The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-28

pals are obliged to do any develop
ment work so long as the list of
names holds out, and the name of
claimant may, in course of time, be
transferred from one piece of prop
erty to another till a dozen pieces Or
more may have stood in his name
without anything being done to de-
Velop any of them.
M OW, the law intended that every
! y claimant should do at least 500
worth Of development work on
MS claim every year: but even where
there is some pretense Of compliance,
there is often no practical result. La
por, inquired at $40 a day, with time
spent in going to and returning from
the claim, may result in moving few
shovelsful of dirt, but it means moth.
ing IN the development of the country.
But 1t may be asked, Why do men
take claims if not to work them and
get something out of them? In order
to take advantage of the labor Of
somebody else, generally. These 49,
500 claims that Judge Dubose referred
to are held generally by people who
are waiting for somebody else to do
something that shall establish their
value. The result is that the country
is nearly all staked and filed on where
there is any prospect Of finding gold
and the late conner has no show, no
matter how willing he may be to go
ahead and develop what he stakes.
Another handicap to the develop
ment Of the country is the flct that
the claim markings are not permanent
but are easily obliterated, and in adj
ditlon to that the system of describ-
ing and recording claims is so indef-
mite and unsystematic that there is no
way to tell certainly when claim is
filed whether the same ground has
ever been filed on before or not. This
leads to endless litigation and in fact
invites it when claim proves to be
valuable. One valuable mine was
visited at Nome to which the present
owners had bought six different titles.
That. is to say, six different claim
ants were able to make it appear thru
the looseness of the system of describ-
ing and recording, that they had
claims which they We're disposed
to contest in the courts The door is
opened wide to unlimited extortion by
INSCRIPTIONS men and those who
would be glad to put money into the
development and operation of mines
are afraid to do so. 1t would mean
millions Of development and output
to the Nome district every year if this
dog-in-the-m business could be
stopped.
Perhaps I have referred often
enough to the better methods they
have adopted in Yukon territory on
the Canadian side, but when studying
conditions at Nome I could not avoid
contrasting the miserable tangle in
which the titles to mining property are
involved there with the systematic
and thoro system at Dawson, where in
the gold commissioners office it is
possible at any time to find the status
of any piece of property In the Klon-
dixie as clearly and definitely as if 1t
We're located in Hennepin county.
Descriptions are definite, double filing
on the same piece of property prac-
tically impossible, the claimant is pro-
tected in the title to his property so
long as the books show a clear record.
powers of attorney are not recognized
in taking mining claims, no claimant
may file on more than one claim on
the same creek and failure to keep up
development or assessment work for
felts title and, as I recall it, it may not
be renewed by the same claimant.
have taken the space to note only
a few of the faults of the mining laws,
as seen from the standpoint of lay
man. The senatorial committee was
SO much Impressed bN the necessity of
to Alaska that they asked the bar of
Nome to formulate a practically new
code and send it to them at Washing
ton for their guidance in legislation
on this subject.
Our last stopping place was Sitka.
Meanwhile the McCulloch has passed
thru Peril straits, named because of
the hazards of navigation there, to
Juneau, to which city, visited on our
upward voyage to Skagway, the COM
mittee returned in accordance with a
promise to come back and give the
business men there chance to be
heard on the needs of Alaska. With
her PROV cutting the quiet waters of
the inside channel, we are bound for
Seattle and home, where we shall ar
rive in the next installment OF this
Alaska story next Saturday, after