The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 21, 1899, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1809 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. | nications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. | FUBLICATION OFFICE ... Market and Third Sts, S. F | Telephone Main 1868, EDITORIAL ROOMS. 21T to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1874, | CENTS PER WEEK. | Including Postage: “all), one year. Call), 6 m: £6.00 | 3.00 | 1.50 65c 1.50 1.00 s ar subscriptions. will be forwarded when raquested. Sample copies OAKLAND OFFKCE.... ©eeee....908 Broadway | C. GEORGE KROGNESS, | ign Advertising, Marquette Building, Chicago. Manager Fo s = | NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT: €. C. CARLTON e ..Herald Square NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: PERRY LUKENS JR. . .....29 Tribune Bullding CHICAGO NEWS STANDS. P. ews Co.; Great Northern Hotel; Hotel NEW YORK NEWS STANDS. Waldorf-Ast. Hotel; A. Brentano, 31 Unlon Murray Hill H WASHINGTON (. C.) OFFICE.........Wellington Hotel J. L. ENGLISH, Correspondent. £ Frem; Square; BRANCH OFFICES—527 Montgomery street, corner Clay open untll 9:30 o'clock. 200 Hayes street. opan untll $:30 o'clock. 639 McAllister street, open untll 9:30 oclock. 615 Larkin street, open until 9:30 o'clock. 1941 Mission street, open untll 10 o'clock. 2291 Market etreet, corner Sixtecnth, open until 9 o'clock. 2518 Mission street, open until 9 o'clock. 106 Eleventh street, open until 9 o'clock. NW. corner Twenty- second and Kentucky strects, open untll 9 o'clock. AMUSEMENTS. isticana” and T —Vaudevllle every afternoon cor Baths—Swi or Masc s streets—Specialties. , etc. Reception Fund, Tuesday Wednesday and et September 4 to 16. 1 agencies report. trade e pitch of the past k cleari ¢ falling to about This is the , when the a buy 7000 buggies ns in three r ness must be good, nd when the feature of trade in the latter State i 1 i pianos by the same farm- cannot be called hard. For the W ngs indi- laxation, the r the same v Il reports from t East and West unite in that the demand for goods of all descriptions ever better. That for iron and steel is so enor- for ma ctured products have to in getting the steel. ¢ hundred hands and nsion of time on the two | In the iron trade this is a activity for the good of cated in this column last s that order cult d the trade. advancec have been has quotations conditions of the demand and increased. world” the export has The wool trade shows no he sales for three weeks be- . gainst 13,996,500 pounds for ne time last year. while a number of lines of | ct have again advanced. The checked the de in lumber is reported at In fact, prices for the vari- staples are advancing wi s crops, corre- spondingly of note, t 0,000 pou tured pro boots and shoes ha ¢ th such con- n are beginning to ask how long <éep up without diminishing the consun must come, sooner they say or later, but it is not in sight yet. Cotton is the only nd this in the face of to show any we ore u avorable crop reports. The situation is unique. There is no boom in any- thing as far as can be scen, yet from all quarters of | the country come the same reports of unprecedented trade activity, week after week. It seems to be a legit- | imate inquiry for merchandise for actual consump- tion, e in this ren Neither is it the usual reaction after a long period of dullness, for the reaction oc- curred last year. It appears to be a widespread and continuous demand for goods, based upon an ex- ceptional condition of general prosperity. A gratifying feature in this connection is the eas- | ing off of the London money market, which, several | weeks ago, exhibited indications of a serious strin- | gency, not to say panic. The passing of this cloud | is another sign of the healthy expansion in trade, and | cannot fail to increase confidence in the future. Locally, there is nothing new. The great staples ! of the coast still maintain their strong position, and | there is no decline of any consequence in any(hing.‘ The export trade is still so active that it is a question | of vessels, not orders. The domestic trade never was : better at this time of the year. Money is in liberal | supply and easily procurable by sound borrower: collections are up to the average, and there have been | no large failures for some time. Complaints are still heard of the scarcity of farming hands, but this is | not a bad sign, as it indicates a lively condition of | trade. We lack nothing except a moderate increase | in the price of wheat and its attendant cereals, and | if we get it we will break all records this year, i indeed, we are not doing it even now. c————— Congressman Clark of Missouri declares that the | people will break the necks of all Democrats who | play false. His warning is wretchedly indefinite, but | perhaps he means that Democrats, having a better knowledge of the situation, intenrd to break the necks of one another. spec lation occupies a minor pla able activity Tf the Spanish war did nothing else it jarred Eu- rope into a painful awakening that we are on the map. Even Holland insists upon being ridiculous and j wants to lean on Germany as a protector against the aggression of Uncle Sam in the West Indies. So it appears after all that the Britishers care less for their fellows in the Transvaal