386 Sport and Life. 



were passed, I do not think that a single year has gone by without some 

 change or other being made. Now of a radical nature, reversing the whole 

 principle of taking up claims, then of a more unimportant kind, this 

 uncertainty has worked havoc in quite a number of instances, and has done 

 much to disgust capital, for nothing is more fatal to the fortunes of a mining 

 district than liability to litigation. This the ever-changing regulations 

 encourage, for it is easy to get up adverse claims on the strength of old 

 laws, under which perhaps the mine was started, or under partnership laws 

 that have long been cancelled. I am told that there is not a single lawyer 

 in the whole of British Columbia who can tell a client off-hand what merits 

 a case may possess. Considering the stability and effectiveness of the 

 American mining statutes, it is very singular that those of British Columbia 

 cannot be framed on the same lines and adhered to with the same 

 immutability which experience has shown to be one of their chief merits. 

 Much the same complaints the miners of Klondike will have to make, for, 

 short as is the existence of this camp, the laws have already been changed 

 three times by the Federal authorities at Ottawa, under whose jurisdiction 

 the North-west territory stands. This is such a fatal policy for all but the 

 lawyers, that stern protest should be raised by those in a position to do so. 



For the convenience of those wishing to learn the rough outline of 

 British Columbian mining laws, I have appended a digest of the laws in 

 force at the moment of writing. By the time these lines will be read others 

 will probably have been substituted. 



The Gold Commissioners administering the laws in the districts into 

 which the country is divided are, as a rule, appointed for political reasons', 

 and rarely possess training or technical knowledge.* They are, however, 

 generally honest men, who do the best they can, which is to let the Superior 

 Courts do the work of rinding out the rights and wrongs of disputes. 



DIGEST OF THE MINING LAWS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

 Interpretation of Terms. 



The following is the interpretation of terms used in the construction of 

 the Mineral Act : 



" Mine " shall mean any land in which any vein or lode, or rock in place, 

 shall be mined for gold or other minerals, precious or base, except coal. 



* Not a bad story is told of a Canadian mining official who, when he entered 

 upon his duties, was not even conversant with the commonest mining terms. 

 The wag of the camp one day came before him, demanding that a warrant to 

 arrest a certain person "for stealing the hanging wall " in complainant's mine 

 be issued. It is said that the warrant was issued. 



