lode, with its dips, angles, and variations, to any depth, a the land adjoining, which land adjoining shall be sold subj

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That upon the filin provided in the second section of this act, and posting the ous place on the claim, together with a notice of intention t the register of the land office shall publish a notice of th per published nearest to the location of said claim, and notice in his office for the period of ninety days; and af said period, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, it sha surveyor general, upon application of the party, to surve make a plat thereof, indorsed with his approval, designati description of the location, the value of the labor and im character of the vein exposed; and upon the payment to five dollars per acre, together with the cost of such surv and giving satisfactory evidence that said diagram and noti on the claim during said period of 1nety days, the regist shall transmit to the General Land Office said plat, surv and a patent shall issue for the same thereupon. But said scription shall in no case cover more than one vein or lode, issue for more than one vein or lode, which shall be exp issued.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That when such loca mine shall be upon unsurveyed lands, it shall and may be tension thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the surveys premises according to the location and possession and pla surveyor general may, in extending the surveys, vary the tangular form to suit the circumstances of the country and t and customs of miners: Provided, That no location herea ceed two hundred feet in length along the vein for each loc tional claim for discovery to the discoverer of the lode, with such vein to any depth, with all its dips, variations, and ar a reasonable quantity of surface for the convenient working o by local rules: And provided further, That no person ma one location on the same lode, and not more than three tho taken in any one claim by any association of persons.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That as a further cond absence of necessary legislation by Congress, the local legis or Territory may provide rules for working mines involvin age, and other necessary means to their complete developme ditions shall be fully expressed in the patent.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That whenever any a any mine located and claimed as aforesaid shall appear befo the survey, as provided in the third section of this act, all P stayed until a final settlement and adjudication in the courts of diction of the rights of possession to such claim, when a pat other cases.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the President of be, and is hereby, authorized to establish additional land d point the necessary officers under existing laws, wherever same necessary for the public convenience in executing the pr

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the right of way tion of highways over public lands, not reserved for pub granted.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That whenever, by prio rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufactu poses, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized

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by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same; and. the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes aforesaid is hereby acknowledged and confirmed. Provided, however: That whenever, after the passage of this act, any person or persons shall, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injure or damage the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That wherever, prior to the passage of this act, upon the lands heretofore designated as mineral lands, which have been excluded from survey and sale, there have been homesteads made by citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become citizens, which homesteads have been made, improved, and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper discovered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the said settlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of pre-emption thereto, and shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity no, to exceed one hundred and sixty acres; or said parties may avail themselves of the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 20, 1862, entitled "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," and acts amendatory thereof.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That upon the survey of the lands aforesaid, the Secretary of the Interior may designate and set apart such portions of the said lands as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands shall thereafter be subject to pre-emption and sale as other public lands of the United States, and subject to all the laws and regulations applicable to the same.

2. PERMANENT TITLES TO MINERAL LANDS IN THE UNITED STATES.

In glancing back over the history of California for the last eighteen years, we cannot overlook the fact that the State has, for the want of a permanent mining population, lost what would be worth more than a hundred millions of money. The work has been done most'y by men who had no homes, and who did not intend to remain in California. Their enterprises generally were undertaken for the purpose of making the most profit in a brief time. There was no proper care for a distant future; and without such care no society is sound, no State truly prosperous. If a claim could, by hastily washing, be made to pay $10 per day to the hand for three months, or $6 for three years by a careful washing, the hasty washing was preferred. If a fertile valley that would have yielded a revenue of $5 per acre for century after century to a farmer could be made to yield $5 per day to a miner for one summer, its loam was washed away, and a useless and ugly bed of gravel was left in its place. The flumes, the ditches, the dwellings, the roads, and the towns were constructed with almost exclusive regard to immediate wants. The good turnpike roads were private property, on which heavy tolls were levied, so that not unfrequently a gentleman in a one-horse buggy would have to pay $5 or $10 toll in a day's travel. The claims were made small, so that everybody should have a chance to get one; but the pay-dirt was soon exhausted, and then there must be a move. In such a state of affairs miners generally could not send for heir families or make elegant homes. Living alone and lacking the influences and amusements of home-life, they became wasteful and wild. Possessing no title to the land, they did nothing to give it value, and were ready to abandon it at any moment. The farmers, merchants, and other fixed residents of the mining counties are agitated and frightened nearly every year by the danger of a migration of the miners to some distant place. One year it is Peru; another it is British Columbia, Idaho, Reese river, Pahranagat, or Arizona; and it may next be Brazil, Liberia, or Central Africa, for all we know.

RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITO

The losses to individuals and to the State have been s migrations that for years past there has been an increas change in the tenure of mining lands, so that the mining attached to the soil, and thus have an opportunity and a ing permanent homes and a personal interest in improving country. The act of Congress passed at the last session fee-simple titles to lode mines, and to the agricultural land tricts, is the beginning of a new and better era in the hi coast. So soon as the necessary surveys can be completed will be made for patents, and in a few years great and be result. Such is the general opinion among the more int public men of the coast. As an indication of the manner i the passage of the act was received, the following passag leading editorials in influential newspapers:

The San Francisco Bulletin, in its issue of July 31st, sai "No measure of equal consequence to the material, and, moral interests of the Pacific States, was ever before

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* *The passage of the bill, whatever defects i more critically examined and enforced, marks a change in th equal in importance to the adoption of the pre-emption and indeed its practical effect will be to extend the now unques that system to the vast field of the mineral regions which largely excluded from those benefits. * * evils of the negative policy of Congress regarding the mine * It wa it prevented our own people from acquiring titles to them, sures freely to the transient adventurers from abroad, who them away without leaving any equivalent. As a measure homogeneity and fixedness to our population, security to tit ment to investments of capital and labor, the new mining la We believe it will have the effect also to stimulate explorat in the mining districts. Its good features are apparent; its b in time and can be easily remedied."

