Imperial Valley press., 1920-03-06

4. 1919, died at the ending OF the ses-
sion for want of action. 1t was IN
troduced again with very few changes
at meeting of the Joint committees
of the house an dsenate and was pre-
sented to both houses at the same
time, heing sent to the president FEB
"a and signed by him the next day.
and is known as "An act to promote
the mining of coal, phosphate, oil. gas
and sodium on the public domain,
Heretofore it has been impossible
for man to lease oil lands under
the old mining bill passed by con-
gress IN 1S4S, for in that bill 1t spe--
cltically states that the discovery OF
oil or mineral must be made before a
lease can be granted, and owing to
the enormous expense attached to or
ganizlng company for prospective
purposes. men were unwilling to at
tempt the work on government owned
lands.
The following is an interview with
! James W. Glassford and H. l.. Welch
on the subject, both of the attorneys
have made application at the land Of
flee for filing under he new law and
both approve it most heartily.
This act, which was approved by
the president on Feb. %, 1920, at 3
o'clock p. M, radically changed the
mining laws under which certain min
eral resources, including oil, of the
United States have been exploited and
developed.
"All public lands in the United
States containing oil are subject to
the provisions of this act and can be
prospected and developed under no
other law except where claimant had
entered into possession prior to the
date of the passage of this act and
has a valid claim existent under the
laws then in force.
"The courts have defined what con-
stitutes valid claim under the law,
that is, the law in force prior to- the
25th day of February, 1920. In the
known neld where discovery has al
ready been made, nearly all of the,
public lands are held under the valid
claims initiated and existent under
the old laws. In the Imperial valley
there are but one, or two sclaims wh,ehi
are valid claims initiated under the
old law. The valid claims of the
Imperial valley receive their legal
force by reason of their Being in the
actuak bona fide possession of claim
ants who are actually engaged in the /
continuous and vigorous prosecution
of the work leading to discovery sot
oil or gas. strsS 4
Prior to the passage OF this act
there was no law under which the
publica lands could be prospected for
oil except the general mining avs OF
tho IInitad CtafoSf u tf-f4t - :, Z: 4
= Before valid claim could be in
itiated under the general mining laws
of, the United States, there must be
erals in the land claimed. In the case
of oil. which is held to be a mihetaly
it is obvious that discovery cannot be.
made except after 'gkeat' expense and
after drilling to great depths. = , j.
The courts, in order TO protect bona
,ide sprospectors for oil and gas on
public lands have judicially defined
valid oil claim. While uniformly
holding that a claim cannot be- per-
fected until discovery, they !, lave
held that one who is a bona fine oc-
cupant Of oil or gas producing land,
who has been diligently and cont;nu-
ously prospecting work leading to
discovery of oil or gas, shall hayetaI
valid claim so long as possession isl
held and the work diligently PROSE-
cuted. -f.t.slifi
Operation under the old law was
obviously cumbersome and defective
and exposed the prospector to danger
of loss of his holdings for temporary
cessation of work or temporarily be-
ing out of possession.
under the new law a person. assO-
citation. or corporation is permitted to
perfect on an area of Ian dnot to ex-
ceed 1850 acres. The first step to in
itiative right is to construct upon
conspicuous part of said land monu-
ment not less than four feet high, and
to post upon said monument, or near
it. a notice stating that the claim ant
will within 80 DAYS apply for permit
to prospect. The application for per-
NIT must be filed at the United States
land office within 80 DAYS after the
resting of the notice and within 90
days after the permit is granted the
land must be surveyed and the corners
marked by prominent monuments,
then within six months after the per-
NIT is granted the prospector must be-
gin work leading to discovery. Within
one year after the permit is granted
the prospector must drill to deDth
of 500 feet, and 1000 feet within two
| years.
Leases are granted after discovery
is made"