Arizona republican., 1912-12-08
The New Land Office RuIinq.

The New Land Office Ruling.
 Tn order to make a valid location the locator must have pay ore in place.
 This is about the most absurd and ridiculous ruling that the land office has ever made. If carried out to the letter it would simply kill seventy-five per cent of our prospective work. But in the last few years everything has been done by the land office and the forest reserve to discourage efforts for the prospecting and discovery of min erals. Petty little rulings and inflic- tions amounting to persecution are ar bitrarily enforced against the men of the hills
 At Highgrade, the new camp in Cali fornia the rangers have made the min CTS pay ground rent for erecting cabin and for the fireWoOd which the prospector uses while working his pros peCt Isn't the hardship ne endures enough to qualify him for having enough fireWoOd to keep him warm and to cook his grub? He doesn't carry it off of the ground, or ship it for gain and unquestiOnably what he does con- sume is dry. dead material that would lie rOtting on the ground Where will such absurtlity end? They may force the pTospectOr soon to carry a linen table cloth with him so that he will not soil the grass and also insist in addition that he carry a fireless cooker
 Furthermore he might receive from the government, Cgratis, of course,) a detailed and carefully prepared speci- If hn of hn will be compelled to find before locating He might also be compelled to take a law course so that he can clearly un- derstand the technical rulings of the land office and other institutions.
 Also, it might be urged that he ought to take course in entomology so that if he should come across some species of bug that was devouring the timber sold to him he could mount it on a slide and send it to the government. But, most important of all he should take lessons in diplomacy so that he would know how to respectfully ap- proach the ranger. Surely the pros peCtOr of the future will have to spruce up. Picks, shovels. drills, goldpans and powder are useless. Let him pack his burrO with editions showing him how to act and hike out for the hills
 See the absurdity of this ruling in Alaska where all coal lands are with drawn from entry. a country that in every way should be given assistance and encourag cement to develop. But, no, residents there raust purchase high priced imported coal when the inhabitants are stubbing their toes y.i1 Df their cabin doors And this. when it is a recognized fact that there is already enough known coal in Alaska to last for thousands of years.
 know of a mining property oper- ated within sixty miles of Phoenix where they cut little sparsely dis tributed cedar to keep the hoist and pumps running. But whether or not the pumps and hoist stopped and the mine filled with water the wood couldn't be touched until his emperor ship the ranger had given his con- sent.
 There is only one solution for this problem and I have discovered it Let every prospect and mine be moved near town and out of the con- fines of the forest reserve. But, putting testing aside, how many low grade coppers would be developed to- day if such a ruling of the land of flee had been enforced?
 Everyone who is cognizant of min ing conditions in Arizona knows that the surfaces of the properties had excellent surface indications only and it took the deep drill holes to prove them out What slight indications were on the surface were too impov- erished to be cIassed as paying ore.
 Again take the general copper ore bodies, everybody knows that it is a generally true statement that copper mine is not a poor mans mine You always have to go down for the ore. There may be nothing on the surface but the iron hat. ab- solutely without copper content. The ore is below this
 one of the best gold mines in Ari- zona today had surface ore running g. to $3. In the position it was and with the economic conditions it was impossible to class the ore as paying ore. But well on 10 200 feet in depth it was a bonanza and has been so ever since. Several conditions similar to this could be cited.
 Let us help the prospectOr and the searcher after minerals instead of putting obstacles in his way and l feel sure that before long the auth critics themselves will realize the absurdity of their rulings and will enther modify or cancel them en- tireIy. It has got to be done if mining is to prosper. Miners asso- citations are now forming in differ ent parts of the country to fight against the late absurd and unjust ruling.
 A CHRISTMAS GIFT
 very nlea sing tO relate a hen