fails to protect them
marks the extent to which they should be
Wiling to accept compromise. What
hey want is effectual protection. The
question is, can they secure this better by
compromise than by continuing to liti.
ate. We have pointed out the weak
laces in their present position. We are
f opinion that they cannot afford to face {
mother winter without some barrier
gainst the debris, and that this remark
pplies to any possible situation between
ow and winter it applies, that is to say, 1
1hether or not the hydraulic mines cease
7orking An observation of O'Brien's, re-
orted in our disnatchea suupests form of |