than they do for a political advantage at home. A war is to be forced upon the Boers in order that the Conservative party may strengthen itself in London. W — | eral, The Call expected that some SEAMANS BRAYS FOR THE GOVERNOR HEN Governor, Gage appointed W. H. Sea- mans, the ornamental ass of the orange beit, to the responsible position of adjutant-gen- fantastic military s would be played before high heaven. The ex- tric pected happened yesterday, and “the angels wept. General Seamans made such a show of ignorance and asininity as was never before seen. The spec- tacle from start to finish, while ridiculous, was yet de- ‘ploml)lc. Appearing before the executive committee appointed to arrange for a fitting reception of Cali- fornia volunteers, he sought by a great flourish of wthority to upset the plans adopted assumed military by the citizens of San Francisco and transform the celebration into an ovation in honor of himself and the Governor. The fact should be noted in connection with the proposed welcome to the troops that the money to defray the cost of the celebration has been cantrib- uted by the people of this city. The State is not It is proposed that the citi- asked to pay a dollar. zens shall even pay the cost of transporting the com- from the interior to the city. Now, panies of mil at the cleventh hour, when all the plaus are com- plete, Gage's chief of staff makes his appearance, as- suming authority to remove Major General Shaftet from the command of the United States troops and Major General Dickinson from the command of the State troops. The sublime ass has got the notion between his ears that the First California Regiment soon as thestroops step from The First Cali- ia Regiment was duly mustered into the service will be a State organization as e transport to the land forn cf the United States at the beginning of the war, and will remain a United States volunteer regiment until mustered out. When Colonel Duboce of the First California arrives here he will report to Major Gen cral Shafter, commanding the Department of Cali- A. ly obey the orders of the department S Colonel Dubaoce, an intelligent sol- fornia, U dier, will rea commander. the committee and “poch-poohed” Major General Dick- Seamans expanded himself yesterday before inson, yet in the absence of the Governor the major- | general is entitled to command by reason of being next to the commander-in-chief. Seamans is a brigadier and Dickinson a major general. in ra General Seamans during pauses in his military cavorting told the committee that he was authorized to speak for the Governor. This was the first official information of Gage’s decision to pay any attention whatever to the reception of the volunteers. During volunteers from other States have the past month been coming home. The people of San Francisco assembling on the line of march from the dock to | Dis- tinguished Governors and eminent citizens have jour- the Presidio have cheered the gallant soldiers. neyed half across the continent to welcome the in- coming troops. All this time Gage elected to stay away from San Francisco. He was not here to wel Californians regretted that the State's reputation for hospitality had been come the visiting Governors. tarnished by the indifference of the Governor and sought to find some excuse for his conduct. He pre- ferred the solace of secret intrigue at Catalina with | Dan Burns and other off-color politicians. He did not have the courtesy to acknowledge the invitation of the executive committee to assist in the welcome to the California volunteers. He declined to pro- claim a legal holiday in honor of the return of the troops, putting forward as reason for his refusal Hi conduct throughout has been marked by an utter dis- regard of the common civilities of life. To round off his career as a “war Governor,” he sends out the pompous Seamans with orders to change all the plans of the celebration in order to exhibit himself on land and water. T rialism is not to be found by polling the readers of a newspaper on either side of the issue. A paper as an advocate is sure to influence its constant readers, and if it call for an expression of judgment among them a majority will surely be foand with it. Therefore the true are thinking upon any matter of public importance is by securing an expression from the readers of a paper that has been non-partisan to the subject of inquiry. In Massachusetts published the most widely circulated organ of the agricultural and hor- ticultural interests in the country. This journal, The Farm and Home, recently sent out a postal card in- quiry in every section of the country among its sub- scribers, asking them to say whether they favored independence and self-government for the Filipinos or their subjection to us by conquest. The answers were as foilows: desire that business should not be interrupted. FARMERS AND EXPANSION. HE best test of American opinion on impe- is o For For ndependence. S New England i Middle States 8,867 2,343 Central West 4,901 3,102 Southern States 1,792 1,083 Pacific Coast 1,684 103 Total.... . 