MINT. BRANCH MINT ESTABLISHED. LAWS 1852, P. 276; APR. 9, 1852. JOINT RESOLUTIONS in relation to the establishment of a branch mint in this State. Resolved, by the senate and assembly of the State of California, That our Senators in Congress be, and they are hereby, instructed, and our Representatives requested to use their utmost endeavors to procure the establishment of a branch mint of the United States in this State at the earliest possible moment. Resolved, That the governor be requested to forward to each of our Senators and Representatives a copy of the foregoing report and resolutions. LAWS 1913, P. 1509; FEB. 4, 1913. SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 7, relative to the proposed restriction of the mint and assay service by the United States and protesting against the same. Whereas the Secretary of the Treasury, in his annual report, has again renewed his efforts to restrict the operation of the mint and assay service by urging the abolition of all the Federal assay offices which are located at strategic entrepôts in the principal gold-mining districts of the West; and Whereas the fact is well known by the miners of California and of the State wherein the United States mints and assay offices are located that these public bullionbuying agencies render high economic service in protecting the producers of precious metals: Therefore be it Resolved, by the senate and assembly, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully urges the Congress of the United States to oppose the closing of the Federal assay offices and the restriction of the functions of the mint and assay service; and urges the Senators and Representatives of this State in Congress to oppose all efforts to this end: Be it further Resolved, That the governor of the State of California transmit authenticated copies of these resolutions to the President of the United States, and the President-Elect of the United States, and the respective presiding officers of the sixty-second and sixtythird sessions of the Congress of the United States, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress for said sessions. 187 MORTGAGES ON MINING PROPERTY. QUARTZ CLAIMS. LAWS 1853, P. 153; MAY 11, 1853. COMPILED LAWS 1850-1853, P. 911. The People, etc. AN ACT in relation to personal mortgages in certain cases. SEC. 1. A mortgage for a good and valuable consideration upon possessory claims to public lands, all buildings, and improvements upon such lands, all quartz claims, and all other such personal property as shall be fixed in its structure to the soil, acknowledged in manner and form as mortgages upon real estate are required by law to be acknowledged and recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in which the property is situated, shall have the same effect against third persons as mortgages upon real property. SEC. 2. The seventeenth section of an act entitled "An act concerning fraudulent conveyances and contracts," passed April 19, 1850, in so far as the same conflicts with the provisions of this act, is hereby repealed. PERSONAL PROPERTY. LAWS 1857, p. 347; APRIL 29, 1857. AN ACT amendatory of and supplementary to an act in relation to personal mortgages in certain cases, passed May 11, A. D. 1853. The People, etc. SEC. 1. Section 1 of said act is amended so as to read as follows: SEC. 1. Chattel mortgages may be made on the following property to secure the * * mining claims, payment of just indebtedness: * * * * quartz claims, with the machinery and buildings connected therewith; water ditches, flumes and aqueducts; tunnels, cuts, and other improvements in mining claims; * * * * * * SEC. 6. This act shall not be so construed as to interfere or conflict with the lawful mining rules, regulations, or customs in regard to the locating, holding, or forfeiture of claims, but in all cases of mortgages of mining interests under this act, the mortgagee shall have the right to perform the same acts that the mortgagor might have performed for the purpose of preventing a forfeiture of the same under the said rules, regulations, or customs of mines, and shall be allowed such compensation therefor as shall be deemed just and equitable by the court ordering the sale upon a foreclosure. Provided, That such compensation shall in no case exceed the amount realized from the claim by a foreclosure and sale. AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act amendatory of and supplementary to an act in relation to personal mortgages, in certain cases," passed May 11, 1853, approved April 29, 1857, and acts amendatory thereof. The People, etc. SEC. 1. Section 1 of the act amendatory of and supplementary to an act in relation to personal mortgages in certain cases, passed May 11, 1853, approved April 29, 1857, approved April 19, 1861, is amended so as to read as follows: SEC. 1. Chattel mortgages