The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-02-03

but the enactment of the leasing
bills" would strip him of all!
The mines and prospectors of the
west look upon the proposed abroga-
ton of the apex law as being merely
an 1nterloeutory proceeding to hold
the estate" intact until congress can
be induced by the conservation bur-
eaus" to enact the general leasing
bills"
If the apex law were abrogated,
then, when the mining operator wish
ed to buy mine located in a vein or
deposit with shallow dip" he would
ind that instead of having to deal
with one prospector for a whole mine,
he would have to purchase that mine
by purchasing half dozen or dozen
segments located along the dip" and
from as many separate and distinct
owners, each endeavoring to get more
than his neighbor for his own partic-
ular segment, he would be confronted
with practically impossible PROPOSE
| ton! If he decided to work one seq
ment only or separate segments, he
could hardly afford the proper mining
machinery for SO small amount of ore,
and the ore must consequently be TAX
en- out, if at all, at great cost. If it so
happened that the ore was poor on
top and grew rich at depth the orig
inal "discoverer" (prospector) would
own only the outer worthless shell, and
the other dozen (who had no part in
the finding or discovery would own
the mine!
The only complaint against the law
(and that raised chiefly by the conser-
walton bureaus) has been that there is
litigation" under it--when the chief
object of a law is the proper conduct
of litigation, not the stoppage of hon
est litigation.
Practically all the litigation has
arisen through the efforts of greedy
individuals seeking to take advan-
tage" of this benefieent law, and it is
not for them we are pleading when we
state that an effective remedy" for
most of this litigation has continuous
ly since 1872 been suggested to con-
gress by the miners and prospectors
themselves in stalking" what is known
as a protection" claim adjacent to the
original discovery claim on the side
toward which the vein dips" The
trouble has been that this protection"
claim could not be legally held with
out the discovery" required by law
to initiate the proceeding of '1oca-
tion." The protection" claims have
been commonly recognized and re-
spected by the miners and prospectors
but the moment the orig
inal find" appeared of great value
the protection" claim was Jumped"
and through the ground of the pro-
lection claim arose all subsequent lit
gation.
The plain duty of congress is to en-
act law authorizing the protection"
claim to be held for one year without
made within the year then the ground
10 lapse back to the public domain
out if discovery is made within the
year, then the owner to proceed with
lis protection claim under the regular
aw for lode claims.
The miners and prospectors have no
against the apex law, and
10 complaint to make against any of
he existing laws of congress as they
lffect lode claims and lode mining; and
hey earnestly pray that no revision"
'e now attempted.
Our present national mining code,
n as far as 1t relates to lode claims"
s simply a digest of the district rules
# miners" originated in the mining
amps of California in 1849, before the
of even territorial gov
The miners and prospectors
# those days sat in frequent legisla-
i've sessions, and made their own
avs C'district rules") for the proper
nd wise conduct of their prospecting 1
md mining operations. These dis
riot rules" with local variations,
quickly spread over the whole Rocky !
mountain area, from the Pacific ocean
o the present site of Denver, from the ]
Canadian line to the Mexican border, [
nd constituted "the law Of the land"
by all courts, even the &
upreme court of the United States. I
Tor 23 years the miners and prospect I
RS in the field earnestly strove to per-
ect laws for the government of min !
ng and prospecting-the result was ]
he most perfect code of mining laws c
hat the human ingenuity of those ac- {
ually operating in the field could de- I
Use Everything was tried, and the G
seless, the poorest, the ineffective,
nd impracticable were weeded out.
IN May 10, 1872 the results of their
abors and trials-the district rules"
were enacted by congress as the ma
ional mining code; and for the last :
8 years the miners and prospectors
f our country have successfully car
led on their business under that code;
nder that code they have taken the
randest strides in mining ever wit +,
essed on this earth -,