18520 8,416 The vote stands, then, among the farmers by the test 50 per cent more for independence than for con- quest and subjection. The same paper then took another vote upon the independence or annexation of Cuba, and it stood 13,199 for independence and only 7362 for annexation. As in the case of the Philippines, every section gave | a majority for independence. A third vote was taken on the question, “In gen- eral, should the United States adhere to. or depart from its. former policy of non-interference with na- tions beyond either ocean?” This is the issue of imperialism and anti-imperial- ism flat. The vote by sections is very admonitory: New England .... Middle States . Central West The South ... Pacific Coast Total..... 15,624 4,087 So the vote is four to one against repudiating the Declaration of Independence and abandoning the Monroe Doctrine. % The passing applause which has greeted the ora- tors who have called the Declaration of Independence an “absurdity” and “a damnable lie” is evidently not expressive of the feelings of the sturdy rural popu- lation of the country. 4 The farmers do not believe that the country has outgrown the constitution, and they evidently think that when the flag is to be fought for it should repre- sent the principles for which it has stood from the beginning. The farmers are a thinking class, not easily ex- to find out what the people | cited by pageantry or lifted off their solid footing by the tinselry of military glory. It is worthy of note that the same and allied classes in Europe, sincere admirers of our republican institutions, feel the same way. An American now traveling abroad writes to a friend in New York that he talked with gentlemen in Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and many other places in the British Isles to find among them a general tone of regret that we should abandon our traditions and so deprive the world of our good example, which has been the inciting cause of all public reform in Europe for a half ‘century. He found among them universal denial of our current and flippant claim that “trade follows the flag,” for it follows only on better methods and cheaper production. D [ l army are the proper judges of the civil policy of this Government in the administration of the vari- ous islands upon which we are at present practicing. The army idea carries invariably the necessity for prolonged military occupation. | Lieutenant Kennon has recently made a report | upon Cuba. He dwells at great length upon the re-’ | sponsibility we- have assumed for the government of | that island. One learns from him that we are bound f to stay there until the people are fit to operate a gov- “vrnn!cm such as has never yet existed among men. | All the people must be first educated. and there must | | be such order that crime and change are practically | unknown. To show how far away is this ideal condi- | tion, he dwells upon the quality of the population, | two-thirds negro and 83 per cent illiterate. From all | these facts Lieutenant Kennon instructs the people ;.n( this republic that they owe to the world the duty | of keeping Cuba under the administration of a cap- | tain-general and the army. | Will the people happen to remember that this army | officer repeats precisely the statements of the Span- ish army officers and gives the Spanish excuse for | denying the seli-government which the Cubans de- | manded? Because Spain would not yield to the Cu- | bans we impeached her government, denied the valid- THE CONDITION OF CUBA. T seems to be assumed that officers of the regular ity of the very reasons which Kennon now asks us | | to accept as the foundation of our own policy, and | | expelled her from the West Indies. We are now asked to admit the truth of every Spanish claim | which we went to war to oppose. In a year remark- able for its usurpations, its inconsistencies and its | dangers and dishonors, this demand of the army is the most startling and the most unpleasant, since it | cuts from under our feet the sole and only reason by which we justified our war with Spain. It may not occur to the army, but it will be re- | membered by the people that there were just as many negroes in Cuba and the same percentage of illit- | eracy when our people rushed into war to deliver | them from military government and Congress de- clared them to be free and of right independent. The conditions of Cuba as to the races, and their morals | and i composing her population have not changed since the policy of this country was sol- me STATE LAW THE Along with the general new activity in the mining industry in this State has sud- denly appeared a boom in mining law. The miners of California have a variety of Important legal problems to interest | them and mining lawyers are sitting up nights calculating the range and velocity of constitutions, Federal and State stat- utes and legal opinions, including their own, The big question of. whether the State mining law of 1867 is or is not in force is the chief one. Since the announcement in The Call a few days ago that Attorney | A. H. Ricketts, chairman of the mineral lands commlittee of the callfornia Miners’ Association, had discovered a fatal blun- der in the repealing act of March 20, 1899, and that the law remains in force, there has been a great deal of inquiry and dis- cussion all over the State. During the past week a number of lawyers have formulated opinions on the grave question and a number of intelligent mining men have expressed lay opinions. As is understood by those who have glven the matter attention the repealing act as passed