Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-06-16
MINING TITLES.

There IS perhaps no class of property
 about which there is so much contention
 aud litigation as mines. This fact i:
 not surprising or to be wondered al
 when the great value of this kind of property and the peculiar and often times careless and negligent manner In which the inceptive right to such prop erty IS obtained. are taken into consid- eration.
 It is astonishing how very often lOca- tiOns of mining claims are made in an insufficient manner and how frequently valuable rights are lost by failure tO comply carefully with the few simple laws regulating their acquisition and possession. Frequent and fruitful sources of litigation are conflicting and adverse locations. These spring up and multiply in proportion as mines prove themselves of value and as the district in which they are situated, l. brought into prominence and attracts capital. Some of these adverse claims are the re- suits of acts performed and rights ac- quired in good faith, but many are bogus, gotten up by men who devote their lives to such nefarious practice and who always infest new and promis- ing mining districts. The latter, al- though they may not ultimatel. ceed in the courts, often occasion as much litigation and expense to bona fide mine owners as the former, and have of late years increased in such alarming pro- portions as to materially interfere with the mining industries.
 So obscure and unsatisfactory are the titles to many good claims made by the above causes, and so many purchasers have been deceived and swindled by adverse claims afterwards disclosed that capitalists and investors have become timid, and very generally are coming to the conclusion that much the safest plan Is to purchase only patented claims.
 In view of this fact, it would seem that the wisest thing a claim owner can do Is to procure U. $. patent for bis mine. The cost IS little. If claim is worth locating and the assessment work necessary to hold pos session of 1t, it is worth patentlng. A patent relieves claim owner from all fear of any future conflicting or adverse claim, settles the question of title to the entire satisfaction of investors, always enhances the value of a property, and frequently enables owners to sell their claims without trouble, when otherwise purchasers could not be found.
 As a matter of economy even patent is desirable. The cost of obtaining a patent is not greater than that of a few years assessment work and from the time a claim owner has entered and paid for his land he is relieved from the year. ly expenditure upon his claim which is often so great a tax upon his time and HOGhNNs Ant AtICAph OA AAAb lNtCCANCI Ol the focal land office for the purchase price of the land included in mining claim is virtually equivalent to patent and for all intents and purposes, will serve him equally as well, until letters of patent are issued him.
 Too little importance has hitherto been attached to U. s. Patents here in Arizona, but now that our Territory has proven itself to the world rich in the precious metals, and so many thousands of dollars are being attracted here for investment, it ought not to continue so. Owners of claims, no matter Tn what stage of development, ought to hasten to procure patents, for their own good and protection as well as for the sstis- faction of investors. The other mining States and Territories are far ahead of Arizona in this respect, and it will not do for us any longer to undervalIe the importance of good mining titles or to | postpone obtaining U. s. patents.
 |