Evening star., 1895-04-29
The Miners Present Specific Allega-
tions Against the Railroads.
IMMENSE TERRITORY INVOLVED
How Mineral Lands Are Included in
Agricultural Acreage.
SECRETARY RALsToN'S STORY


tions of the general land Office and the
policy of the Pacific railroads. reference to
which has already been made in The Star.
Said he: THE difficulty is that the prac-
tice of the land Office has been seriously
changed in the past ten years, until 1t Is
practically impossible for the prospector
or individual miner to locate claim with
any certainty that he will be allowed to re-
tain possession. The old practice, which
was very fair, was to require the appH-
cant for a patent for agricultural land to
prove the mineral off it; that is, he had to
prove that 1t did not contain minerals
That placed the burden of proof on the
railroad which was seeking agricultural
land. But about ten years ago. by whom
or how we cannot definitely ascertain, the
regulations were changed, so that the bur-
den of proof was shifted to the prospector,
and the claimant for mineral land had to
prove not only the mineral on the land,
that is, that the land was mineral land
but he had to prove that there were min
erals there in paying quantity, manifest
injustice, since no prospector can tell until
he has established his plant whether or
not the land will pan out in paying quanti-
ties. Then, too, the question of what con-
stitutes paying quantity is a very hard
one to settle. What might be bad prop
erty on the basis of a ten-stamp mill might
be profitable with twenty-stamp machine,
What the Miners Want.
commissioner Lamoreaux told me yes
terday that there are now over 96,OOO.oOO
acres of public Land subject to the claims
of the land grant roads yet to be adjusted.
1 think that Of this quantity fully 1600O,-
600 acres lie in California. The specific
request that we make of the department
is that 1t shall suspend the issuance of
patents to land in our state to the railroads
hoar 1,r,h hoI t,rnff he yfnlA
matter can be ventilated. We are seeking
to have the light turned on the proceed
ings in relation to land grant matters.
The railroads do not want publicity. We
are in this fight to stay. Our association
at its convention held in November de-
cided to take up the matter and stay by
the roads until the case is finally settled
The association has a membership of about
5000, representing vast capitalization
The great majority of the members are,
of course. prOspectors and miners l can
not give you a close estimate of the money
represented, for it is very much scat
tered interest, but an idea may be obtain
ed from the fact that the Biggs commits
sion, In Its report to the Secretary of War
100000 was invested then in hydraulic
mining in the state of California. The
commission reported that the land dam
aged and destroyed in forty years aggre-
same period the hydraulic mines of the
state produced probably over $4OO,OOO.OOO,
taking an annual output of S1O,OOO,OOO as
a basis. To show that this is a very low
estimate might mention the fact that by
the 1st Of January, 1894. the state had
produced over $1,2600O0.O0O in gold
Mines Included in Agricultural Lands.
'The railroads are given so-called 'agri-
cultural land free" continued Mr.. Ralston.
"The miners are charged s. an acre. l esti-
mate that Of the 16.0O9,0OO acres of public
land now free in California over 5,OO0,OO0
acres are mineral lands, which, if taken up
by the miners. would net the government
something like s15,OOO,OOO AS it is, the
railroads get the lions share of these lands,
along with the real agricultural lands, and
have heretofore made quite snug sum out
Of their sale to the men who honestly want
to work them. 1 know Of cases of land
taken out by the roads agricultural that
are in active operation as paying mines.
know of cases of mines that have been To-
Gated and worked for months by proSpec-
tors, who suddenly find themselves con-
fronted with the agents of the railroads,
armed with full titles to the property, and
an order to either vacate or buy. AS high
as $25 and $50 an acre is often obtained by
the roads in this way for lands to which
they have absolutely no right 1 know pos
itively of thousands of acres of mining
lands held by the railroads under agricul-
tural titles which the corpora tions are saw
ing for demand and high prices
Serious Charges Specified.
the miner and none upon the roads, but the
! latter are given the great advantage Of
having agents everywhere. Cases are known
to us Of miners who have prior claims.
away up in the mountains showed in for
| the winter. who have come down to the set
| Elements in the spring to find that during
| the prevalence Of the SHOWS ten feet deep
| at times the roads have placed claims for
| their lands, under the plea that they were
nOSted their q n
! obscure newspaper somewhere about the
| state, have appointed a hearing and have
been granted the title in default of any
| body appearing to contest Is that fair
treatment? 1 say that these practices
| should be checked and discouraged.
I'VE do not ask the department to re-
| quire the railroads to give back an acre
| of the many thousands that We know have
been fraudulently taken from the miners,
| but we ask for remedial regulations or
| legislation that will prevent this unjust
discrimination in the future. We have
| found it difficult in places to get men to
| join our association, because the miners
| have believed it to be cheaper to pay the
| railroads for their lands than to fight
| them. l recall one case, though, where this
| apparent wisdom proved boomerang. One
! man who was working several mines re-
| fused my plea to join the ranks, saying
| that he could get out Of the hole cheaper
\ by paying his tribute to the roads. While
| was in Europe this winter L received a
| San Francisco paper announcing that he
| had-found one of the roads had claimed
| one of his most valuable properties, and
| had secured possession. He was very hot,
| and promised a great fight He is now a
| member.
! VIII Fight to n Finish.
1--WE realize that the Pacific railroads
are good fighters" said Mr.. Ralston, In
conclusion, but we are determined to stay
by them. The administration seems to be
doing all it can to put the country on a
| gold basis, and here in this important de-
| partn,ent of the government it is discour-
| aging gold mining in the state that pro-
| duces the bulk of the yellow metal. Last
| year the total output of gold In the United
| States was $4GO0O.O0O, of which California
| gave the most, about s14.O00,000 with Col
| orado second. Great Britain is doing all
it can to encourage the gold mines of South
| Africa, in anticipation of an increased de-
mand upon the worlds supply Of gold.
1--WE have had prepared great map
| showing the holdings Of the railroads in
public lands in the state of California
| 1t Is a tremendous object lesson, l can
| tell you. 1t shows that the roads have
practically swallowed up the mineral lands
| Of the state. l know that the roads have
such maps, but in sections, ard never
| fha