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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1905)
THE SUMPTER MINER Wednesday, January m, igu V LOCATOR HAS BUT SQUATTERS RIGHT iu the same mnutier (hnt !ode and quartz clnltnB are now required to bo marked, by substantial postH or mounds uf stoue, or earth and stone, aud that such a post or mound be "Tho lights of a claim owuor in the mining districts of Oregon are solely and Hitnply thu rights of a H(juiilt()r. " Tho above rather startling assor tion was inadn yesterday to a Miner man by ,1. Win WIhoii, gouoral manager of tho Listen Lake initio. Continuing, ho hiiid: "Title to iiiiiiitouti)d mining ground iu this Htate depend i entirely upon Iho voracity or living witmwHOH; and perjury Ih a common crime. "Thu HlatiitiiH of Orison make no provlHlmi for the filing of aflldavlfH of Ilia performance of annual assess ment work -commonly culled 'proofs of labor. ' ('roof that a o'aim owner Iiiih complied with Iho federal Iiiwh in uhL be Hiibiullled through the medium of oral liir.limouy Wit iii'hhch may die, or leave llm country, or desert to oppoHitiou claimanlH, mid the Htate of Oregon Ih powerleHH to prevent the Iohh of piH.HOHdinu by a bona llde claim owner of a piece of ground upon which he Iiiih par formed hard work in compliance with both the nplrlt aud the letter of the fednial mining law. "A claim owuer'H ability tain title to a properly claim -a title miarautoo.l government of the United depends upon the strength fighting arm and bin ability to re located by the 8latcH of IiIh to be a Jaw unto hliiiHil1 in standing con hI nil t guaid over bin location slakes to prevent tio.spiiHS. '"riuiHe aie facts not generally known. They are factH, ucvetthcloHH. The need of a remedy h imperative. No other matter connected with the in I n i mm indiiHlry piosout hucIi Htrong claims to the attention of the state legislature. 'The moutliH or milling men in thlH camp are just now full of varioiiH HUggoHlluiiH iih to the legislation needful for Hie advaiu'ement of the iuiluHtrv. It Iiiih iaeu praclically decided ti muke an attack upon Hie Kddy corpoiatinu tax law. While 1 realize that HiIh law imposes onerous buideiiri upon Oregon mining com panics, yet the movemeul, In my humble intimation, is ill-advised Jtopoiil iiroxfHttuu lawn relating to mining iu thin state will not 1111 the bill What we want -what ui iiiiihL Iiiimi is the enactment of more lawn. Oiegou iiiukH high iih a mining Htalu. The Industry in now of largo import unco. (h rata of growth in phenom enal. And yet the Htatute hunks ot tlii Htate contain hucIi a paucity of laws relating lo mining iih to create the Impiedhlou that there are no uiIiich iu existence. "Huudtodx of thouHuudri of dollarH have lieeu lost in thin camp alone through the uablity of claim hidden to rel.tiu possession uf their ground, moo alter complying with all known Jaw j. Endless litigation Iihh grown out of the Mime vmndition. Hun dieiln of pronpective luvontors have been hoarod away by a like cause. Shifting location stakes over lap ping linos back dated location noticed prior rlghle obliterated by thu assumption of armed possession perjury by men employed to ropioaout failure to describe location by moots aud hounds, which affoniH room foi mile-wide differencoH in in terpretation tho constant daiiKor of inlniii claims being Hwallowed up by timber locations trouble aud worry worry and trouble all those fhiiigH explain why Oregon. aH a mining Htate, will never arrive, uiiIohh our legislature enacts Iiiwh to bring order out ot tho existing cIiiioh. "What Ih the remedy V Frankly, I do not know. 1 am not a lawyer, nor a law maker. I only know that something iniiHt, be done aud by 'something' 1 do not mean the repeal of the Kddy tax law. Under existing condltioiiH the Kddy law Ih a bad law. It impoHOH taxation without roproHonlatinn - a condition lo rem edy which our forof attars fought aud died, bathing American hiptoty iu blood in which our eternal chartei of rights Ih wiltlon. The Eddy law takcH Homethlug from