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houses, or other objects of a national character. It is understood that titles of some kind, generally not valid without the confirmation of Congress, have been procured, and are claimed, to some of those points, which, if con firmed to and made the property of individuals, must be purchased back at a very large price. The right of the United States to such sites, where valid, ought to be at once asserted; and every spot necessary to the use of the government should be selected and separated from the general mass of public lands, and reserved from sale, and from the operation of the pre-emption laws, as they shall be extended to that territory.

MINERAL LANDS IN CALIFORNIA.

It is understood that a few of the larger grants cover, to some extent, the mines of gold and quicksilver.

By the laws of Spain these mines did not pass by a grant of the land, but remained in the crown, subject to be disposed of according to such ordinances and regulations as might be from time to time adopted. Any individual might enter upon the lands of another to search for ores of the precious metals; and having discovered a mine, he might register and thus acquire the right to work it on paying to the owner the damage done to the surface, and to the crown whose property it was, a fifth or tenth, according to the quality of the mine. If the finder neglect to work, or worked it imperfectly, it might be denounced by any other person, whereby he would become entitled.

This right to the mines of precious metals, which by the laws of Spain, remained in the crown, is believed to have been also retained by Mexico while she was sovereign of the Territory, and to have passed by her transfer to the United States. It is a right of the sovereign in the soil as perfect as if it had been expressly reserved in the body of the grant; and it will rest with Congress to determine whether, in those cases where lands duly granted contain gold, this right shall be asserted or relinquished. If relinquished, it will require an express law to effect the object; and if retained, legislation will be necessary to provide a mode by which it shall be exercised. For it is to be observed that the regulation permitting the acquisition of a right in the mines by registry or by denouncement was simply a mode of exercising by the sovereign the proprietary right which he had in the treasure as it lay in and was connected with the soil. Consequently, whenever that right was transferred by the transfer of the eminent domain, the mode adopted for its exercise ceased to be legal, for the same reason that the Spanish mode of disposing of the public lands in the first instance ceased to be legal after the transfer of the sovereignty.

Thus it appears that the deposites of gold, wherever found in the Territory, are the property of the United States. Those, however, which are known to exist upon the lands of individuals are of small comparative importance, by far

the larger part being upon unclaimed public lands. Still, our information respecting them is yet extremely limited; what we know in general is, that they are of great extent and extraordinary productiveness, even though rudely wrought. The gold is found sometimes in masses, the largest of which brought to the mint, weighed 89 ounces. They are generally equal to the standard of our coin in purity, and their appearance that of metal forced into the fissures and cavities of the rocks, in a state of fusion. Some, however, are flattened, apparently by pressure, and scratched as if by attri tion on a rough surface. One small mass which was exhibited had about five parts in weight of gold to one of quartz, intimately blended, and both together bouldered, so as to form a handsome rounded pebble, with a surface of about equal parts quartz and gold. A very large proportion of the gold, however, is obtained in small scales by washing the earth, which is dug up in the beds of the streams, or near their margin. A mass of the crude earth, as taken at random from a placer, was tested by the director of the United States mint at Philadelphia, and found to contain 264 grains of gold (being, in value, a fraction over $10) to 100 lbs. of earth. It cannot, however, be reasonably supposed that the average alluvial earth in the placers is so highly auriferous.

No existing law puts it in the power of the Executive to regulate these mines, or protect them from intrusion. Hence, in addition to our own citizens, thousands of persons, of all nations and languages, flock in and gather gold, which they carry away to enrich themselves, leaving the lands the less in value by what they have abstracted; and they render for it no remuneration, direct or indirect, to the government or people of the United States. Our laws, so strict in the preservation of public property that they punish our own citizens for cutting timber upon the public lands, ought not to permit strangers, who are not, and who never intend to become citizens, to enter at pleasure on these lands, and take from them the gold, which constitutes nearly all their value.

Some legal provision is necessary for the protection and disposition of these mines, and it is a matter worthy of much consideration how they should be disposed of so as best to promote the public interest and encourage individual enterprise. In the division of these lands regard should be had to the convenience of working every part of them containing gold, whether in the alluvion merely or in the fixed rocks. And, that such division may be made in the best manner practicable to promote the general interest and increase the value of the whole, a geological and mineralogical exploration should be connected with the linear surveys which should be made with the the assistance and under the supervision of a skilful engineer of mines.

The mining ordinances of Spain provide a mode of laying out the mines, which applies only to districts where veins of ore occur in the rocks, and where it is to be mined by following the metaliferous dike or stratum in the

direction of its dip, and along its line of strike. But the gold which is found in the alluvion in California is continuous over a great extent of country, and it may be wrought upon any lot having surface earth and access to water. This district may be, therefore, divided into small lots, with a narrow front on the margin of the streams, and extending back in the form of a parallelogram. Where gold is found in the rocks in situ, the lots to embrace it should be larger, and laid off according to the Spanish method with regard to dip and strike. But so various are the conditions under which the precious metals may be found by a careful geological exploration, that the mode of laying off the ground cannot be safely anticipated, but must be left to the direction, cn the spot, of a skilful engineer, whose services will be indispensable.

The division, disposition, and management of these mines will require much detail; but if placed on a proper footing, they may be made a source of considerable revenue. It is due to the nation at large that this rich deposite of mineral wealth should be made productive, so as to meet, in process of time, the heavy expense incurred in its acquisition. It is also due to those who become the lessees or purchasers of the mines that they should be furnished by the government with such scientific aid and directions as may enable them to conduct their operations not only to the advantage of the treasury, but also with convenience and profit to themselves. This scientific aid cannot be procured by individuals, as our people have little experience in mining, and there is not in the United States a school of mines, or any in which mining is taught as a separate science.

