354 EESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA. 



§ 249. Ownersliip of Minerals. — It lias been a much dis- 

 puted question whether the owner of land, under a Mexican 

 title, owns the minerals in the soil. Under the Mexican law 

 l)e did not ; but the latest decision of the highest court of 

 California is, that the owner of the land owns all the minerals 

 in it. The Mexican and Spanish law is unsuited to the Ameri- 

 can system. By law the mines are open to everybody. Any 

 man or w^oman, citizen or alien, white, black, or yellow^, may 

 lay claim to an unoccupied tract of auriferous quartz or dirt, 

 and if his claim be not larger than is customary, he has a good 

 legal title so long as he may w^ork it, provided that, if an aUen, 

 he shall pay a license of four dollars per month. However, 

 although he may have a good legal title, the white miners in 

 some districts will not permit Chinamen to come among them, 

 and their legal right is of no value against the omnipotent 

 mob. There is no express law throwing the mines open to all 

 the world ; but the intent of the government is plainly to be 

 inferred from the debates of Congress, and the fact that no re- 

 straint has been placed upon mining. All the federal land in 

 the state, save that in the mining districts, is thrown open to 

 pre-emption for agricultural purposes ; but the mines are re- 

 served, and evidently for the miners, from whom the federal 

 government has never demanded any tax or share of the gold 

 obtained. The state legislature has imposed a tax of four 

 dollars per month on all alien miners, and has promised that 

 all who pay that tax shall be permitted to mine as freely as 

 citizens ; but that promise is not kept. 



§ 250. Titles of Mining Claims. — The miners do not own 

 the land on w^hich they work ; they only have a right of pos- 

 session so long as they occupy it ; and their right is called a 

 " claim." The size of the claims varies in different districts, 

 and depends entirely upon the regulations or custom of the 

 district. Every district has a written code of regulations, 

 determining, among other points, the size of mining claims ; 

 and these regulations are recognized by the state as valid, so 

 far as thev are not in conflict with the statutes or constitution. 



