Year: 1879

The Senate Bill 10 empower the dis trict courts to pass upon the validity of Private Land claims in Arizona and other Territories and Colorado, passed on the 4th instant. X most interesting discussion occurred on it, and most important amendment relating to grants carrying the minerals with them was adopted with little or no obiec. ton. The somewhat excited interest this matter has recently assumed in Arizona and elsewhere, owing to the advance of the railway, discussion ir the local newspapers and legislature induces us to surrender much space tc the Senate discussion, viz:

 hIr Edmunds. l ask the Senate tc take up and dispose of the bill it had nearly finished, ss supposed, on the day of the last sitting-the bill IS. No 376) to provide for nscertaining and settling private land claims in certain States and Territories.

 The Vice-President The Senate. as in Committee of the Whole, resumes the consideration of the bill which was considered in the morning hour of Saturday last, the pending question being on the amendment proposed by the Senator from California, MT. Sar gent, which will be reported

 The Secretary. IL is proposed to in. sert after the word minerals" " in line .18 of section 12 of the substitute re- ported from the Committee on Private Land Claim, "known to exist a5 the time of filing the pelition;" so as to read:

 No allowance or confirmation of any claim shall confer any right or title to any gold, silver, or quicksilver mines or minerals, known to exist at the time of filing the petition, unless the grant claimed under provided for and effect ed the donation or sale of such mines or minerals to the grantee.

 Mir Edmunds. l oEly wish to say to the Senate ID regard to the amend ment proposed by my friend from Cali tOrnia, that the Committee on Private Land Claims were not ignorant of the general statute To which he referred respecting mining claims; but the Senate will see-I will not take tho JIulIU ..., oau It UUOuuSe my IrlenQ VIII agree that I state it cOrrectly-the Sen ate will see that that act, which speaks of mines known 10 exist, is merely in that connection intended to limit cross claims to a public mIne that belongs to the United States, to which mining claims have been made either Of a placer character or of the vein Xii q that where a claim of this kind is made under the circumstances there mentioned the claimant shall elect ID a certain instance what he is to do, and if he does not, then a certain re- suit is to follow. l submit to my friend and 10 the Senate that that principle has no application to a case of this kind. It is very proper where it stands, II agree; but this bill, as 1 wish to re. peat, is a bill merely to ascertain and turn over by formal title to the real owner that real estate which by the treaties with Spain and with Mexico we were bound to recognize his pro prietary interest in. That is all We excluded these mineral deposits, mines of the precious metals, for the reason that as wesunderstOod the Spanish and Mexican law these general grants Oi land merely as land did not carry the mines of the precious metals that lay in them, and therefore the claimant was not entitled to them; but If Tn any case by force of the grant, where thi: royal reservation may have been waiv ed, such a waiver appeared, then we provided that he should have it. Tha is to say, the bill goes entirely on tho principle for this purpose of giving tc the owner precisely the title that we were bound by the treaty to give him, and not to give him any other. That we think this effects, and mol only for the reason that that is justice | but for reasons that we thought sound in connection with the enOrm ouI claims that exist in these unsettled and arid Territories it would be very dan gerous to provide in advance that those who succeeded in covering eleven square leagues of land (which is tho l largest allowance that we make) should have the additional temptation of en deavoring to get up false claim and get 8 wrong confirmation from the fact that they had discovered, whether Il

 was publicly known or not, that those particular leagues of land included some valuable precious metals. We thought it was better, therefore, tc leave this settlement of the land title entirely by itself, and reserve to Con

 gress the power by its general legisla 1 ton to regulate the subject ot tho mines. < grant may include clever square leagues; it is not required thai ] it shall be in square body. Elever square leagues, allowing three miles tC la league, might make a stretch of lanc that would be thirty three miles Ions and three wide, and that tract nigh ! follow vein in one of these mOun tains thirty-three miles in possible case. All these considerations led u:

 to think that it was much better, inas much as they had DO title 10 them, tC exclude the mines and the minerals

 from the operation of this bill, leav ing therefore Congress full power [,

 regulate the matter by general provi sion.

 NIT. Sargent. am not feeling wei

 enough to debate this question; but

 will say a few words and then leave

 the amendment I have moved to it | fate.

 I simply am pleading for peace 1T

 the Territories. The principle of my

 amendment is exactly the principle O that which heretofore has been ID