If the United States sell the mineral lands for cash, and transfer at once. all title to the gold which they contain, but a very small part of their value will probably be realized. It would be better, in my opinion, to transfer them by sale or lease, reserving a part of the gold collected as rent or seignorage.

After mature reflection, I am satisfied that a mint at some convenient point will be advantageous to the miner, and the best medium for the col lection and transmission of the gold reserved. Gamboa, a Spanish author of much science and practical observation, and at one time president of the Royal Academy of Mexico, strongly recommended the establishment of a mint in their principal mining district, as a means of collecting and transmiting the rents reserved by the crown, and especially to give a legitimate currency to the miners, that they might not be compelled, from necessity to barter their bullion, in violation of law. The same reasons would apply here with equal force.

When the land is properly divided, it will, in my opinion, be best to dispose of it, whether by lease or sale, so as to create an estate to be held only on condition that the gold collected from the mine shall be delivered into the custody of an officer of the branch mint. Out of the gold so deposited, there should be retained, for rent and assay, or coinage, a fixed per cent., such as

may be deemed reasonable, and the residue passed to the credit of the miner, and paid to him at his option in coin or stamped bullion, or its value in drafts on the treasury or mint of the United States. The gold in the mine, and after it is gathered, until brought into the mint, should be and remain the property of the United States. The barter, sale, gift, or exportation of any portion of it before it shall have been delivered at the mint, and so coined, or assayed and stamped, or its concealment, with intent to avoid the payment of rent or seignorage, should involve a forfeiture of the gold itself, and also of the mine. The terms of lease or sale should be favorable to the miner, and the law should be st. ingent to enforce the payment of seignorage and rents.

So far as the surface deposits extend, I am of opinion that leases will, for yet a further reason, be preferable to sales of the lands. If sold, they will pass at once into the hands of large capitalists; if leased, industrious men without capital may become the proprietors, as they can work the mines and pay the rent out of the proceeds. But where gold is found in the rocks in place, the case is different. These must necessarily fall at once into the hands of large capitalists or joint stock companies, as they cannot be wrought without a heavy investment.

Some persons, whose opinions are entitled to much weight, apprehend dif ficulty in collecting the rents, if the mode of disposition which I suggest be adopted; but this, I think, is without a full consideration of the condition of the country and the means of enforcement. Gold, unless coined or stamped at the mint, could not circulate in California against a legal provision, and subject to a penalty such as is suggested. It could not be carried across the continent without risk of loss or detection, which would make the value of insurance equal to the rent. In any other direction it must pass the ports of California, and be there liable to detection.

Since the discovery of the mines, gold in California has not ranged higher than $16 per ounce its actual value is a fraction over $18. The difference between its true value and the highest price at which it has sold, or would probably ever sell, except to houses transacting an open, regular and legal business, is therefore one-ninth, being more than half the amouut that ought to be reserved as rent or seignorage.

If the penalty suggested above should be provided for an attempted evasion, and the ordinary advantages given to the officer or other person who should detect the fraud, as in case of smuggling, it would not be the interest of any one to become a dealer in the prohibited article at a small profit and great risk: nor would the miner risk a sale at a small advance of price, to be obtained at the hazard of a heavy forfeiture. The absolute security of the lawful business, the safety of the fund when deposited in the treasury of the United States, and the small profit and great risk of attempted frauds, would be reasonable security against them.

The property of the United States in the mines of quicksilver, derived from Spain through Mexico, with the eminent domain, is, as I have shown, the same as that to the gold, already considered. Indeed, the laws of Spain asserted more sternly and guarded more strictly the rights of the crown to that metal than to gold and silver. This arose from the scarcity of quicksilver, it being found in sufficient quantities to be worth mining in but few known places on the globe; while its necessary use in separating silver from its matrix, makes it an essential ingredient in silver mining operations.

The deposite of quicksilver, known to exist in California, is a sulphuret of mercury, or native cinnabar. The stratum of mineral, several feet in thickness, has been traced for a considerable distance along its line of strike. The specimens assayed at the mint range from 15.5 to 33.35 per cent. of metal; it is easy of access, and is mined and reduced without difficulty. So much of the mine as has been traced is situated cn a ranch, to which the title is probably valid; and since the United States took possession of the country, an attempt has been made to acquire title to the mine by denouncement. This proceeding is, for the reasons that I have already given, invalid. It therefore remains for Congress to determine whether they will relinquish or assert the title of the United States in this mine.

EXTRACTS

From Executive Documents (H. of Rep.) No. 17, First Session, XXX1st Congress.

PRESIDENT TAYLOR'S MESSAGE, AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

Iansmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to a resolution of that body passed on the 31st of December last, the accompanying reports of heads of departments, which contain all the official information in the possession of the Executive asked for by the resolution.

On coming into office, I found the military commandant of the department of California exercising the functions of civil governor in that Territory; and left, as I was, to act under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, without the aid of any legislative provision establishing a government in that Terri. tory, I thought it best not to disturb that arrangment, made under my predecessor, until Congress should take some action on that subject. I therefore did not interfere with the powers of the military commandant, who continued to exercise the functions of civil governor as before; but I made no

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