Section

Page

15. Of contractors neglecting to pay the wages of workmen at the proper times 91
16. Of the penalties and punishments of persons obtaining supplies under pre-
tence of mining operations, and misapplying them

17. Of the punishment of persons presenting specimens as the produce of a
mine, and soliciting supplies on false pretences

CHAPTER XVI.

Of the Fund and Bank of Supplies.

1. Reasons for creating a general Fund for the mines

92

ib.

92

2, 3. The management and custody of the monies raised for this purpose to be
under the control of the Royal Tribunal General

93

94

13. Of the prices of goods delivered on account of the Bank in Mexico, and
the mining districts

4. Of the appointment of a factor

5. Of the mode of paying him, and the bail to be given by him for his conduct ib.

6. Who to have the custody of the capital, and who of the goods

7. Of the account of the contents to be taken annually of the warehouses and

8. Of the account between the Royal Tribunal and the mine-owners who are

supplied by the Bank

9. Of the writing clerks to be appointed for these purposes

10. Of the silver remitted by mine-owners to the Bank, and their duties in rela-

tion thereto

11. Of the salaries to be paid, and the accounts to be kept by the factor

12. Of the goods to be bought by him

ib.

ib.

ib.

95

ib.

ib.

ib.

96

14. Of the qualifications which must be submitted to the Royal Tribunal by

persons proposing for supplies

15. Of shewing no preference to mine-owners, except on the score of the
urgency of the case

16. Of the terms on which the supplies are to be furnished, and laying them
before the Royal Tribunal

17, 18. Of appointing interventors to mines supplied by the Bank, and of

their duties,

.

19, Of the salary of such interventors, and of rewards and punishments to

them in certain cases

20. Of the preference to be shown to an individual supplyer in cases of com-
petition between any such person and the said banks

CHAPTER XVII.

Of Surveyors for the operation of Mines, and the reduction of the metals from ore.

1. Of the importance and necessity of appointing proper persons to superin-
tend the mines and establishments, and of the appointment and descrip-
tion of the mining professors, and surveyors of reduction.

2. Of the instruments to be kept by the mining professors

. 99

3. Of the laboratories and machines for the surveyors of reduction

4. Of the certificates to be given by the mining professors to all persons desir-

ing to be employed in the mines

ib.

ib.

5. Of the certificates to be given by the surveyors of reduction to all persons

desiring to be employed in the reducing establishments

ib.

6. Of persons passing from one mining district to another

ib.

6. Of the oath to be taken before the Royal Tribunal by the mining professore

and surveyors of reduction

100

8. Of the credit to be given to the said professors and surveyors in the deter-

mination of causes

ib.

Section

9. Of the attendance of the said professors and surveyors upon the deputies

in their visits, and of their fees

Page

100

19. Of the qualification of persons employed in the mines, until the establish-
ment of the college of miners

ib.

11. Of the birth, parentage, education and manners of the said professors and

surveyors

101

CHAPTER XVIII.

Of the education and instruction of young persons intended for the mining business·

1. Reasons for the establisment of the college and schools of miners

2. Of the children to be maintained for the purpose

. 101

102

3. Of the free entrance into the schools in the case of other children

4, 5. Of the professors and teachers of the necessary sciences and arts

6. Of the title of the college, and of the education of the children

7. Of the control and direction of the college

8. Of the support of the college.

9. Of the royal protection

ib.

ib.

ib.

103

ib.

ib.

10, 11. Of the mode of electing the professors

103, 104

12. Of the lectures and treatises of the professors

13. Of the exercises of the students

104

ib.

14. Of the students being sent to finish their education under the Mining

professors or surveyors of reduction

ib.

