phosphate of lime, sulphur, barytine, fluor spar, sulphates of iron, zinc, and copper, graphite, kaolin, and alkaline or terrous-alkaline salts.

The mines of the second class, which must be set apart for the common use and allowed to be worked by whomsoever wishes to do so, under the provisions of the law, are the following:

(a) All kinds of metalliferous sands, and precious stones, carried by the rivers or found in their beds.

(b) The placers, or placer mines.

(c) The tailings, rewashings, and refuse and slag heaps of mines abandoned, or of abandoned smelting and reducing establishments—as long as they are not claimed or recovered by the lawful owner.

The mines of the third class are the quarries of building stone, marble, granite, etc., and all other deposits of rocky or earthy material for architectural purposes. Mines of all classes are declared to be real estate. The engines, and all kinds of appurtenances permanently attached to them and necessary to their proper working, are also real estate.

The ownership of a mine, when created or vested in conformity with the law, is as perfect and as solemnly guaranteed and protected as the ownership of any other property whatsoever.

The Government can not interfere with the business of a mine, or interrupt its labors, or mingle in its management, unless it be in some extreme case in which public safety justifies the interference, or when such interference is necessary for the preservation either of the mine itself or of the lives of the laborers. Mines, by the reason of the benefit which the public derives from their proper operation, are privileged property, in so far as their owners, the same as the State, can take all kinds of private property for their own use, under proceedings of condemnation and when necessity justifies the taking. But the mines also may be taken under the same proceedings whenever the public benefit to be derived therefrom is greater or of a higher character than the advantage which they afford.

Under the same principle a number of easements are created in favor of the mines on and against the property adjoining them. These easements are substantially governed by the same rules which are observed in all countries since the days of the Roman law. The owner of a mine has always, for instance, the right of way through the lands of his neighbor, or the right to use the water which he needs for his works, or for his people, or his animals, which is found in the adjoining estates, and the right to take advantage of the pastures therein situated, when so needed; also, the right to take material for building railroads, canals, etc., and the right to cut down timber and use it for fuel, for building, or other purposes, etc.

In all cases, however, proper compensation must be paid.

The concession of a mine carries with it the right to compel the owner of the soil on which the mine is situated to sell it to the miner. If the soil belongs to the State, the Province, or the town, the conveyance of all the title and right in and to it is to be made gratuitously; but if it belongs to private individuals the miner must pay for it the full value, according to appraisement.

A mine is an entirety which does not admit of actual material division. Each one has to be worked and dealt with in every respect as a whole of the same dimensions and with the same limits as appear from the concession and registry.

If, however, it should be found that two or more pertenencias (units of mining property which form one mine) can be worked with advantage independently or the others and without doing injury to them, permission can be asked and granted to make the division. But, in that case, each one of the portions made must be registered and considered in all respects and for all the purposes of law as a new mine.

The law provides with care and minuteness for all that is to be done in regard to searching and prospecting for mines. All persons are entitled to make searches of this kind either in public or private lands, but always on condition that they apply to the proper authorities for permission to do so and that they bind themselves to pay the proper indemnification for all damages caused. They have also to subject themselves to all the rules established for these investigations.

In case the one who wishes to undertake these searches should be the owner of the land, permission from the Government is not required. But it will be of advantage for him to apply for such permission, because otherwise he may run the risk of losing his right to claim preference against outside applicants, either as the owner of the land or as the first explorer of the mine.

Persons exercising authority in mining matters and their near relatives are forbidden to make these searches within the limits of their respective districts. Applications for permissions of this kind are to be made in writing and addressed to the local mining authority. They must describe as accurately as possible the tract of land to be searched and the precise purposes of the search. No permission of this kind will be granted without first serving a copy of the application upon the owner of the land and publishing the same in the newspapers and otherwise for a certain time. If no opposition is made during the period allowed for that purpose, or if the opposition proves unsuccessful, the permission is granted.

The field for the explorations to be undertaken under this permission is limited to an area of 500 hectares, equivalent to 1,250 acres, more or less.

This searching can not last, under ordinary circumstances, more than 140 days at the most, but this time may be extended, upon sufficient reason, by order of the authority.

The owner of the soil has the right, under all circumstances, to cause the applicant to give bonds before commencing operations.

When the searching is finished, or when no searching is necessary, the miner may ask for the concession of the mining properties (pertenencias) which he wishes to obtain.

A pertenencia, or unit of mining property, is generally in the shape of a prism, cut through the ground perpendicularly to its surface by imaginary planes or indefinite length. This prism is generally of rectangular bases, 200 meters in length by 300 in width, and its depth or altitude, in a vertical direction, is indefinite. But in some cases, as required by the topographical conditions of the locality, the bases of this prism may be square, or of some other geometrical form.

