The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1901-08-29
UNITED STATES PATENTS
Evidently They Are Not aaReswee-
fui as Some People 9ssn
to Imagine.
Owners OF Patented claims uIau4
Comply With Lave Of 0taxe. :
In Which Located.
Failing to Do So the Statute of
Limitation le Likely to haa
AeaInst Thsn.

Aealnst Thsn.
For some reason anszpaains1 skstasa
seems to have become frmlv nsaa n
the minds OF mining men that wheaa =
United States patent hes hssn ,iseuen1
for a mining claim the holder thsrecf
is henceforth and forever ths undts-
puted owner of she land dsscrihsd u
said patent and that his absndonnsnt
of said property for any number Of
years, definite or indefinite, viii net In
any manner affect his title 70 the Same.
The fact that such policy u direct
ly opposed to the intent Of ths laws re-
lating to the disposing Of Government
lands has led the NEWS 10 attempt 10
gather little information bearing on
the matter, and we arc convincsd thst
mining claims held under United States
patent are subject to the laws Of ths
State in which they arc located just ~
much as as any other property, whether
patented or unpatentea.
We find that every United HtAtea
patent for a mi ming claim recorded n
the Office of County Recorder NJ. B.
Garaghan contains the following pro.
vision ,.
That In the absence of necessary lstislstion
49,, tha stxx NJ A. -
provide rules for working the minins cisin,
ments, drainage and other necessary msaAs 70
Its complete development"
This is one OF the conditions under
which the patent Is issued, snd IL ap-
pears that the Legislature Of the State
OF Nevada has provided the rules or
conditions for the Development of.such
claims.
Section 3706 of the Revised Statutes
reads as follows:
No action for the recovery Of mining ciAii ne.
OF for the recovery of.possession thereof. shah
be maintained, unless It appear that the plain
tiff. or those through or from whom be claims
were seized or possessed Of such mAsisg eaaai
OF were the owners thereof, according to -shs
laws aud customs ofthe district embrucing ths
same. within two years before the com nencs-
me nj OF such action. Occupation and adverse
possession of mining claim shall consist In
holding and working the same, In the usual
and customary mode Of holding and working
similar claims In the vicinity thereof. All the
provisions of this Act. which apply 70 other
real estate, 30 far as applicable. shail be asea.
ed to include aud apply to mining claims;
provided. that in such application tive yeafS'
shall be held to be the period intended whsA-
ever the term ave years" 10 Used; and pre-
vided further, that when the terms Illegal
title" or title" are used. they shall b held 70
include title acquired by location or occupa-
ton, according to the usagss, laws, and Gus
toms OF the district embracing the claim.
The sole object In granting free
homesteads TO citizens Of the Unitsd
States is to develop the land and naks
It productive the result being thst In
course OF time 1t contributes 70 ths
wealth OF the Nation and pays tsxss
toward hesupport Of the Government.
1t is safe to assume that the inton-
ton OF the laws relating TO mineral
lands is the same, and the pernitting
Of owners of patented mining eleims 70
hold them without making sems effort
to develop the property, would b In
direct opposition to the intent Of shs
law under which the United States
Government conferred title.
In nearly every State pescsabls pos.
session of land for number Of years
confers title ON the holder thereof ~.
gardless OF the fact that the owner
regularly paid taxes on the sAns. The
object OF this Is plain Owners OF real
estate must exercise reasonable care OF
their property, and IL they fall In this
other persons showing dispositions 70
make use of the land arc encouraged In
their effort.
At the present time there 10 great
demand for mining propertiss-esPcc-
tally In White Pine County-and the
eO-CalleQ OWuore vi pneohWSA SasAtAs @Ae~y
as well understand II they do mot de-
velop their holdings, others will, and
In this undertaking they will have tho
moral support of ninety mine one hund-
redhs of the populace, and, apparent
Il ly. the endorsement OF the laws OF the
State and Nation as well.
In reply to an inquiry, Attorney Geo.
A. Bartlett of Eureka, who has giyon
the subject of patented claims consid-
erable attention, inasmuch ~ he 10
directly Interested in case In which
the validity Of such title Is likely 70
come up, thus states his views regard.
ing the matter:
"My opinion is that the statutes OF hnita.
tions OF Nevada apply with equal force 70 mines
patented by the U. 8. to individuals % 10 sny
and all character OF property. You are aware
of the provisions of the said statutes rsssrdtns
various periods of time within which actions
must be commenced on debts, evidenced BY
parol and written agreement, etc., and for ths
recovery of realty Now our statutes also provtds
that no action for the recovery ofs mining
claim, patented claim not being excepted o.