The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-03-01


only deprive him of portion of his
find-perhaps the larger portion--but
the leasing law would strip him of all ,
The miners and prospectors of the
west look upon the proposed abroga-
ton of the apex law as being merely
an "interlocutory proceeding by the
secretary of the interior to hold the
estate" intact until he can induce
to enact the general leasing
bills.
Mining by Segments.
If the apex law were abrogated,
then, when the mine operator wished
to buy a mine located on a vein or de-
post with shallow dip" he would
probably find that instead of having
to deal with one prospector for
whole mine, he would have to pur-
chase that mine by purchasing a half
dozen or dozen segments located along
the dip, and from as many separate
and distinct owners, each endeavorng
to get more than his neighbor for his
own particular segment-he would be
confronted with practically impossi-
BILE proposition. If he decided to work
one segment only, or separate seq
ford the proper mining machinery for
so small an amount Of ore, and the
ore must consequently be taken out, if
at all. at great cost.
The makers of our present mining
code considered a mine as laid down
in nature to be an integral affair. They
said: "A mine, large or small, is a
nnine!" "A mine should be found,
owned, sold. purchased, operated and
handled as whole mine--it should
/ not be artificially divided up into an
indefinite number of small segments
, for separate landings" Therefore,
we use in our deeds of conveyance the
familiar phrase: Said vein, lode,
ledge, or deposit together with all it's
dips, spurs, and angles"
Law Should Encourage Prospector.
The prospector is always working at
the actual foundations of the mining
business; yet the business of pros
pecting would be effectualy abrOgated
along with the abrogation of the apex
law. The business of prospecting is
naturally fraught with many hard
ships, many risks, many dangers, re-
sulting in almost uniform failures:
and being now even more risky and
difficult than formerly, owing to the
fact that the mines easiest found
have been found it would seem the
part of wisdom to make laws to en-
courage the prospector, rather than to
thwsrt him in his business.
Now supposing the apex law abro-
gated. and taking again, for illustra
ton, a vein or deposit of shallow
dip" if it so happened that the ore
was poor on top and grew rich in
depth, the original 'discoverer' (pros-
pector) would own only the outer
worthless shell, and the other dozen
men who located alongside him (but
who had no part in the finding or dis
covery) would own the mine. Does
that sound encouraging to the pros
pector?
! The only complaint against the apex
law land that complaint raised chiefly
by the conservation bureaus assisted
l., n &c
that there is litigation under it, when
those incandescent most lovable silk
stockings should know-probably do
know something. If they could only
think of it-that the chief object of a
law is the proper conduct Of litiga-
ton, not the stoppage Of honest liti-
cation.
Remedy for Litigation.
ANY good law is always subject to
abuse, and practically all the ltga-
ton has arisen through the efforts Of
greedy individuals seeking to take un-
due advantage of this beneficent law.
1t is not for them we plead when we
most of this litigation has continu-
ously since 1872 been suggested to
congress by the miners and prospect
ors, themselves. in stalking what is
known as the protection" claim ada
cent to the original discovery claim on
the side toward which the vein dips.
The trouble has been that this pro-
lection claim could not be legally held
without the discovery required by law
to initiate the proceeding of location,
because the requisite outcropping or
indication did not appear at or near
the surface of the protection claim.
Protection claims have been common
~ recognized and respected by the
miners and prospectors themselves;
but the moment the original find ap-
peared Of great value the protection
claim was jumped and through the
ground of the intended protection
claim arose all subsequent litigation.
The plain duty of congress is to en-
act law permitting and authorizing
the protection claim to be held for
one year without discovery and II no
discovery is made within the year,
then the ground to lapse back to the
public domain: but If discovery is
made within the year. then the own
4, 4. al