may be made on the following property, to secure the payment of just indebtedness: * machinery and apparatus for mining LAWS 1863-64, P. 226; MAR. 24, 1864. AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act amendatory of and supplementary to an act in relation to personal mortgages in certain cases,' passed May 11, 1853," approved April 29, 1857, and an act amendatory thereof, approved April 18, 1863. The People, etc. SEC. 1. Section 1 of the act to amend an act entitled, "An act amendatory of and supplementary to an act in relation to personal mortgages in certain cases," passed May 11, 1853, approved April 29, 1857, and act amendatory thereof, approved April 18, 1863, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: * SEC. 1. Chattel mortgages may be made on the following property to secure the payment of just indebtedness: machinery and apparatus for mining purpose. No mortgage made by virtue of this act shall have any legal force or effect (except between the parties thereto) unless the residence of the mortgagor and mortgagee, their profession, trade, or occupation, the sum to be secured, the rate of interest to be paid, when and where payable, shall be set out in the mortgage, and the mortgagor and mortgagee shall make affidavit that the mortgagee (mortgage) is bona fide, and made without any design to defraud or delay creditors, which affidavit shall be attached to such mortgage. MINING MACHINERY. LAWS 1893, P. 84; MAR. 9, 1893. CIVIL CODE, SEC. 2955. AN ACT entitled "An act to amend section 2955 of the Civil Code. The People, etc. SEC. 1. Section 2955 of the Civil Code is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Mortgages may be made upon: * * * LAWS 1897, P. 95; MAR. 9, 1897. SEC. 2955, CIVIL CODE. AN ACT to amend section 2953, Civil Code, respecting the mortgaging of personal property. The People, etc. SEC. 1. (This amendment makes no change as to mining property.) LAWS 1903, P. 78; MAR. 3, 1903. SEC. 2955, CIVIL CODE. AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to establish a Civil Code," approved March 21, 1872, by amending section 2955 thereof, relating to mortgages upon personal property. The People, etc. NOTE.-This amended section does not affect mortgages as to mining machinery. LAWS 1905, 36 P. 37; MAR. 3, 1905. LAWS 1907, P. 886; MAR. 22, 1907. SEC. 2955, CIVIL CODE. AN ACT to amend section 2955 of an act entitled: "An act to establish a Civil Code," approved March 21, 1872, relating to mortgages of personal property. The People, etc. SEC. 1. Section 2955 of the Civil Code is hereby amended so as to read as follows: SEC. 2955. Mortgages may be made upon the following personal property and none other: * * * 21. Machinery, tanks, stills, agitators, leachers, and apparatus used in producing and refining petroleum, asphaltum, fuel oils, lubricating oils, and greases. NOTE.-The act of March 22, 1907, amended the section, but made no change in paragraphs 4 or 21. LAWS 1865-1866, P. 286; MAR. 17, 1866. (GENERAL LAWS 1864-71. SEC. 9080.) The People, etc. SEC. 1. In actions respecting petroleum mining claims, proof shall be admitted of the customs, usages, regulations, or local laws established and in force in the petroleum mining district embracing such claim; and such customs, usages, regulations, or local laws, when not in conflict with the constitution and laws of this State, shall govern the decisions of the action. SEC. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. PLUGGING OIL WELLS. LAWS 1903, P. 399; MAR. 24, 1903. AN ACT to prevent injury to oil or petroleum bearing strata or formations by the infiltration or intrusion of water therein. The People, etc. SEC. 1. It shall be the duty of the owner of any well that may be drilled in the State of California on lands producing or containing oil or petroleum, to properly case such well with metal casing, in accordance with the best approved methods, landing the casing in the clay or other water-impervious strata or formation immediately underlying the surface water-bearing sands or strata, and also to, if the well be drilled to a sufficient depth, land the casing in the clay or other water-impervious strata or formation underlying such oil or petroleum producing or bearing sands or strata, and effectually shut off all water overlying and underlying the oil or petroleum producing or bearing sands or strata, and effectually prevent any water from penetrating such oil or petroleum producing or bearing sands or strata. