5. That a systematic organization of the mining interest would have a tendency to promote the public welfare. To this end, there should be appointed an officer for the inspection and superintendence of mines. He should reside in the mine country, and report annually to the proper governmental department on the state of the mines, improvements, &c. His duty should consist in part of the following items, viz.:
a. To lease out public mines, and receive and account for rents.
b. To prevent the waste and destruction of wood on the public lands.
c. To see that no mines were wrought without authority.
d. To keep the government informed, periodically, of the quantity of lead made at the different mines, and of new discoveries of lead, or any other useful minerals; and,
e. To explore, practically, the mineralogy of the country, in order fully to develop its mineral character and importance. Connected with these duties, should be the collection of mineralogical specimens for a national cabinet of natural history at Washington.
The superintendent of mines should be a practical mineralogist, and such a salary attached to the office as to induce a man of respectable talents and scientific acquirements to accept the appointment. To allow the manufacturers of lead every advantage consistent with the public interest, the rent charged on mines should not exceed two and a half per cent. on the quantity manufactured, which is equivalent to the proposed governmental duty on imported lead, whereby the revenue would not only be kept up, but might be considerably enhanced. The foregoing details exhibit an annual produce of 3,726,666 pounds of lead, which, it is presumable, may be half the quantity the mines are capable of producing, with proper management. But, estimating the lead at four cents per pound, and taking that as the average quantity, the annual rents, at two and a half per cent., will create a revenue of thirty-two thousand four hundred and ninety dollars.
This subject is believed to be one that commends itself to the attention of the government, which has, from a policy early introduced, reserved the mineral lands on the public domain. No one can view it in the light of these facts, without perceiving the propriety and necessity of an efficient organization of this branch of the public interest.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] The following sketch of the life of Burton is given by Colonel Thomas H. Benton, of St. Louis, in the Enquirer of that city, October 16, 1818:—"He is a Frenchman, from the north of France. In the fore-part of the last century, he served in the Low Countries, under the orders of Marshal Saxe. He was at Fontenoy when the Duke of Cumberland was beat there by that Marshal. He was at the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, and assisted in the assault of that place when it was assailed by a division of Marshal Saxe's army, under the command of Count Lowendahl. He has also seen service upon this continent. He was at the building of fort Chartres, on the American bottom; afterwards went to fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburgh), and was present at Braddock's defeat. From the life of a soldier, Burton passed to that of a hunter; and in this character, about half a century ago, while pursuing a bear to the west of the Mississippi, he discovered the rich lead-mines which have borne his name ever since. His present age cannot be ascertained. He was certainly an old soldier at fort Chartres, when some of the people of the present day were little children at that place. The most moderate computation will make him a hundred and six. He now lives in the family of Mr. Micheaux, at the little rock ferry, three miles above St. Genevieve, and walks to that village almost every Sunday to attend mass. He is what we call a square-built man, of five feet eight inches high, full chest and forehead; his sense of seeing and hearing somewhat impaired, but free from disease, and apparently able to hold out against time for many years to come."