15. Of the specimens of ores to be delivered by the Mine-owners and

1, 2. Of the general privileges granted to the Miners of New Spain 106, 107

3. Of their qualified freedom from arrest for debts

107

4. Of applying the produce of Mines or establishments in case of sequestration ib.
5. Of the reservation to a Mine-owner in case of an execution upon his other
property

6. Of the favour to be shewn to deserving persons in the Mining profession

7. Of the favour to be shewn to the children and descendants of deserving

mine owners and suppliers

8. Of the eligibility of Mine-owners and administrators to the office of magis-
trate or governor, and of their privilege of excusing themselves

9. Of the preference to be shewn to Miners in obtaining lands, renting houses,
and buying provisions; and of their liberty to hunt, fish, &c. and other
privileges

10. Of checking the extravagance of Miners.

11. Of the prohibition of gambling and other shameful diversions among the
Miners

12. Of the duty of the Royal Tribunal, and of the territorial deputations, and

of the force and effect of these Ordinances, and of the mode of proceed-

ing in case of any doubts arising as to their construction

13. Of the duties of the council of the Indies, the Royal Audiencies and Tri-
bunals, the Viceroy, Captains and Commandants General, Governors,
Intendants, Ministers, Judges, and all other persons, in respect to these
Ordinances, and of their final authorization and confirmation

b.

ib.

108

ib.

ib.

109

ib.

110

ib.

II.

Laws of Spain concerning Mines of gold, silver, and other metals, contained in

the 18th title of the Novisima Recopilacion, with Gamboa's Commentaries on

Law 4.

Page

LAW 1. The right of the king in mines of gold, silver and other metals, salt

springs and wells, and the prohibition to work them without royal license 112

LAW 2. Concerning the right of searching for mines by a person on his own
lands, and those of other persons to seek them

LAW 3. Concerning the incorporation of mines of gold, silver and quicksilver in

the crown by royal patrimony, and the mode of working them

LAW 4. With Gamboa's commentaries. New ordinances which are to be ob-

served in the discovery, occupation and working of the mines of gold,

silver, quicksilver and other metals

CHAPTER I.

ib.

. 113

116

Of the new code of mining ordinances, the old ordinances remaining in force, so

far as they are not repealed by the former, and how far they are to be ob-

served in the kingdom of New Spain. A notice of the ordinances

framed by some of the viceroys, and of the ordinances in force in Peru ib.

CHAPTER II.

Of the supreme right of the prerogative in the mines of gold, silver, and other

metals. Of the re-annexation to the crown of all the mines, heretofore

the subject of grants by provinces and bishoprics, in order to give an in-

terest in them to the subjects of the crown generally, wherever situate.

Of the very ample nature of the grant, as regards the Indies.-Of the

persons who are prohibited from working mines.-Of foreigners, ecclesi-

astics and curates

SECTION I. The working of quicksilver mines was at first permitted in New

Spain, but was subsequently, in several instances, prohibited, it having

been made unlawful to sell quicksilver in New Spain, except such as is

remitted and distributed on account of the crown

CHAPTER III.

Of the different terms under which the crown has, from time to time, permitted

its subjects to work the mines.-Of the richness of the mines of Spain

in former times, and their subsequent decay.-Of the great number of

mines the Indies contain, and the duty of a fifth, a tenth, or a twentieth,

reserved to the crown upon the gold, silver and other metals raised from

them

CHAPTER IV.

It is permitted to try for and work mines without restraint, in public and also in

private ground, subject, as to the latter, to the right of the proprietor to

be compensated for the damage done to his property, according to an es-

timate to be made by surveyors. The occupying and registering the

mine gives any person a right against the owner of the soil

CHAPTER V.

Of registering mines of gold and silver, and of entering in the register the sales,

transfers and alterations of the boundaries of such mines; how and be-

122

. 139

144

162

fore whom such registry is to be made; and that the difference between

registry and denouncement is only in form, and not in substance

CHAPTER VI.

A mine, not the property of the party, cannot be registered by him

CHAPTER VII.

Of mines held in partnership, of the number of hands required to be employed in

them; of the mode of regulating the work, and dividing the pro-

duce; of the different kinds of agreement applicable to partnerships

in this species of property; of the modes in which such partnerships

are determined, and of the number of mines they may lawfully hold

CHAPTER VIII.