and approved reads: “‘An act 10 repeal ‘an act etc.,’ Is hereby re- pealed.” Had ‘“‘entitled” been used in- stead of ‘‘to repeal,” the intention of the Legislature as expressed correctly in title would have heen accomplished. As the act reads it fepeals “an act to repeal,”’ and there was no such act to be repealed. The whole question is, Can the court, un- der the rules and laws governing judiciai construction of statutes, corréct the blun- der by eliminating “to repeal” and read. ing ‘‘entitled” in its place? Mr. Ricket opinion is that since the language is clear and definite the court must accept the language as it stands, there being no amblguity. Other mining attorneys hold the same view. But other lawyers as strongly hold that the court may so correct the blunder. | Judge J. M. Walling of Nevada City has written for the Nevada City Transcript a lengthy opinion to that effect. He cites | numerous cases to support his contention that ‘‘correcting a clear mistake of the use of a wrong word in a statute is not an assumption_of legisiative powers.” In People vs. King, 28 Cal. 274, the preme Court substituted ‘29 In ex-parte Hedley, 31 Cal. was substituted for “witho Editor Call: 12th inst. a lengthy and instructive article ap- peared relating to the act repealing the min- In the issue of The Call of the ing location law of 1897. This article has gi rise to a good deal of speculation and injuir: as to the present status of the laws of this State governing the subject. Mr. Ricketts and authorities are quoted to show the law of 1867 is still in force. I have recefved inquiry as to the effect of the repealing act and have advised that it repealed the act of 1897. Ly reference to the title of the act, chapter CXIII, page 148, Stats. 1599, it will be seen that the act of March 27, 1597, was that which the act repeals, though section 1, of the repealing act, reads: “An act to repéal.” etc., instead n act entitled an act,” ete. It was held in Savings Bauk vs. Burns, 104 Cal., 478, that where the act {s ambiguous and of doubtful meaning or application, it Is competent to look to the title of the act and to read it in con- nection with the body of the repealing act to determine the intentlon of the legislative emnly declared by Congress. The people intend to | adhere to that deciaration. Congress fully | aware of the condition of Cuba and needs no in- | struction from Mr. Kennon. His report was ordered | by the War Department, and the affair looks as if | | the army has concluded to go on and do as it pleases | with Cuba, regardless of Congress and the will of | | the people. The design of the report is apparent in | | its declaration that 75 per cent of the population should not be trusted with the ballot. This is to cloak a design for military restriction of the ballot | | and the permission of the franchise to one-fourth of | | the people in order to get a vote for annexation and | set up the lying pretense that it is the wish of the As this scheme develops .it will bear was [ people RECEPTION WEEK. watching.* | ECEPTION week begins to-day and promises R to be the most joyous festival in the annals of San Francisco. Certainly the city has never before been so beautifully adorned as it will be this week, nor was there ever before so large a number | of people directly and warmly interested in any festal movement of a public nature as in this one. | Contributions to the fund amounted on Saturday evening to more than $48000. That means the sum asked for by the citizens’ executive committee will be given to the last dollar by a generous and pa- triotic people. The subscription, it is to be noted, | has been in every respect a popular one. There have been comparatively few donations running up into | the thousands. The bulk of the money has come | |in small sums and represents the offerings of the | mass of the people. Unless some accident to the transport check her progress or some adverse storm of the sea baffle her | in her course, the voluntcers will enter the Golden Gate about the middle of the week. The announce- ment of her arrival will be the signal for the pent-up enthusiasm of the people to burst forth, and from that time on it will flow with a full and roaring strength until the hearts of all have been satisfied and our heroic boys have been assured of the honor in which they are held by their fellow citizens. San Francisco prepares the welcome and defrays the cost, but she will not be alone in the enjoyment of it. Large numbers of people will come from the farthest parts of the State to share in the greeting to the men who in the far-off Philippines attested the valor of California and the devotion of her sons to the cause of the Union. It is to be regretted that the Governor in his little- ness has not been able to comprehend the magnitude of the popular fervor in the reception and has refused to set apart one day of the reception as a public | holiday. Had a holiday been proclaimed the work- | ing men and women of the city would have had full freedom to join in the throngs that will cheer the volunteers as they parade the streets and share in the joy that will attend the concerts and illumina- tions that follow. Since the Governor has refused to provide such a legal holiday, it is the duty of citizens to make a holiday for themselves. Certain industries must, of cdurse, be