Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950
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              <s>
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              Prince's.” Thereupon the
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              Bergmeíster
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              gave the right over the tunnel to
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              the first applicant. </s>
              <s>This was the severe rule under which the owners at one
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              time lost their rights over a tunnel; but its severity is now considerably
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              mitigated, for the owners do not now forthwith lose their right over a tunnel
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              through not having cleaned out the drains and restored the shafts or
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              ventilation holes which have suffered damage; but the
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              Bergmeister
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              orders
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              the tunnel manager to do it, and if he does not obey, the authorities fine
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              the tunnel. </s>
              <s>Also it is sufficient for one miner to be engaged in driving the
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              tunnel. </s>
              <s>Moreover, if the owner of a tunnel sets boundaries at a fixed spot
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              in the rocks and stops driving the tunnel, he may obtain a right over it so
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              far as he has gone, provided the drains are cleaned out and ventilation
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              holes are kept in repair. </s>
              <s>But any other owner is allowed to start from the
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              established mark and drive the tunnel further, if he pays the former owners
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              of the tunnel as much money every three months as the
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              Bergmeíster
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              decides
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              ought to be paid.</s>
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              <s>There remain for discussion, the shares in the mines and tunnels.
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              </s>
              <s>Formerly if anybody conveyed these shares to anyone else, and the latter
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              had once paid his contribution, the seller
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              14
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              was bound to stand by his bargain,
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              and this custom to-day has the force of law. </s>
              <s>But if the seller denied that the
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              contribution had been paid, while the buyer of the shares declared that he could
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              prove by witnesses that he had paid his contribution to the other proprietors,
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              and a case arose for trial, then the evidence of the other proprietors carried
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              more weight than the oath of the seller. </s>
              <s>To-day the buyer of the shares proves
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              that he has paid his contribution by a document which the mine or tunnel
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              manager always gives each one; if the buyer has contributed no money
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              there is no obligation on the seller to keep his bargain. </s>
              <s>Formerly, as I have
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              said above, the proprietors used to contribute money weekly, but now con­
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              tributions are paid four times each year. </s>
              <s>To-day, if for the space of a month
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              anyone does not take proceedings against the seller of the shares for the con­
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              tribution, the right of taking proceedings is lost. </s>
              <s>But when the Clerk has
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              already entered on the register the shares which had been conveyed or
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              bought, none of the owners loses his right over the share unless the money
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              is not contributed which the manager of the mine or tunnel has demanded
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              from the owner or his agent. </s>
              <s>Formerly, if on the application of the manager
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              the owner or his agent did not pay, the matter was referred to the
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              Berg­
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              meister,
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              who ordered the owner or his agent to make his contribution; then
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              if he failed to contribute for three successive weeks, the
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              Bergmeister
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              gave
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              the right to his shares to the first applicant. </s>
              <s>To-day this custom is un­
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              changed, for if owners fail for the space of a month to pay the contribu­
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              tions which the manager of the mine has imposed on them, on a stated day
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              their names are proclaimed aloud and struck off the list of owners, in
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              the presence of the
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              Bergmeíster,
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              the Jurors, the Mining Clerk, and the Share
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              Clerk, and each of such shares is entered on the proscribed list. </s>
              <s>If, how­</s>
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