Bisbee daily review., 1916-04-30

lace gave promise only to those who could read the obscure signs. In one district the surface may be limestone, tilted. twisted. fractured, perhaps
 with little red stain of iron in
 pockets or along fracture-planes. In another il may be an area of porphyry, fractured, altered, bleached white or stained red, theraded by minute vein lets of quartz.
 These mining operations require much capital. large areas. and secure titles, of course. To make it possible to grant the latter, to make the law cover such cases. the word, lode has
 been given the broadest significance. Justice Field ruled that a lode need
 be neither ore nor an orebody, but was whatever the miners could fol- low and find ore" It was decided
 that the definition of a lode must al ways have special reference to the formation and peculiar characteristics of the particular district in which the vein or iode under former admin istration, decisions of the Department of the Interior, which cannot be ap- pealed to the courts. left miners
 wondering where they stood.
 This is not an attack, direct or in direct, on the principle of Conserva- tion. The question of the compara- tive value of the land for other pur- poses would not be overlooked. If the discovery clause were dropped the change would give the miner greater security. put it would foster neither f-aa 1atlnr I1o .,& exploitation of mineral resources. Min eral alnd costs more than any other kind of land in the public domain.
 The S5 per acre paid to the govern ment is but fraction of the cost. In cluding the entire cost of procedure and the $500 worth of development re- quired, a patented claim of full size
 (20.66 acres) costs the patentee near ly $40 per acre.
 The demand for discovery of a vein or lcde" does not exist in the Mexican law: it las been practically dead letter in British Columbia There is a strong sentiment in favor of its omission from the new Canadian act. Certain decisions G. the Depart ment of the Interior between 1910 and 1912 strengthened the sentiment in this country.
 Power of the Department of the In terior. The Secretary of the Interior holds one of the most difficult posi- tions in the government. He guards the natural resources of the nation.
 It is T3t often that the country has been as fortunate in the quality of .l fl l,A fAls if
 is at the present time. The General Land Office administers the public lands. Disputed points are decided by the Commissioner. Appeal may be taken from his decision to the Secre- tary of the Interior from whose de cision there no appeal.
 For 90 years the Department fol- lowed the courts broad rulings on
 what constitutes a lode and a dis
 coyery.' This attitude of the courts and of the Department is illustrated by a department ruling made in May,
 1911. An applicant had been denied retary who directed that they be is
 sued, for the following reason:
 'The defendant company had shown it's faith in the property by eXpending about s100,000 on it. Its good faith
 and belief in the ground are not i'm peached. The weight of the evidence shows that some mineral of some
 kind, however slight, has been found in each claim, The ground had no ! substantial value except for its min eral uses. The decision appealed from
 would have the tendency to stifie hon
 est effort in mining explorations and
 instead of encouraging the develop
 ment of the mining resources of the
 country would greatly retard it." | Four months later. under the same | Secretary, in the East Tintic case the
 Department abandoned it's long-held
 attitude and supported it's refusal to issue patents with these words:
 Tt is evident" that title i to the claims is sought essentially on account of their possible value for certain unexposed deposits to exist at considerable depth beneath the sur | face. having no connection, so far as shown, with any deposits appearing on the surface. The exposure, however. of substantially worthless deposits on !
 mere surface indications of mineral within it's limits; the discovery of valuable mineral deposits outside the claim; or deductions from established geological facts relating to it; one or all of which matters may reasonably give rise to hope or belief. however strong it may be, that valuable min cral deposit exists within the claim will neither suffice as discovery ! thereon. nor be entitled to be accepted
 as the equivalent thereif.
 "To constitute a valid discovery
 upon a claim for which patent is sought there must be actually and
 physically exposed within the limits thereof a vein or lode of mineral | bearing rock in place, possessing Tn [ and in and of itself a present or prospective value for mining purposes