carried on for public necessity and con- venience, but let all other offices, shops and stores be closed on the day of the great parade, when the reception festivities will culminate. It is not yet known on what day of the week the parade will fall, but as it does not occur until the second day after the volunteers reach the port, ample time will be given for all to arrange for it. At this time all looks well for the success of every feature of the reception. The decorations of the streets will not be only profuse but artistic, and will be the more pleasing because they will be to some ex- tent an expression of the sentiments of the Colorado volunteers, now in the city, who have volunteered to assist in arranging them. The management of the military concerts, the fireworks, the feasts, the re- ceptions and all other parts of the festival are in good hands and have been planned on a noble scale. | ve. | though crudely expressed, | repealed.’” | ful meaning. body, hnd a similar act was upheld. This decision_of our Supreme Court follows those of the United States Supreme Court in Myer Western Car Co., 102 U. S.. 1, and Wilson vs. Spaulding, 19 Fed. Rep., 304. So that read- ing the title and the body of the act together it is plain what the legislative intention was, and the conclusion follows that the act of March 27, 1847, stands E. M. GALVIN. Mr. Ricketts admits Mr. Galvin's argu- ment as far as It goes, but holds that in this case there is no ambiguity and doubt- Judge Walling does not take the title into account at all. Be- sides the raging conflicts of lawyers there are many miners who are being sustained by a faith that if the Federal law is com- pited with substantially and in good faith, justice will somehow preserve mining lo- cations to those who didn't know that a State law was also in force. Such faith s probably confounded, for if a State law is in force and is valid it must be com- plied with. Many ses involving mil- lions have turned on the location and re- cording of clalms according to district rules and regulations. If States and dis- tricts may supplement the Federal re- quirements, as the Federal law distinctly allows, ignorance of their existence would appear of no_more protection than igno- rance of the Federal law itself. When the doctors of the law disagree s0 widely we will have to walt and see what the Supreme Court says about it. Meantime locators shoula carefully ob- serve both the Federal and State laws and the laws of their mining districts if there are any. Claims located since the supposed repeal last spring should be romptly relocated according to the State aw, which miners all over the State are busily looking up. Through his close study of the law in the past few days Mr. Ricketts has dis- covered something else new, he believes. It is that the requirement in the State law of $50 worth of work in sixty days is in- valid anyway. He holds that it is in con- flict with the Federal law because the atter allows a locator to hold a claim by doing $100 worth of work by the end of the calendar year after the one in which the location is made. It is the time and not the assessment that is invalid, he holds. The State may require additional assess- ment work and regulate the manner of re- cording, etc., but the additional assess- ment work must accompany the time specified in the Federal law. If this view is correct, another trouble will be on hand if the State law is held to be in force. Besides the State law muddie the miners have the validity of che Caminetti law on hand in the injunction suit re- cently brought by the Anti-Debris Asso- ciation, in the name of Sutter County, against the Red Dog hydraulic mine of Nevada County. This mine has been operating behind a restraining dam built according to specifications approved by the Federal engineers composing the California Debris Commission, and in- spected and licensed by them. The sult asks that the mine be enjoined notwith- standing the approval of the California Debris Commission, and thus the vital feature of the Caminett! law which puts exclusive control of hydraulic mining on the watersheds of the navigable streams of this State in the hands of the commis- slon, {s assalled. If the Red Dog mine may be enjoined, any other hydraulic mine may be shut down at the discretion of a court, and the discretion of the en- gineers goes for nothing. As this is a test case, the California Miners' Association will defend the suit vigorously in the interest of the industry, and the Red Dog Mining Company has resigned control of the defense to the association. Last week the committee re- cently appointed to provide counsel en- fia ed C. W. Cross, who will direct the efense. The suit was recently trans- ferred to the United States Circuit Court by the Superior Court of Sutter County, and has now been remanded to Sutter County, where it will first be heard. The litigation promises to be long and hard- fought, and the California ners'” Asso- claton will probably spend _several thousand dollars in the defense. Hence it ‘will need money, and the County Miners’ A ssociations 1l be asked at their ap- rrnachlng conventions to contribute iberal amounts to the fund. There is another field in which impor- tant legal problems arise. One of the most interesting questions that ever came up in the field of mining law is