Of first discoverers, and their privilege of holding several mines, an ordinary

miner being capable of holding two only, unless acquired by purchase

or inheritance, under which circumstances he may hold an unlimited

number

Page

170

182

188

211

CHAPTER IX.

Of the length and breadth of mines, and in what manner they must be taken.

Of the fixed stake, which all persons are bound to adhere to in their

mines. Of the discoverer's right to a larger extent of ground in all the

mines which he shall originally fix upon. It is shewn there may be dif-

ferent first discoverers in respect of different veins, in one and the same

mineral tract

221

CHAPTER X.

Of the necessity of setting out boundary stakes, and of the term allowed by

law for that purpose, as well when the owner of the mine, who is re-

quired to set them out, is absent, as when he is present

CHAPTER XI.

236

The miners ought to stake out and measure the boundaries of their mines, ac-

cording to the order and standing of their respective entries in the re-

gister. The question considered and solved, whether, if a mine be in-

sufficiently worked, or become forfeited in any other manner, and be

afterwards denounced and adjudged to some other person, regard should

be had, in measuring out the boundaries, to the original registry, or to

that made subsequently upon the denouncement.
242

CHAPTER XII.

Of measuring the boundaries of mines, and of the great importance and ne-

cessity of a precise observance of the ordinances upon this subject. Of

the subject to which the measurement is applied. Of the surveyors em-

ployed in making measurements, and of the mistakes occasioned by their

unskilfulness, and the mischief to which these mistakes give rise. Of

the instruments required for the purpose, and of the surveying of mines,

internally and externally

252

CHAPTER XIII.

Of altering the boundaries and making additional pits, and the circumstances

under which either of these may be done; and of the unappropriated

spaces remaining after the boundaries of the mines have been deter-

mined

Page

255

CHAPTER XIV.

of internal communications occurring between the works of different mines.

A party who, being in the immediate pursuit of ore, makes his way

into the pertenencia of another proprietor, gains a property in the ore

he raises, up to the time of the works communicating, and the dimen-

sions being ascertained. It is shewn, that the property of the vein is

not granted to an indefinite extent upon the underlay; and that if two

miners happen to communicate at a point without the limits of either

pertenencia, they are entitled to maintain their ground, up to the point

where they meet. Of the impropriety of opening a pit, merely for the

purpose of gaining access to the ore of another proprietor. Of the

cases where no fraudulent or wrongful intentions are imputed, the

ground of suspicion being removed by the great deviations from regu-

larity exhibited in some veins, as well as in the intermediate spaces be-

tween them

264

CHAPTER XV.

To authorise the registering a mine in the name of another person, it is ne-

cessary that the person making the entry should either be the hired

servant of the other, or have a special authority for the purpose. Of

the powers of servants registering mines for their masters

CHAPTER XVI.

Of the depth of three estados, to which the mines are required to be sunk, and

of the term allowed for sinking it. Of the cases which are exempted

from this obligation. A mine cannot be sold until sunk to this depth.

Of the formalities required in selling mines sunk to the proper depth.

Whether there be any remedy in case of lesion enorme, in sales of this

class of property. Of the other contracts which may be made concern-

ing mines, especially the precarious gift or loan

CHAPTER XVII.

Of the number of four persons required to be kept at work in mines of gold

and silver, and of the penalty of forfeiture which attaches upon their

being left unworked for four successive months, after which there can

be no restitution or other remedy. Of the description of work

about which they must be employed, and which is determined to be any

kind of work, whether upon the surface or in the interior, tending to

the habilitation of the mine. The only grounds of exemption from the

penalty are, the occurrence of pestilence, famine, or war. Consider-

ations on the deficiency of hands for these most important works

CHAPTER XVIII.

284

293

. 306

Of the judicial course of proceeding in the first and second instance, upon the

denouncement of a mine. Of the strictness required to be observed

in both instances, any other appeal being denied; and of the sentence

of adjudication of the mine

320