The application for the concession must be filed in duplicate and shall set forth the name, occupation, etc., of both the applicant and the owner of the soil. It must contain also a description, as accurate and precise as possible, of the locality where the mine is to be located. The clerk of the court, on receiving both copies, shall certify at the foot of each the day and hour in which they were handed to him, and also whether or not any other petition relative to the same locality has been filed there. One of the copies shall be returned to the petitioner, who must sign the certificate together with the clerk, and the other shall be laid before the court, by whose order it shall then be registered or entered in full in a book kept for this purpose. It must be subsequently published for a certain number of days in the usual manner, either in the newspapers, if there be any, or otherwise.

The object of this publication is to give an opportunity to any one having a right to the mine to come before the authority and show his reasons why the concession should not be granted. The opposition must be made within sixty days immediately subsequent to the date of registration.

As a general rule the discoverer of a mine is entitled to three pertenencias or units, which can be either contiguous or separated from each other by spaces of no lesser extent than what is required to constitute a unit.

An important requisite which must be complied with previous to the concession, in cases of discovery, that is to say, when the mine is located in places where no others had been found before, consists of what is called "the legal labor" (la labor legal), and is as follows: The applicant for the concession is bound to make, within one hundred days subsequent to the date of the registration of his petition, some mining work, to the depth of 10 meters or less, sufficient to show the position and thickness of the vein and the nature and quality of the ores. This period may be extended, upon good and sufficient reasons, for one hundred days more.

The next step to be taken, the survey of the mine, is officially made, upon

petition in writing of the interested party and a notice thereof served upon the owners of the adjoining mines or estates, besides a publication by the newspapers or otherwise, stating the date in which the operation shall take place.

The opposition, if any, shall be briefly disposed of, and in case the decision is adverse to the opponent, or when there is no opposition, the survey shall be made under the personal supervision of the local authority and of the clerk of the court of mines, by the official engineer, and if there is none, by any engineer or expert appointed then for that purpose.

The limits must be marked, and substantial and lasting monuments fixed to designate the angles.

A complete record of all that has occurred during the operation shall be made, and it shall be signed by the authority, the interested parties, the engineer, and the clerk of the court of mines. This record shall be entered in full on the registry of mines, elsewhere referred to, and a certified copy, or transcript, of all that appears from the said registry in relation to the mine in question shall be given to the interested party, and it shall constitute his title and complete the concession.

Mines of the second class, first subdivision, may be granted to strangers if the owner of the soil on which they are situated does not work or benefit them within the period of one hundred days subsequent to the date in which they received from the authorities a notice to that effect.

The mines of the second class, second subdivision, do not require any formal concession on the part of the Government to become common property. It is necessary, however, for those who wish to take advantage of them to constitute pertenencias, or mining properties, which in this case consist of an area of rectangular form, varying according to circumstances from 10,000 to 60,000 square These areas are to be surveyed with the intervention of the authorities, and according to certain rules intended to avoid confusion and conflicts of rights. As soon as the owner of an abandoned mine or smelting establishment resumes work, the tailings, rewashings, etc., cease to be common property and revert to the owner.

meters.

No mine or mining establishment shall be considered abandoned when being worked by a number of laborers, which may vary from two to six according to circumstances.

Mines of the third class are private property and belong to the owner of the soil. They are subject, however, like all other private property, to the eminent domain of the State and can be taken for public use upon indemnification and according to the rules for such cases generally made and provided.

Mines can be sold and transferred and conveyed in the same manner and by the same methods as all other real property.

Appendix F.

SOUTH AMERICAN CONGRESS.

The following history of the South American Congress is taken from Volume IV, International American Congress: Reports of Committees, etc., pp. 281-289:

THE SOUTH AMERICAN CONGRESS AT MONTEVIDEO, 1888-1889.

The "South American Congress," which held its sessions at Montevideo from August 25, 1888, to February 18, 1889, was not properly a movement towards political or commercial unification of all the nations of America. It was merely a congress of jurists, and by its nature and for all purposes and effects exclusively South American. But it must be mentioned, nevertheless, in this place, not only because it was an important exponent of the civilization of the States of the southern portion of this continent, but also because it was an advanced step towards the satisfaction of a necessity deeply felt in America.*

*On the 9th of December, 1877, the anniversary of the battle of Ayacucho, which put an end to the Spanish rule in South America, another congress of jurists had met at Lima, Peru, at the invitation of the Peruvian Government. As it appears from a note of the department of foreign relations of that Republic, dated May 21, 1878, that congress was attended by plenipotentiaries from Bolivia, Cuba (whose independence had been recognized by Peru), Chili, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru, the Argentine Republic, and Venezuela. Later on, Costa Rica sent a representative, and still later Guatemala and Uruguay adhered to the conclusions reached.

The meetings which were held by that assembly of distinguished men of law were many and had the following result:

1. A treaty for the establishment of uniform rules in the matter of private international law, dated November 9, 1878.

2. A treaty of extradition, dated March 27, 1879.

Both documents appear as an Appendix to the report sent to the Peruvian Congress in 1879 by the secretary of foreign relations of that Republic. The report of 1878 contains also interesting detairs about the inauguration of this congress of jurists.