presented for the first time by the oil operations in the tide lands and ocean bed along the south- ern coast of the State. At Summerland the inclined oil stratum was found to itch out under the sea, and wharves were uilt across the strip of tide land and for several hundred feet out into the ocean, From these wharves many wells have been sunk, and oil is now being pumped from under the ocean, as is done nowhere else In the world. This success at Sum- merland has started glro:pecnng for simi- lar oll lines along the Santa Barbara shore, and is talked of elsewhere. Recent- 3{ a nocturnal vigilance committee tore own a derrick on the shore in front of a residence suburb, and nhotfu S were talked of. The law of this situatlon has been talked about, but not settled, and the l‘\lxesuonu have not yet got into court, as they likely will. We will be ready for the boys when they come. ‘What rights to minerals can be acquired PROBLEM. RED DOG SUIT. SUBMARINE MINING on the tide lands of the State and in the ocean bed? If a rich quartz ledge - found to extend out under the ocean 1 could be followed there by tunnelir a a shaft, how could it be appropria. .ndl held? Is the ocean bed for three i’les seaward the public domain, and ¢ .ld a lode location be made under the Federal law, and how? In the case of formation, like that at Summerland, coul\g a piacer location be made, as on land? If 'a man or company bores an cil well in the sea, how can he maintain his pos- session if legally or forcibly assailed? These interesting questions do not ap- pear to have ever arisen before, as min- ing has in the past never been carried on at sea. The problem was recently offered to Attorney A. H. Ricketts, who has long an oil | 1 AUGUST 21, 1899. —_— MINERS® LEGAL TROUBLES. the coast, returned to Seockton yesterday after a week in this city. J. R. Wood of Philadelphia, general manager of the Pennsylvania lines east of Pittsburg, is stopping at the Palace. Mrs. C. Bilickie, wife of A. C. Bilickie, proprietor of the Hollenbeck Hotel, I Angeles, is among the guests at the O cidental. Dr. T. H. Menough, the well-known government scientist, has just ret from Kodiak, Alaska. He is registered at the Palace. Governor Thomas of Colorado was ten- dered a reception last evenmng at the Oc- cidental Hotel by the First Colorado Voi- unteers’ band. The officers of the regi | ment also called upon him to wish him a pleasant trip when he leaves to-morrow night for Denver. Professor A. Agassis, M. Agassis and A. A. Mayer of Cambridge University ived last night and are at the Palace The party will leave in a few days on Albatross for the Fijl and other South Sea islands, where they will study coral formations and deep sea lfe tropic waters. Phil K. Gordan, city passenger agent of the Southern Pacific Company; D. R. Sesslons, claims agent; Attorney J. W. he in made a specialty of mining law, and he pronounced it the most interesting and novel legal question he had encountered. | dnd proceeded to study it. He has reached | some conclusions that will be of general interest. i He decides, for one thing, that the bed | of the ocean to the three-mile limit is the property of the State. The Federal min-| ing laws do not apply, as_they do not to| the tide lands—the strip of shore between | high and low water mark. The State has | never in any manner provided for the | mining use of this State domain, and one | who mines there is technically a tres-| passer and mines_ by sufferarice of the | State, which could eject him. The min-; als belong to the first one who gets them | s long as the State does not assert con-| trol. An oil wharf or derrick might be| condemned by a court as a nuisance, pri- | vate or public. The State mining law, if | not repealed, would not apply, because it applies to 'the ‘public domain of the| United States.” The United States con-| trols those navigable waters, but not the sea bottom, and might condemn an in-| terference with navigation. | The State is also held to own the beds | of the navigable streams, the navigation of which is controlled by the United | States. Therefore the beds of suchj| streams as the Sacramento and ‘“naviga- | ble” tributaries cannot be located and held | as placer claims, to be worked by wing | damming or dredging. These and other | opinions have been expressed in part in| the following, written by Mr. Ricketts for | The Call: | “The several States are the absolute | owners of navigable waters and the soils under the same, within their respectiv borders, subject to the paramount right | of navigation, the regulation of which in | certain respects is granted to the United | States. This right of the States to the soils under navigable waters is not derived by grant or patent from the United States, and if mineral in character are not sub- ject to exclusion as mineral lands of the bublic domain, which are reserved in all land grants of Congress to the States, etc., but_was reserved to the thirteen original States, which became soverelgn when the Revoiution took place. The act of Congress admitting California to_the | Union declares that she is admitted on | equal footing in all respects with mel original States. “The navigable streams within th State are public highways, are for the u: of the people of the State, and obstru tions placed therein impairing the public | right incident