THE LAW
The law of mining has always required
a discovery
to have a valid claim.
The law has always recognized
certain rights of possession.
The law generally restricts
this to one man able to hold control
of one mining claim.
The laws
of western water and mining
encourage people to spend their time and money
finding resources and developing them.
The law gave free land
to people to get them to join
the colonial army. The law gave free land
for wagon roads, railroads,
canal systems. The law says
diligence is manifest
by doing work and filing proof
that you have done it. The law gave Indians
aboriginal rights, it gave them voting rights,
it made them citizens.
But totally absent from the law
is the question of waste:
a man with a claim
is permitted to do anything he likes
with his land and property.
The law does not recognize resources
are not renewable.
These laws passed
in 1872, and remain the same
today. The language
of the past is law here.
But of the future?
About that, the law has nothing to say.