The Alaska daily empire., 1914-04-16
DAWSON PAPER PRAISES
 JUDGE BROWNS RULING

The decision of Judge Fred NJ. Brown of Alaska in the case of Likaits vs. Johnson, rendered March IS at Cordova, will be received with approv- al by genuine miners throughout the Northland. The judgment Is cast in accordance with the established prac. tice of the Western courts for years in respect to mining cases in which the written law Is lame, and follows the commonsense course of plain Jus tIce. The spirit of the law is that the prospector who finds ground and at' tempts to comply with the regulations to the best of his knowledge and abil- ity shall not be deprived of the fruits of his efforts. Judge Brown has ad' hered to this principle, and in doing so he overthrows that most hated of all pests to the prospector, the jump CT. For this a chorus of approval will sound throughout Alaska and Yukon. The legitimate prospector has the sym pathy of the vast majority of the peo- pie of the frontier, for they are of the Legitimate stripe themselves, and seek fair play and justice.
 The details of the judgment as set out by Judge Brown show how care fully he grasped the vital points, and how we'll he eliminated the nonessen- tials. The decision is of manifold i'm portance as it sets at rest a vital point in the Wickersham act. Such Judgments should be taken advantage of by future legislators to make the act read as clearly as 1t is set forth in the findings by the court, and thus those who do not keep references of court cases at hand but who have ac- cess to the laws will be informed be- yond doubt of the privileges under the law.
 Judge Brown takes the care to point out in his judgment the impossibility of prosepector in the wilds, far from touch with courts, recording offices and the machinery of government knowing what are the latest laws, and what otii. cials have been named, and what new offices established. It is shown that in such cases the man who devotes himself to the frontier should not suf. fer because of want of technical com pliance with law of which he knows not. Absence of the records and the documents even is excused by Judge Brown under these peculiar circum- stances. The fact recalls the disabil' ities under which the Yukon miners labored when miners licenses were required and when remote prospectors found themselves disqualified for stalk ing because of licenses having expired or not being available at the time. The miners license-which, by the way, some tyros in mining affairs would like to foist on Yukon again in the proposed new Dominion mining code was an unnecessary imposition, and Judge Brown makes it plain how oth- CT red tape may be made the means of defeating the ends of justice for the man who denies himself the advan- tages of civilized centers and faces the frontier hardships to reclaim na. lures riches for the world.
 The decision of Judge Brown should have a salutary effect in Alaska in convincing the jumper that his ilk is | in bad odor, and that, no matter what guile or greed may be exercised, jus. tice will see that the man who is the backbone of the Northland, the man to be honored above all others in the frontier, the real empire blazer-the prospector-is protected to the utter most-Dawson News.