Year: 1859




ne Merced Mining Company, has made a very
important decision. The defendants take the
position that the ownership of minerals is in the
General Government-that the General Govern.
ment has in effect given to the miners a sort of
general license to enter upon any lands contain
ing gold and extract the same therefrom. whe-
lner such be public lands, or lands covered by
perfected pre-emption claims or confirmed Span
ish grants.


! Court does not pretend to say to which
Government, State or Federal, the minerals be-
long, although it very plainly intimates the
opinion that they do belong to either one or the
other. The Court, however, declares that if
they belong to the Federal Government, then
the miner has no right, under existing law, to
enter upon the land of grant holders and extract
the gold-for the reason that the General Gov
ernment has given them no license so to do, nor
can she give such license. The General Gov
ernment, even if the minerals in all lands belong
to her, cannot authorize any one to enter upon
private lands for the purpose of extracting it,
She can only exercise her right to gather the
gold by observing such rules and regulations as
the local sovereign, the possessor of the right of
eminent domain the State, may see fit to adopt.
The Court says;


There must be more specific legislation than
any yet resorel to before the invasion of pri-
vate property can be permitted in search of or
for the extraction of the mineral


What that specific legislation must be, the
Court thus intimates


=" it must embody provisions for the protec-
ton of the rights of the landed proprietor, and
furnish ample indemnity against the damage
arising from the injury to his possessions"


Several years ago the writer introduced bill
into the State Senate which would have afforded
precisely that specific legislation" which the
Supreme Court now says is necessary to enable
miners to extract the gold from Spanish grants.
It provided fully against any possible loss on the
part of the land owner. But the owners of
Spanish grants, to man, were opposed to it
and what was very strange, even the Senators
generally from mining districts looked upon it
with equal unfriendliness. Norman, Chairman
of the Committee on Mines and Mining Interests.
wrote a report against it, alleging that it was
.'fraught with great danger to the mining inter-
ests of the State" because it claimed, what ev-
cry other State in the Union claims, " exclusive
sovereignty over all the territory within its
borders" including, of course the mineral
lands The author of that report, as well as
Lieut.. Gov. Walkup, J. W. Vaudeville, and G.
J. Carpenter, who signed it, have doubtless, long
ere this, laughed at their very absurd blunder.
The idea of the Committee that the bill was
dangerous because it claimed for the State ''the
right of eminent domain in all the territory with
in its borders, is enough to make even horse
laugh. And yet it was this utter misapprehen-
sion of the meaning of the term, " the right of
men, as well as VIM. l. Fergu son, to sign re-
port recommending the indefinite postponement
| of bill that would have furnished the State
with the precise "specifc legislation which the
Court says she deeds.


1t is exceedingly desirable that the Supreme
Court of the United States determine where the
proprietorship of the gold in Spanish grants
rests. If it belongs to the owner of the land, it
is to his interest," as well rs to the interest of the
miner, that it be known speedily. Ifit belongs
to the State, then she should know it, so to
| provide as soon as may be, such specific leg
islation" as the Supreme Court thinks necessa-
ry.


For it would appear from the line of argument
pursued by the Court that not even the owner
of the land has right to extract the gold
therefrom until the question of its proprietor
ship is judicially determined If the gold be-
longs either to the Federal Or the State Govern
ment, the owner of the land of course has no
more right to extract it, without the consent of
Congress or the Legislature, or of both, than
perfect stranger. Hence the miners of Maripo-
sa should at once take such legal steps as would
bring the question to speedy solution. Let
them, if possible, sue out an injunction restrain
ing Fremont from extracting gold from the land.
Then We think the Court will be forced to meet
the question which they have so ingeniousy
lodged. They will then be compelled to locate
the proprietorship of the gold in Spanish grants.
1t is alike important to miner and grant-holder
| that this be done speedily Otherwise ex-
tensiye tracts of mining lands now yielding
large amounts of gold, may be rendered entire
ly unproductive-unless, indeed, the land own
er, in the absence of any legal restriction, sees
fit to sell to miners licenses for entering upon
his land in search of gold.


| In this connection we refer all parties con-
cerned, to an advertisement of Maj. B. B. Read
ing, forbidding all persons from entering upon
and occupying his lands for any purpose what
ever. According to existing law and the deci-
sion of the Supreme Court, no man has right
to enter upon Maj. Readings land for the purpose
of mining-no more than he has for the purpose
Of farming.


SEND THEM OyERLASD.-We advise everybody
to send their letters overland. On the corner of
each envelope mark these works: Overland,
via Los Angeles" They will reach their desti-
na tion in the East sooner than If sent by steam