Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-02-20
A COMMUNICATION.

nIVuSn youA "'-ely read columns it
VIII enable us to answer many injuries
whlcsi would otherwise go unanswered
concerning the controversy which is be-
ing carried on between the United
States land department and the mining
industry.
The subject of this contention is the
very unjust, unreasonable and arbitrary
series of rulings laid down by the Sec
rotary OF the Interior, directing that
the position of a patented claim must
be determined entirely by the section
Vorner tie called for in the patent des-
cription. The result is that the owner
of a patented claim does not know
whether his patent pertains to the
ground which includes his vein, and
which is staked and marked by the
pat ent corners, or whether it pertains
to other land which, possibly, he has
never seen. We have frequently been
asked how the Colorado Mine Opera
tors Association happened to take up
this matter, and questioned as to the
present status of the case.
In the first place this association was,
a year ago, apprised of these rulings,
and was advised upon competent author
ity of their dangerous significance. At
u annual meeting of April 10, 1903,
this matter was thoroughly discussed
as being by far the most important is
u with which the mining industry
was confronted. 1t was then and there
determined to inaugurate a test case.
The executive committee of the Colo
RADIO Society of United States Deputy
Mineral Surveyors, at our request, Sc
lected a case suitable to our purpose
and which was considered best adapted
to the issue. The case selected was the
now notorious "Groves case" which
was prepared with great care, and the
brief submitted to the Honorable Com
missioner Of the general land Office for
q decision. The merit of the case, how
ever, did not save it; it met the fate of
many similar cases which have been
brought before the commissioner during
the past two or three years.
Without going into the details, it is
only necessary to state that the decis-
ion, in substance, is as follows:
The commissioner rules, in effect,
that the patents in this case, which
were regularly issued and have been
outstanding for years, no not, and
never did, cover the land which is
bounded by the patent corners. A
patent of twenty years standing was
construed to cover land which is in fact
not patented to any one; the lines of
this claim were so materially altered as
to place it on top of an unpatented
claim which has been held by possessory
right unmolested for over ten years.
Another feature of the decision is that
it vacates land which is actually occu-
pied by the patents as they are staked,
throws it open to patent and awards a
portion Of the said land to the Groves
claim and is otherwise unoccupied, ex-
cept by the. theoretical position of the
Oldest patent on the hill; the Groves
thus loses, on a mere theoretical pre-
text, a tract which includes its most
extensive and valuable workings. Lack
of space forbids further mention of the
many complications which arise as a
result Of substituting for a right and
simple procedure one which is wrong
and infinitely complex. Suffice it to
say, that six Independent mine owners
are forced into litigation as a result of
this decision, although each has we'll
defined rights and is not in the least
DESTROYS of trespassing upon the rights
claimed by any of the others. The
department arbitrarily and needlessly
forces them into the courts in order to
clear their hopelessly beclouded titles.
before the groves case can go to patent
properly, the REIMBURSEMENT or annul-
ment of two outstanding patents will
have to be enforced in order to clear
the atmosphere for the working out of
this departmental, ofiice-bred, hedgling
theory.
The Groves petition was, as stated,
one of exceeding simplicity and merit,
and was stuff GENTLY well presented to
call forth unsolicited praise, but was
adversely decided, nevertheless. The
case is now pending on appeal to the
secretary; the brief and argument on
appeal has been filed and an opportun-
ity for an oral argument has been re-
quested.
The case has been carried up to its
present status under the auspices Of
this organization, and without cost to
the public, which is being served. If
the case is lost, mining companies ard
individual mine owners may prepare to
fight endlessly for the survival OF their
titles, with excellent prospects for
nothing but extended litigation.