to the use of such waters | are public nuisances which no lapse of | time can legalize. In my opinion the State | has the sole right to regulate the mining of the beds of such streams, as well as the beds of all other navigable waters | within its territorial limits, the provisions | of the Untied States mimnfi laws not be- ing applicable to mineral deposits found therein, as the paramount title to the beds of such streams and other navigable waters has never been in the United States. “In the absence of anv grant or per- mission from the State to remove the min- erals from such ground ‘the person doing €0 is a trespasser against whom an action in ejectment would lle at the instance of the ‘State just as well as if the mining was done upon dry land. Such person may also be enjoined from the prosecution of such work and may_be compelled to respond in damages. But, as against every one but the State, the agpropr‘la.tor. is the owner of the minerals he extracts from such soils; for, as one law writer puts it, ‘they are like the fish in the water, the property of him who takes hem." m. “While there are certain provisions af- fecting the sale of tidelands to be found in the constitution and laws of this State, it may- be stated as a general proposition that lands on the shore of the ocean be- tween high and low-water mark every- where in_this State cannot become the subject of private ownership. “The boundary of this State (substan- tially lke thosé of Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts, but not’like those of Texas and Alabama, which extend three and six leagues, respectively, into navi- gable waters) is extended under its con- stitution into the Pacific Ocean a di tance of three English miles. Over suc waters the United States exercises do- minfon for the purposes of protection from invasion, the regulation of naviga tion, etc.; and all natons have also a common right to use the same for the urpose of commerce notwithstanding the Ktate's assertion of ownership. “Subject to such rights a State has the right to determine the extent of its owner- ship of the soils under ‘navigable waters,’ including i that term what is com- monly called the ‘open sea.’ Therefor the bed of the Pacific Ocean for a di tance of three English miles along t shore of this State is within its borders; | and it follows that the title to the same is in the State of California. “The nec: conclusion is that no person can acquire any rights/ to mine the same without the consent of the State, and such concession, if grant- ed, must be made and held subject to the paramount right of the navigator.” “The malntaining of dredgers in navi- gable rivers of this State, the building of wharves into the ocean to facilitate the extraction of petroleum, etc., and the erection of derricks thereon is without | warrant of law.” says Mr. Ricketts. Not only could the trespasser be eject- | ed by the State, but his wharf would be- | long to the State. The statutes governing | the abatement of nuisances apply. One | who has possession may hold it as against | other individuals and he may keep the minerals If he can get them, as he may keep fish caught from his wharf. It is possible that any one might remove one of these outcast derricks subject to the laws governing the public peace. | The beds of the rivers of California | are golden and there is a boom in zold dredging. This and other things make | the legal problems raised of practical | importance as well as of theoretical in- terest. The legal status of beach inines where the sand below high-water mark is worked is involved. Many related prob. lems easily occur in following out tue theories advanced by Mr. Ricketts, ‘What is here given is not, of course, stated through any desire to dlscournge or unnecessarily trouble any one engagod in the promising mining enterprises con- cerned, but as a simple speculative nre sentation of an interesting situation which needs to be understood and which will likely result in State legislation on the mining use of State property B3 J. 0. DENNY. AROUND THE CORRIDORS Dr. B. B. Corey of F Grana; resno is at the | H. G. Butler of Los Gatos i the Occidental. s L Dr. H. G. Bayless of Los Angeles arrived | yesterday and is at the Grand. Ernest Kopke, a wealthy mercl Honoluly, is at the California. pantt E. C. Voorhies is down from Creek and is registered at the Palacs.“uer Lee J. Pittner, a prominent merch: Placerville, is stopping at the Cnl{::ll';lzf s]vt::n lH Parker, editor of the Colfax entinel, was among yest, 3 LT & vesterday's arrivals Dr. T. H. Mennough, a governme: \ t sci- entist, arrived from Alask 5 is at the Palace. st T George B. Katzenstein, Earl Fruit Company at registered at the Lick. C. G. Terrink and wife of The "H: Holland, arrived yesterda: S tered at the Occidental. o ¢ ToEIS: Abe Marks of Uklah and H. M. of Covello, merchants, were amr;ngmn;elz terday’s arrivals at the Lick. A. V. Wilbur, manager of the H. C. Shaw Company of Stockton, the biggest manager of the Sacramento, |s | manufacturers of farming implements on | valued at $475,000 in 1857, and its | Prince George Fd Keil and Gus Umbsen left last night for Wells, Nev., en route 1o the headwaters of the Shoshone River for their annual outing. The party will be joined at Wells by Judge A. A. Sander. son of this city and John Sparks and Andrew Harrel of Reno, and will proceed from there through the Thousand Sp: Valley to the Salmen River country Jdaho. They expect to be gone for th next two wee — ee——— CALIFORNIANS INiNEW YORK. NEW YORK, Aug. 20.