The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-08-21


could be followed there by tunnelF ~
a shaft, how could it be appropr1ae ina ma
held? Is the ocean bed Tor three lIes
seward the public domain and &c a
lode location be made under the Federal
law and how? In the case OF an OF
formation, like that al Summerlano' coui9 J
a placer location be made, as on ldLu anu
If a man or company bores an c!l wen
in the sea, how can he maintain ms pos
session if legally or forcibly assalIeQ
These interesting questions DO not ap-
pear to have ever arisen before, as mill
ing has in the past never been carrl esd, on
at sea The problem was recently oHereu
TO Attorney A. II. Ricketts,, who mas long
made a specially of mining law; anu n ng
pronounced it the most interesting ailu
novel legal question he had encounteIeu
and proceeded to study it. He has reacheq
some conclusions that will be OF general
interest.
He decides, for one thing, that the bed
of the ocean to the three-miie limit is the
property of the State. The Federal MN
ing laws do not apply, as they 90 not 10
the tide landslide strip of shore between
high and low water mark. The state mas
never in any manner provided for the
mining use of this state DOMAIN ana one
who mines there is technically a tres
passer and mines by sufferance OIL the
State, which could eject him Inc MN
erals belong to the first one VINO gets thelh
as long as the State does not assert con
troll. An oil wharf or derrick might pc
condemned by a court as nuisance, pr.
vate or public. The State mining law, II
applies to the public domain OF the
United States The United States con-
trolls those navigable waters, but not the
sea bottom, and might condemn an IN
reference with navigation.
The State is also held to own the beds
Of the navigable streams, the navigation
Of Of which il, is controlled by the unit efi
streams as the Sacramento and "naVlga-
ble' tributaries cannot be located and held
as placer claims, to be worked by wing
damming or dredging. These and other
opinions have been expressed in part in
the following, written by Mr.. Ricketts, for
The Call:
''The several States are the absolute
owners of navigable waters and the soils
under the same, within their respective
borders, subject to the paramount right
OF navigation, the regulation OF whlch IN
certain respects is granted to the United
States. This right of the States to the
soils under navigable waters is not derived
by grant or patent from the United States,
and if mineral in character are not sub
ject to exclusion as mineral lands of the
public domain, which are reserved in all
land grants of Congress to the States,
etc, but was reserved to the thirteen
original States which became sovereign
when the Revolution took place. The act
of Congress admitting California to the
Union declares that she is admitted on
equal footing in all respects with the
original States.
State are public highways, are for the use
of the people of the State, and obstruc-
lions placed therein impairtng the public
right incident to the use of such waters
are public nuisances which no lapse of
time can legalize. In my opinion the State
has the sole right TO regulate the mining
Of the beds of such streams, well as
the beds of all other navigable waters
within it's territorial limits, the provisions
of the United States mining laws not be-
ing applicable to mineral deposits found
therein, as the paramount title to the
beds of such streams and other navigable
waters has never been in the United
States.
I'm the absence of any grant or per-
mission from the State to remove the min
so is a trespasser against whom an action
in ejectment would lie at the instance OF
the State just as well as if the mining
may MAY also also be enjoned from the prosecution
Of such work and may be compelled to
respond in damages. But, as against
is the owner of the minerals he extracts
from such soils; for, as one law writer
puts it, they are like the fish in the
water, the property of him who takes
them
while there are certain provisions af,
fecting the sale of tidelands to be found
in the constitution and laws of this State,
it may be stated as general proposition
that lands on the shore of the ocean be-
tween high and low-water mark every
where in this State cannot become the
subject of private ownership.
The boundary of this State (substan-
TALLY like those of oregon, Washington
Texas and Alabama, which extend three
and six leagues, respectively, into navi-
gable waters) is extended under IT'S con
stitution into the Pacific, Ocean dis
lance of three English miles. Over such
waters the United States exercises do
minion for the, purposes OF protection
from invasion, the regulation OF naVlga-
ton, ETC.; and all nations have also
common right to use the same for the
purpose of commerce MISUNDERSTANDING the
States assertion of ownership.
Subject to such rights a State has the
right to determine the extent of its owner
ship Of the soils under .nayigabie waters
monty called the open sea- Therefore
the bed of the Pacific Ocean for dis
shore of this State is within it's borders;
and it follows that the title to the same
is in the State of California.
The necessary conclusion is that no
to mine the same without the consent of
the State, and such concession, if grant
ed, must be made and held subject, to
the paramount right of the navigator"
1.-THE maintaining of dredgers in navi-
gable rivers of this State, the building
of wharves into the ocean to facilitate
erection of derricks thereon is without
warrant of law" says Mr.. Ricketts,.
Not only could the trespasser be eject
ed by the State, but his wharf would be-
Long to the State. The statutes governing
the abatement of nuisances apply. One
who has possession may hold it as against
minerals If he can get them, as he may
keep fish caught from his wharf 1t is
possible that any one. might remove one
of these outcast derricks subject to the
laws governing the public peace
The beds of the rivers of California
are golden and there is boom in gold
dredging. This and other things make
the legal problems raised of practical
Importance as we'll as Of theoretical in
terest. The legal status Of beach mines
where. the. sand below. high-water mark
Is worked is involved. Many related prob
lens easily occur in following out the
theories advanced. by Mr.. Ricketts,.
What is here given is not of course.
stated through any desire to discoureee
or unnecessarily trouble any one engaged
in the promising mining enterprises con-
cerned, but as a simple speculative nre
sentation of an interesting situation which
needs needs to be understood and which will
mining use of State property. nc
]. o. DENNY
AROUND THE