The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-06-27
RESTRICTIVE ON PATENTS.


eral Land Office upon the issuing OF
mining patents have had the imme'
date effect of shutting off nearly all
applications for such patents. Inc
reason is plain, for, whereas heretofore
the prospector or discoverer of min
eral ledge had merely to show that the
vein was in place. define the bounda-
ries of his claim, do the required work
upon the same, and prove up accord
ing to law, and he would get his pat
ent. Now, however. by the amended
(better say restricted) method Of the
unless the discoverer of the lode can
prove by development that his discov"
cry is of commercial value and Of
geological extent. Very few prospec-
tors are able to develop their discover
les to the extent and to the paying
stage required by the General Land Of
fice under the new ruling in order to
get a patent.
The result Of that ruling is paralyz"
ing on the prospectors and mineral
claimants. as shown by an examination
of the records in the Land Office of
this city, and printed on The Tribune's
mining page yesterday morning. Ap-
plications for patents now average one
a month, whereas formerly they aver
aged seven TO ten times that number,
and at times reached the aggregate OIL
twenty-five to thirty per month. This
xnr
with a vengeance. 1t is practical de-
nia to the prospector and mining
claimant of the benefits OF the law as
that law has been construed In the
General Land Office and in toe prac-
tice of all the land Offices in this
Western country, for upwards Of hfty
wears. The restrictive quality Of this
sort Of regulation is plain, The pur.
pose Of it, no doubt, is TO square the
operation of the General Land Office IN
mining matters with the general ideas
Of the Interior Department to deny as
much as possible the use of the nat"
ural resources Of the country to the
persons who are now in this country
and endeavoring to open and develop
it. Where the law allows this use,
the department idea evidently is to re
strict it as much as possible by regula-
tion and executive order.
Heretofore, in the land policy Of the
United States, in all features of this
policy, it has been the idea to get the
land taken by actual settlers or work
ers so that the public domain could be
put into private HANDS and thus made
available for the use Of the citizenship
Of the United States. In every State
it is desirable that the public domain
be taken as much as possible, so that
the products of the State may be In
creased, its population enlarged, its
accretions Of wealth made greater year
by year, and the assessed valuation
raised. The present policy of the In
terror Department is directly the con-
trary of this. 1t is to withhold as
much as possible Of the public domain
from actual settlers or those who
would use it for water power, for min
ing, for homcsteads or for any other
purpose, this "amendedh idea being
based apparently upon the notion that
it is better to have the public domain
lie idle and unused than to have it
settled upon or utilized In any way. 1t
is most extraordinary reversal Of the
settled policy Of the United States ever
since the Government came into exist.
ence,
But since this is the policy of the
Department. it is evidently q necessity
OF the time that the Senators and
Representatives in Congress from all
this mountain region should make de-
termined stand in opposition to that
policy and in favor of a continuance
Of the liberal land policy that has done
such wonders and brought such magi |
cal results in the development of the
different portions of this Nation. Free
land for homesteads and free oppo--
tunity TO utilize the resources at hand |
have always attended the settlement of
any new region IN the United States
Now all at once this is changed, not |
by law but by arbitrary executive de-
crees of department heads. The senti-
ment in the department appears TO be
all working to the one end OF prevent |
ing settlement on the public domain |
the utilizing OF the public lands and Cf |
the public resources.
Firmly convinced as we are that this |
change is q mistaken policy, we urge |
upon the Congressman from all of the |
regions affected that they unite for the |
passage Of the amended laws that will |
liberatc the people from the unwise,
unjust, and unprecedented hampering !
now newly imposed by the General |
Land Office in the way OF mining pat
ents and also in the way OF other re-
strictivc policies adverse to the settle |
ment and development of the different |
States, a policy which has driven hun
dreds of thousands Of Americans 20 |
Canada. and which disgusts every one |
who has & real appreciation Of the ef- |
feet Of these restrictive rulings by the |
heads Of the executive departments OF |
Enxa