Opinion ID: 1359672
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Government Work.

Text: Appellants contend that the work done on the mineral claims here involved by the agency of the United States Government should not inure to the benefit of the defendants and their assigns. They claim that the development required by law must be done at the expense of private parties and that work done at the expense of the taxpayers of the country ought not and does not inure to locators of mining properties. There are no decisions so far as we know on this point, but in view of the probable development of uranium claims in the future, and the fact that a situation like that at bar may again arise in a number of cases, we think that we should give our opinion on the subject, hoping that our reasoning will not be too far afield. If the contention of appellants is correct, it must be so generally. Suppose that a governmental agency enters into a contract such as here involved but with the right to exclusive possession for say two years or as long as the Government desires. The right or power of the Government to enter into such a contract can hardly be doubted, and in view of its vital interest in the development of uranium claims, a patriotic citizen could hardly refuse to join in such a contract. Let us further suppose that at the end of a year or later the Government quits work on the claim. If the contention of appellants is correct, the locators would be compelled to constantly be on the watch to see when the Government would quit. If it should quit in the middle of the night, then at one o'clock in the morning thereafter, a junior locator, more vigilant than the senior locator, could relocate the property and obtain priority over the senior locator. Such a result would, of course, be utterly unjust and deplorable and hence should not be considered to be good law. That should be said to be true also under the contract in the case at bar, for the United States Government might have chosen to have exclusive control of the premises. It would seem to be clear accordingly that at least considerable doubt is thrown on the contention of the appellants that the work of the Government in no manner whatever affected the rights of the parties herein. The argument that the money of a taxpayer cannot or ought not to be used in exploring and developing the mineral claims of the defendants becomes rather shadowy when we consider the numerous projects in which the Government is involved. It has, for instance, spent millions of dollars for the development of water power and water rights so that some of the people may have cheaper power and cheaper water for agriculture. The development of uranium claims is, it is hardly necessary to say, also important. It may involve the safety of the Nation. To spend a few thousand dollars to help develop such claims would have a tendency to further development by private parties. It would be to the interest of the public at large. There is, of course, a difference between the projects above mentioned such as in connection with water rights and the work done by the Government in the case as bar. But the fundamental principle involved is, we think, very similar. True, by the projects mentioned above, the benefit would go to many, while the apparently direct benefit in this case would go to but few, but the indirect benefit might be different, might be great, and the agents of the Government doubtless thought it to be so, otherwise, they would not have done the work in question. It is stated that labor performed by a mere trespasser or a stranger to the title not in privity with the owner will not inure to the benefit of the locator. 2 Lindley on Mines, 3d Ed., § 633. See 58 C.J.S. 127, n. 25. The term in privity with is somewhat uncertain. See under the term Privity in 72 C.J.S. 954, et seq., and 33 Words and Phrases 798, et seq. Perhaps it means one who has acquired an interest in the land from and through the locator, for it is said that the ground of privity is property, not a personal relation. Bailey v. Sundberg, 49 Fed. 583, 586. If that is the meaning, it could not well be said that the United States acquired an interest in the title to land by and through any act of the original locators. We need not, we think, pursue this point further. The federal act in relation to the performance of annual labor on mineral claims does not say by what party the work shall be done. Wailes v. Davies, 158 Fed. 667. The act contains no prohibition that it may not be done by the Government. It is well settled that the locator need not personally do the assessment work. The work may be done by an agent or representative of the locator who does the work at the instance of the locator. 58 C.J.S. 127, Nesbitt v. DeLamar's Nevada Gold-Min. Co., 24 Nev. 273, 52 P. 609, 610. The Government of the United States is purchaser of uranium ore. Such ore may also be purchased, as appears in the record before us, by private purchasers licensed by the Government. Suppose that such private purchasers should enter into a contract with the locator to develop the uranium locations; there can scarcely be any doubt that such development work would inure to the benefit of the locator. Now, since the Government is also a purchaser, it is difficult to see why an exception should be made in that case. The Government is the owner of the lands until patent is issued; it is interested in having the claims developed; it has the power to develop them without interference by anyone. If it chooses to develop the property jointly with the locator, either periodically or otherwise, no particular reason exists why it should not do so. Every contract which the Government makes with private individuals presumably bestows some benefit on the latter. It is not easy to see why the contract involved in the case at bar should not bestow a benefit on the defendants and their assigns and lessees and thus create an exception to the general rule, when presumably the Government receives a benefit in return. We think that the contention of the appellants now considered should be overruled, and that we should hold the development work done by the Government of the United States on the uranium claims here involved inured to the benefit of the defendants and their assigns and lessees. In view of what has been said, it follows that the judgment of the trial court should be and is affirmed. Affirmed. HARNSBERGER, J., concurs.