The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-04-20
OPPOSED TO SUSPENSION
OF ANNUAL ASSESSMENT
STANFlELD BILL is WITHOUT
SUPPORT OF MINING
INDUSTRY.

The bill 10 suspend annual assess
ment work on mining claims. recently
introduced by Senator Stanfield, Of
Oregon, has no support in the mining
sections of the west, and it is believed
that the Oregon senator has been i'm
posed upon by some one having utter
ior motives in prevailing upon him to
introduce the measure. This is evil
IDENTIFY the view taken by the Engineer
ing and Journal Press. which says edi-
torially:
No Reason for Suspension.
Senator Stanfield. of Oregon. could
have done better than introduce as he
did on February 20, a resolution to
suspend the requirements of annual as
sessment work on mining claims dur
ing "the years 1920 and up to and in
Guiding June 80. 1924" There was new
er more than two reasons for the sus-
pension of the assessment law. These
were, briefly. the absence of the claim
holder in service during the war, and
second the difficulty in securing labor
to perform the work. Neither of these
conditions now exists. nor have the
conditions named existed for some
time.
THE question has been well debated
in the past whenever IL has come up in
Washington. Beginning with the years
1917 and 1918, when the plea that the
Ia IA he c,1enan6ad x.rae uponfpoo,,oI,,
granted by congress, the matter has
been brought up for discussion year
after year. The law was again sus-
pended in 1919, when at first only five
claims held by an individual were ex-
empted, this restriction being removed,
however before the year ended, so that
all claims were then exempt. 1t was
promised then that suspension would
not be asked again in the future. The
matter, nevertheless. was brought up
in 1920, and a compromise, six months
extension of the time within which the !
that 1920 assessment work was being
performed until July l. 1921. Then |
last August bill was passed making |
the assessment-w work year coincide |
with the fiscal year instead of the cal !
endar year, which had the effect of
extending the period for 1921 work by
six months or until July l next at
noon. Thus claim holders had Is /
to do their 1920 work and will |
have a similar period for that required |
for 1921
1T is to be noted from the foregoing |
that the law was completely suspend
ed in 1917, 1918 and 1919 and that no |
work was necessary during those years |
to hold claims. But for the year 1920
he stipulated amount of work was re-
luired. and likewise for 1921, the time
IN which the work must be done in
both these periods merely having been
extended lin the latter period inciden
ally by six months. The significance
If Senator Stanfield's bill. then is seen
n that il provides for total suspension
# the requirements during the years
go. 1921, and up to June 80, 1924. II
S thus retroactive as far as 1920 is
oncerned and is a violation of the ]
romises made in 1919 that further s
suspension would not be asked s
Evidently the bill was drawn in the s
iterest of spectators. who located s
aims as they desired. without ex- 5
ense to themselves and in the hope of s
irning them over at a profit The Z
niger the period of suspension, the '
niger will birds of this feather flour Y
h. and with no resultant benefit to
ming. There is one bit of comfort
'wever. in all this, and that is that
e bill stands little chance of passing
1t the more quickly it is killed the n
tier" OF