The Alta Californian of the same date, said:

"The passage of the bill will be regarded in future times history of the State. It offers a patent to every lode mine opens all the agricultural land in the mineral districts to pre stead claims, and it will give secure titles, build up comforta a large permanent population in the rich mining country of

The Mining and Scientific Press, in its issue of the 14th o thus, editorially:

"The papers generally throughout the State (California) to approve the bill; and so far as we can judge there is a ge able to its passage, as a necessity for quieting the public mi tious question."

The Stockton Independent of January 8, 1866, spoke t evils which this bill was designed to cure:

"There are now over one hundred thousand adult men and of California and Nevada without homes or the possibility Shall we let this preposterous rule go on from generation from hundreds of thousands this nomadic population amounts tens of millions? From the twenty-seventh to the forty-se longitude, and from latitude thirty-four to the extremest no

United States, all is mineral land-all has been prospected and proven to be such.

Is it the part of wise statesmanship to adopt as a permanent law the rule that the millions who are in the next quarter of a century to occupy this vast area -over one-third of our territory-shall be without homes? Such a thing is horrible to contemplate. Compared with it the anarchy and social demoralization which have reigned in Mexico, Peru, and other Spanish American countries for the last half century are as nothing. The policy is wholly opposed to the instincts and habits of the Anglo-Saxon race-opposed to the idea of law and government. It invites the nation to anarchy and offers a premium to crime and pauperism.

It is high time that the rule were changed.

All the mineral lands ought to be surveyed in small lots and sold, or at least given away in fee to the occupants. These people should have homes and the means of acquiring permanent property and status as citizens."

The Sacramento Union of the 23d of June said:

"There are many miners who feel as deep an interest in the matter as others who devote themselves exclusively to farming, for prosperous miners, who do not wish to abandon the hills and valleys where they have harvested fortune, have a passion for pretty homes and a blooming ranch. Upon the whole, this bill has been framed with a more intelligent regard for the interests of the people of the Pacific coast than any other previous measure that we can now recall, and it is probable that its provisions can be executed without inflicting injury upon the rights which accrued under the policy hitherto pursued by the government. It is a great stride towards the final adjustment of a dangerous question, and a vast improvement upon the measures broached at Washington at various periods during the past three years."

Governor McCormick, of Arizona, in his annual message delivered to the legislature on the 8th of October, 1866, said:

"The act of Congress to legalize the occupation of mineral lands, and to extend the rights of pre-emption thereto, adopted at the late session, preserves all that is best in the system created by miners themselves, and saves all vested rights under that system, while offering a permanent title to all who desire it, at a mere nominal cost. It is a more equitable and practicable measure than the people of the mineral districts had supposed Congress would adopt, and credit for its liberal and acceptable provisions is largely due to the influence of the representatives of the Pacific coast, including our own intelligent delegate. While it is not without defects, as a basis of legislation it is highly promising, and must lead to stability and method, and so inspire increased confidence and zeal in quartz mining."

The Virginia Enterprise, the leading journal of the State of Nevada, in its issue of July 13, advocating the passage of the bill, said:

"The bill proposes nothing but what already exists, except giving a perfect title to the owners of any mine who may desire it. But the effect of this single title clause, if the bill becomes a law, will be of wonderful benefit to our State. Domestic, and especially foreign capitalists, who have been restrained from investing in our mines on account of the uncertain tenure by which they were held, and the general insecurity of title, will not hesitate to invest when they are guaranteed unmolested and permanent possession by the government. It will give an impetus to prospecting, for discoveries will be salable; to developments and heavy operations generally, for titles will be quiet and secure. will create an unprecedented demand for labor, and inaugurate enduring prosperity throughout the State. The poor and the rich, the workingman and the capitalist, will be equally benefited by it."

H. Ex. Doc. 29—15

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1. Mining laws.-2. Need of congressional legislation.-3. Customs Proposed width of claims.-5. Work required to hold claims.work required.-7. Law needed for centuries of mining.-8. C lish uniformity.-9. Miners' regulations in Nevada county.-1 Sierra county.-11. Miners' regulations in Tuolumne county.in Sacramento county.-12. Miners' regulations in Columbia dis lations in North San Juan district.-14. Miners' regulations in Miners' regulations in New Kanaka camp.-16. Miners' regula trict.-17. Statute of Nevada.-18. Blank district, Nevadavada.-20. Regulations of Reese River district.-21. Quartz Quartz statute of Idaho.-23. Quartz statute of Arizona.Mexico.

Mining for gold and silver is a business new in Angl provided for in our laws. Suddenly the American govern in the possession of the richest deposits of the precious with the certainty that the mining industry based upon th greatest and most permanent interests of the country. I foster this industry, to protect it, to frame a code of laws possible liberty to the miner who wishes to work fairly in from the earth, and will throw every possible obstructio drones and swindlers who wish to defraud the honest labo to pay for the right of working mines that should be charge.

And, first, let us look at the regulations adopted by statutes adopted by certain States and Territories in rega and silver.

It is impossible to obtain, within the brief time allowe report, a complete collection of the mining regulations, a rous that they would fill a volume of a thousand pages than five hundred mining districts in California, two hu one hundred each in Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon, each regulations. The main objects of the regulations are to the district, the size of the claims, the manner in which cl and recorded, the amount of work which must be done t the circumstances under which the claim is considered ab occupation by new claimants. The districts usually do a hundred square miles, frequently not more than ten, and