iih aud givoH nothing iu return, lint under bettered conditioiiH we could Htaud the Kddy tax would be willing to pay it. Therefore, let iih not tight the Eddy law, but ask for needful leglHlatlon in return for carrying a heavy burdou of tax. "There are many laws needful by the mining men of Oregon. Tho roHolutloiiH committee which reported to the inlner'H mast meeting liiHt Saturday, brielly sketched Home im poitaut poiutH. That committee, 1 uudcrHtaud, wiih empoweied to draft an omuibiiH milling bill, to be intro duced at the forthcoming hohhIou of Hie ieigslature by Roprosontivo Smith, which bill Ih certain to con tain uioaHiitoH for the relief aud pro motion of the mining indiiHtry of the whole Htate. Thin, 1 believe, Ih a move in the right direction. Iu Htead of sending a lobby to Salem to repeal the Kddy law, the better plan Ih to concentrate all our olfootivo in tlueuce upon the enactment of Im peratlvely uoooHHiiry mining leginla tion. TIiIh Ih the plan endorsed by State Senator Hand, with whom 1 had the honor of conferring iu linker City a few dayn ago. Senaor Hand under taken to push hucIi a bill thiough the upper bouse, and the oullHtmcrt of IiIh hiipport Ih of uuperlatlvu import ance. "i have given the matter of squatter rights- which, under ex isting lawn, are absolutely the only rights enjoyed by mining claim owueis -considerable thought, aud have evolved a plan, which, while iih yet Imperfect iu detail, Ih uovertho- less practicable. My plan Ih to ho cure the passage of a law embodying such poliiH hh will compel locators of quartz claims to obierre the follow ing precedure: "First, discoveiy aud location; second, assessment work within 'M or (10 daya; third, application (or mirvoj to a Htute or county surveyor, within 00 or ill) days, instead uf tiling a location notice with the county re corder, hh at present required. This survey Is to be absolutely accurate and the claim in to bo described by meets aud bounds, i unload of by reference to sumo natural otijeot, mm the existing law demands. Tho sur veyor Ih to tile hit Hold note with tho notice of location, and also to plat tho located claim on an official plat of tho county, upon which Ih oIho to bo shown all other claims, flmlinr I ni.tif I miu li ntiinul ourl ci citlr tillJUUt IUK'.. IU.JO, lU.l.V.Oll.UUU l.Ul . unappropriated domaiu. These plats placed at each corner or anglo of .will constitute an nliiiciai abstract loach clnim. of all the lands in ihe various miu- "At the present time tho locator iug counties, and will therefore of a placer mining claim is not re constitute a valuable aud convenient quired to record his claim, and for public record, from which can im- tills reason much coufusion has bore modiatoly ho determined tho presout tofoio resulted, as some locators of ownership of every piece ot ground in j placer mining claims record them tho onuntv. Hlue minis from these 'and others do not. Wo Ihornforo plats, which can probably bo made to , recommend that the include four sections each, aie to bo ! placer mining claim sold to inteiested parties at a nomi nal figure. Armed willi a set of these plats, a proospoctor can tell at a glance whore to go iu search of unappropriated ground and can avoid the common error of driviug takes on other locations. Tbeeo plats would bo valuable to tho promoter, who cau show by tho surveyor's cer tification tlieieon that such and such a claim has boon duly located iu compliance with all tho laws. Ac companying tho surveyor's Hold notes is to bo a certificate to tho olfoct that tho required assessment work for tho first year has boon performed and thereafter tho locator is to file an annual proof of labor, which is to bo prima facie evidence that tho laws have been observed. TIiIh surveyor Ih to bo a deputy United States min eral Hiirvoyor, with further authority from both tho state aud county aud his original field notes shall bo tho Dusts of a final aud ultimate survey for patent. In tho ovout of a lapsed location too re-locator In his applica tion for survey is to so designate