Arizona republican., 1890-07-12
THE ONLY REPUBLICAN PAPER IN PHGNIX
RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION.
MINING DEVELOPMENT.


 The mining resources of Arizona are greater than those afforded by any other equal area in the United States and are as yet only in the infancy of their development. To properly aid in this development is one of the most important questions to be considered in our Territory. Our present laws relate to recording and drainage only. It is therefore competent and is everywhere of practical occurrence, that one oI two men cover a large area of country with their locations or re- locations without expending dollar in development and in this way, year after year, retard the advancement of that region and themselves wait for some- thing or some one to give the section start. This is blight on the Territory and seldom does the individ- ual any good.
 In Colorado the miners obtained the passage of law that required discov- cry shaft or adit of ten feet to be sunk or run, on all locations or relocations. This etfectually prevents any one man from holding more claims than he can work and is equally efiectual in forcing more or less development each and every year in all mining regions. Small as this amount of work is it has done as much as any other one thing to develop Colorado. The man who has ten or fifteen claims confines his work to two or three and within the first or second year makes up his mind to drop them or to go ahead with more work. In let ting the others go he often tells some friend of his determination and gives that friend or friends chance to work up some of the others.
 No two men see the same ground exactly alike, and often the claims dropped are in the minds of the friends even better than those held, and they, too, go to work.
 Prospectors seeing monuments avoid the ground monumented, as it is almost impossible under the present laws to know whether or not record of the latest relocation has or has not been made. If, however, ten feet of work has to be done every year, regardless of location or re- location, then the prospector can judge, and knows whether or not the claim is open for him to work.
 This ten feet of work is fair law and a moderate law, and just to each and every one.
 If in addition to the ten foot shaft or adit "a road tax" of, say ten dollars on all locations or relocations should be imposed and five dollars year thereafter to be paid into the county treasurer, who should keep a separate account with each district and the location or relocation notice not be recorded until the Treasurer's receipt is produced and the record to expire, if the five dollars is not paid on or before the first of January next and annually thereafter on or before the first of January, and if not paid then the location to be open to others to To- cate. The road tax to be expended on the written concurrence of a majority of the mine owners, such written agree ment to be certified to by the Recorder from the records of his office, and to be filed with the Board of Supervisors, and thereupon the Board of Supervisors should direct the money to the credit of that mining district to be paid out in accordance with such written agreement.
 The County Recorder should keep record book for each mining district in his county. Also separate alphabet ical record list for each district, in which to record under the names of the mine or the owner, the annual road tax.
 A tax of this kind would be light on all, yet from the large numbers of loca- tions in each district it would soon give ample funds with which to provide good roads, and by leaving it to Che mine owners in each district it insures the best results; or two or more districts could join together for common road. Contracts could even be let that would anticipate the income of two or more years, and by so doing obtain at once the outlet so absolutely necessary to dis trict after district. If this ".road tax" would be considered special legislation, then the several amounts could be pa i'd in as portion of the location fees and the money so received to be applied to the construction of roads in the manner named. Though Sec. 2324 United States Revised Statutes that "the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is situated govern the location, manner of records, amount of work necessary to hold possession of mining claim, subject to the follow ing requirments, none of which inter- fere with the proposed road tax.
 The "organ" then republishes extracts from three editorials from the Citizen on Statehood,