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the owner of any well referred to in section 1 of this act, before abandoning same, to withdraw the casing therefrom and securely fill such well with clay, earth, or mortar, or other good and sufficient materials, used alone or in suitable combination and thoroughly packed and tamped in the well, to a point 100 feet above the upper oil or petroleum bearing or producing sand or strata, and while withdrawing the casing therefrom, and effectually shut off and exclude all water underlying and overlying such oil or petroleum bearing or producing sand or strata from penetrating such sand or strata. SEC. 3. The term "owner" as herein used shall mean and include each and every person, persons, copartnership, partnership, association, or corporation owning, managing, operating, controlling, or possessing any well mentioned in sections 1 and 2 of this act, either as principal or principals, lessee or lessees of such principal or principals, and their and each of their employees; the term "oil or petroleum producing or bearing sand or strata" as herein used shall mean and include any bed, seam, or stratum of rock or sand or other material which contains, includes, or yields earth oil, rock oil, or petroleum oil or natural gas or either of them. SEC. 4. Any violation of the provisions of this act shall be deemed a misdemeanor. WASTE OF NATURAL GAS PREVENTED. LAWS 1911, P. 499; MAR. 25, 1911. AN ACT prohibiting the unnecessary wasting of natural gas into the atmosphere; providing for the capping or otherwise closing of wells from which natural gas flows; and providing penalties for violating the provisions of this act. The People, etc. SEC. 1. All persons, firms, corporations and associations are hereby prohibited from willfully permitting any natural gas wastefully to escape into the atmosphere. SEC. 2. All persons, firms, corporations or associations digging, drilling, excavating, constructing, or owning or controlling any well from which natural gas flows shall upon the abandonment of such well, cap or otherwise close the mouth of or entrance to the same in such a manner as to prevent the unnecessary or wasteful escape into the atmosphere of such natural gas. And no person, firm, corporation, or association owning or controlling land in which such well or wells are situated shall willfully permit natural gas flowing from such well or wells, wastefully or unnecessarily to escape into the atmosphere. SEC. 3. Any person, firm, corporation, or association who shall willfully violate any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. SEC. 4. For the purposes of this act each day during which natural gas shall be willfully allowed wastefully or unnecessarily to escape into the atmosphere shall be deemed a separate and distinct violation of this act. SEC. 5. All acts or parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. PIPE LINES. LAWS 1911 (EXTRA SESSION), P. 18; DEC. 23, 1911. AN ACT to provide for the organization of the railroad commission, to define its powers and duties, and the rights, remedies, powers, and duties of public utilities, their officers, define its powers and duties, and the rights, remedies, of patrons of public utilities, and to provide penalties for offenses by public utilities, their officers, agents, and employees, and by other persons and corporations, etc. * ** (m) The term "pipe line," when used in this act, includes all real estate, fixtures, and personal property, owned, controlled, operated, or managed in connection with or to facilitate the transmission, storage, distribution, or delivery of crude oil or other fluid substances except water through pipe lines. (n) The term "pipe line corporation," when used in this act, includes every corporation or person, their lessees, trustees, receivers or trustees appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any pipe line for compensation within this State. * * * OIL WELLS-REGULATIONS. LAWS 1915, P. 1404; JUNE 10, 1915. (AMENDED. SEE PAGE 202.) CHAPTER 718. AN ACT establishing and creating a department of the State mining bureau for the protection of the natural resources of petroleum and gas from waste and destruction through improper operations in production; providing for the appointment of a State oil and gas supervisor; prescribing his duties and powers; fixing his compensation; providing for the appointment of deputies and employees; providing for their duties and compensation; providing for the inspection of petroleum and gas wells; requiring all persons operating petroleum and gas wells to make certain reports; providing procedure for arbitration of departmental rulings; creating a fund for the purposes of the act; providing for assessment of charges to be paid by operators and providing for the collection thereof; and making an appropriation for the purposes of this act. The People, etc. SEC. 1. A separate department of the State mining bureau is hereby established and created to be known as the department of petroleum and gas. Such department shall be under the general jurisdiction of the State mineralogist. He shall appoint a superivsor who shall be a competent engineer or geologist experienced in the development |