LAW. 425 



354. Titles to Mines. Any person or company holding 

 a valid claim to a lode mine, after spending $500 in working 

 it, may obtain a perfect title to it, by patent, from the Federal 

 Land Office, on paying for the survey and for the land at the 

 rate of $5 per acre. The survey should not follow the rectan- 

 gular lines adopted in the agricultural districts, and should in- 

 clude only the claim. Titles for tracts not exceeding five 

 acres, used for mills or dumps, may also be obtained by 

 patent. Titles for placers may be obtained in rectangular 

 tracts not less than ten acres in size, conforming to the gen- 

 eral system of surveys ; and no patent shall cover more than 

 160 acres of mineral land. The patent issues only to the 

 holder of a valid placer mining claim, who has spent $500 in 

 working it, and he must pay $2.50 an acre for it. 



Grants of land by Mexico did not carry any title to the 

 minerals under the law of that country ; but the patents based 

 on Mexican grants issued by the United States convey the ab- 

 solute ownership of all the minerals. 



Title to water can be acquired by appropriation to a useful 

 purpose, at least of all the water on land belonging to the 

 Federal Government. 



355. Laws Favorable to Debtors. The laws of Califor- 

 nia relating to the collection of debts are very favorable to the 

 debtor. His homestead, the property owned by his wife pre- 

 vious to marriage, that given to her afterward, his household 

 furniture to the va)ue of two hundred dollars, his tools, if a 

 mechanic, his horse and wagon, if a teamster, and his li- 

 brary, if a lawyer, are exempt from execution. A married 

 man, a widow or widower with children, or any head of a 

 family, is entitled to a homestead worth five thousand dollars, 

 secure against creditors. An unmarried person may have a 

 homestead worth one thousand dollars. Such laws may pre- 

 vent much oppression of poor people, but they also protect 

 and encourage much rascality. A man may own a homestead 

 worth five thousand dollars, and that may include a very ele- 