and the Hiirvoyor la to notify tho original locator to appear and show causo why possession aud title should not pass from IiIh hands. "Such is my plan iu tho main. Details must, of couiso, be worked out later. Tho foe to bo charged by tho surveyor must bo decided upon ho iih not to impose too heavy on ex pense upon the prospector. Arrange ments must bo made to plat existing locations ho as not to compel old locators to observe au ex post facto law. However, 1 believe those do tails cau bo handled by tho proper persons, aud theroforo respectfully submit my plau to Iho mining men of Oregon." COM M ITTKE'S REPORT. The recommendations made by the resolutions committee at the mass mooting of mining nion at Hotel Suinpter Saturday night, touching the matter of legislation ueodful to promote the milling industry iu Ore gon, contained the following import ant suggestions relating to tho loca tion of placer claims: "Wo recommend that tho discoverer of a placor mine bo required within sixty days of the date of his din covory, to rocoid his claim iu tho otlico of the county recorder or county clerk of tho county iu which the claim Is loctaed; that his loca tion notice as posted and as recorded contain the follewiug: First, the nama of tho claim, designating it hh a placer mining calim; second, the name or names of the locator or locatois; third, the dato of discovery; fourth, tho date of location; fifth, the number of acres or amount of, urouud claimed; sixth, h description j of tho claim by legal subdivision, if the samo is located Hcoordlug to legal subdivision, aud If not, by such refer once to natural objects or permauout monuments us shall identify the calim. "That tho locator o( a placer miu ing claim bo required withiu thirty days from his location thereof, to mark the boundaries of said claim, recording of a be mude com pulsory." FEELING IN BAKER. The (laker City branch Minors' association held a meetiug thero lust evening, whou a vigorous attack was tnado on the obnoxious Eddy law and the following resolution adopt adept ed: Resolvod, That it is the sense of the mining iudnstry and the oltizeus of eastern Oregon that the filing fee aud annual tax against corporations embodied in what is known as tho Eddy law, is detrimental and iuimio ablo to tho miuing industry of tho state of Oregon; that it is tho souse of this meetiug that tho Eddy law bo modified aud adjusted on a fair aud equitable basis, looking toward a just aud equitable tax ou all in dustrial corporations. A committoo of flvo, consisting of Jus. U. Graham, E. Storer Tiro, Em mot Callahan, Fred J. Mollis aud Dr. W. J. May, was appointed to confor with the mining associations of the state aud to draw up suitable resolu tiotiH to bo presouted to tho legis lature, requesting rolief from tb odious provisions of tho Eddy law. Roy Clark, formerly a resident of Sumpter, a member of the firm of Jussen &, Clark, mining engineers, is iu town aud will will romain here several days. r Pitfalls of Mining Finance F This Is the only comprehensive work ever undertaken lor the jjuIJ ance nnJ protection of the great armv ol mining slock buver. It i eUt orate, thorough anJ simply over flowing with interesting detail. It Is written by ONI: WHO KNOWS Marry J. Newton, formerly managing cJltor of the Denver Mining Record, who Is regarded as an authority on the subject of mining Investments, Having no mining promotions nor stock-selling schemes of his own, he at once gains the confidence of his readers. He treats his subject abso lutely from on unbiased and Inde pendent standpoint, The book Is meeting with a great sale and Is strongly endorsed by Investors and by the press In general. It makes friends wherever it goes. "Pitfalls of Mining finance" Is not .1 pamphlet - It Is a book a hand booka veritable encyclopedia. It comprises aia pages, 6xq Inches in slxe, and Is sent, Cully prepaid, cloth, ft.uop r cepy: paper, jo cents. "Pitfalls of Mining llnsnce" Is the best Investment an Investor can make. Order teday: Address Atx SUMPTER M INER TTfF 1 jt Vr a fc