—Henry Peabody of San Francisco is at the Manhattan. W. Rose of San Francisco is at the Astor. Theodore Friend Jr. of Los Angeles is at the Hoffman. NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES. Russia has set apart $4500,000 for the construction of a harbor at Alexandrow ski, in Saghalien, in order to provide the eastern squadron with its own coal and to make Port Arthur and Ta-lien-wan inde- pendent of Japanese and English sources. Engineering and Ship- building Works at Stettin, Germany, is rapidly coming to the front as one of the principal naval yards. It was found- ed in 1852, with a capital stock of $750,000, which has been increased to $2,000000. A heavy reserve fund is Kept, and the cap- ital stock does not in reality indicate the progress of the concern. The plant was value now is $4,500,000. The Vulcan works have built 247 vessels since 1852, of which 61 were naval, and it has now on the stocks two war vessels of 16,350 tons and 36,000 horsepower, and six merchant steamers of 70,000 tons and 74.000 horse- power. The works employ about 6000 men. The Vulcan The docking facilities of the British navy are far superior to those of any naval power. The ~Government owns | forty-one drydocks in its six naval sta- tions at home, four at Malta and three under construction at Gibraltar, mak!n; a total of forty-eight in European wa- | ters. Tt also owns sixteen docks in fits | possessions abroad, namely: three in | North America, one at Bermuda, three in Australia and nine in the East Indies. The recent naval estimates provide for | one large dock at Chatham, two at Malta | of 790 and 530 feet length, one at Timons Bay 750 feet in length, a smaller dock | at Hongkong and a 5i-foot floating | dock at Bermuda. These new docks will | probably be completed within two years, | and Great Britain will then have seventy | drydocks reserved exclusively for naval vessels. The number of Government docks in the United States is only ten actually built and four in course of con- struction, to be completed within two years. Three of those already bullt are useless at present. owing to defects in construction, and only two docks are of sufficlent size to take in any of the large battleships. During the recent British naval ma- neuvers twenty-four vessels of one of the fleets were tested as to their speed, on which the admiral could rely upon during the forthcoming operations. The sea was calm, and the ships steamed un- der three-fifths power, with results as shown in the appended table. To facili- tate comparison between trial speed and speed under three-fifths power, it must be explained that the first is under full power, and that a reduction of two- thirds power causes a diminuition of speed in the vessels named of about one knot: BATTLESHIPS. Magnificent Repulse Jupiter . M Hannibal Resolution Cruisers— Androme Diadem Niobe . Furious Arrogant Minerva . Cambrian Arethusa .. Mersey . Thames Aeolus . FRetribution Pique . Latona . Nafad Sybille . Terpsichore | | | It seems evident from the foregoing speed figures that none of the battleships would come within a knot and a half of their trial speed if tried under full power. The new cruisers came up fairly to the mark, but those bullt prior to 1895 appear very deficient, and all except the Sybllle and Terpsichore are decidedly slow, while the Thames, Aeolus, Mersey and Arethusa are failures. One of the causes for this falling off in speed {s the fact that the ships were under service conditions, with bunkers full and draw- ing a couple of feet more than when they passed through their acceptance trials. Cal. glace frult 8c per I at Townsend's. + gt s it il Special information supplled dafly to business houses and public men by the Press Cnpnlng Bureau (Allen’'s), 510 Mon:- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042 ¢ Flags, shields, garlands, Japanese lant- erns, bunting, red, white and blue tissue gsper.‘rmrl?m. p!fturle‘a and all kinds of ecorations for sale cheap at Sanb Vaits, 1l Market street. - ey —_——— A textbook on railroads by Professor Hadley, the new president of Yale Uni- versity, has been translated into Russian by order of the Czar, and is now used as a regular textbook for required study in the Russian universities. Very Low Rates East. On August 29 and 30, the popular Sants Fa route will sell tickets to Philadelphia and re- tdrn at the very low rate of $88. Occa- elon, National Eneampment, G. A. R. Call at €28 Market st. for full particulars. —————— “Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used for fifty years by millions of mothers for thelr chfldren while Teething with perfect success. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays Pain, cures Wind Colic, regu- lates the Bowels and is the bést remedy for Diarrhoeas, whether arising from teething or other cause For sale by druggists in every part of the world. Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, 25¢ bottle. —_——— HOTEL DEL CORONADO—Take advantage of the round trop tickets. Now only §i0 by steamship, Including fitteen days' board at hotel; longer stay, 3250 per day. Apply at ¢ New Montgomery street, San Francisco.