Weekly journal-miner., 1919-01-01

absolute appropriation of the land, that requires no assertion in the local
 land office until such time as patent
 may be sought, that under the stock
 raising homestead law, which author
 izes entries to be made with reser-
 vation to the United States of all the
 coal and other minerals in the land,
 valuable mining locations may be in
 cluded within stock-raising home
 stead entries without the knowledge
 of the district land office, or perhaps
 even of the mining locator himself.
 It is true the stock-raising homestead
 act makes provision for the reserva-
 ton of the minerals, and the right to
 mine and remove the same under cer-
 tain restrictions, but the mining To- cator contemplates with alarm the pos sibility of his surface rights being substantially wiped off of the map
 by the allowance of a homestead
 entry. The question is therefore ask ed, by those interested in the devel- opment of mineral claims, whether the stock raising homestead act op- crates in any degree to repeal the mining law in so far as it provides for Ia possessory right in one holding un- der a valid location.
 b It should be remembered that our public land policy has always drawn a sharp line between agricultural and mineral lands, making distinct pro visions for acquisition of title to the latter with special provisions for the protection of the prospector and the miner There is nothing in the stock raising homestead law that justifies an inference that congress had any intention, in the enactment of that intention, in the enactment of that law, to depart from it usual policy in dealing with the public land. It did not seem good to congress to with hold indefinitely, for purposes of mineral exploration lands that had some agricultural value, and in order | that such agricultural value might be utilized it made by this act provision for the disposition of such lands, with a reservation of minerals to the United States. This, however, shoul not be taken as indicative of any in tent to abridge existing rights ac- quired under the mining law, but may impose upon the holder of posse sorry title some additional vigilance in the matter of asserting his claim. It has always been incumbent upon mining claimants of unpatented land to protect tieir possesory rights as against adverse claims under the ag- ricultural laws, and the burden will be no greater now under the stock raising homestead laws than hereto fore. With any degree of ordinary diligence, mining locators should be fully aware of the assertion of home stead grazing rights in conflict with their mining claims, and if occasion requires, they should file at the earli- est opportunity, with the district land office a formal protest duly corrobor- ated, against the allowance of the ag  ricultural entry without due protec- ton of the mining claim, setting forth in detail the description and charac ter of the land in conflict, and the title of the locator thereto, together with request for hearing. If this is done, it is not believed that the subsequent proceedings in the land department will fail to as fully pro- tect the rights of the mining claim ant as though the stock-raising home stead law had not been enacted.