Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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    <archimedes>
      <text>
        <body>
          <chap>
            <p type="main">
              <s>
                <pb pagenum="94"/>
              ever, on the third, or at latest the fourth day, they pay their contributions
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              to the manager of the mine or tunnel, and pay the money which is due from
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              them to the Share Clerk, he removes their shares from the proscribed
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              list. </s>
              <s>They are not thereupon restored to their former position unless the
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              other owners consent; in which respect the custom now in use differs from
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              the old practice, for to-day if the owners of shares constituting anything
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              over half the mine consent to the restoration of those who have been
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              proscribed, the others are obliged to consent whether they wish to or not.
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              </s>
              <s>Formerly, unless such restoration had been sanctioned by the approval of
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              the owners of one hundred shares, those who had been proscribed were not
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              restored to their former position.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>The procedure in suits relating to shares was formerly as follows: he
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              who instituted a suit and took legal proceedings against another in respect
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              of the shares, used to make a formal charge against the accused possessor
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              before the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeíster.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> This was done either at his house or in some public
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              place or at the mines, once each day for three days if the shares belonged to
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              an old mine, and three times in eight days if they belonged to a head­
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              meer. </s>
              <s>But if he could not find the possessor of the shares in these places, it
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              was valid and effectual to make the accusation against him at the house of
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              the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeíster.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> When, however, he made the charge for the third time, he
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              used to bring with him a notary, whom the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeister
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              would interrogate:
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              “Have I earned the fee?” and who would respond: “You have earned
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              it”; thereupon the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeíster
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              would give the right over the shares to him
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              who made the accusation, and the accuser in turn would pay down the
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              customary fee to the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeister.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> After these proceedings, if the man whom
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              the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeíster
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              had deprived of his shares dwelt in the city, one of the
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              proprietors of the mine or of the head-mine was sent to him to acquaint him
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              with the facts, but if he dwelt elsewhere proclamation was made in some
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              public place, or at the mine, openly and in a loud voice in the hearing of
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              numbers of miners. </s>
              <s>Nowadays a date is defined for the one who is answer­
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              able for the debt of shares or money, and information is given the accused
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              by an official if he is near at hand, or if he is absent, a letter is sent him;
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              nor is the right over his shares taken from anyone for the space of one and
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              a half months. </s>
              <s>So much for these matters.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>Now, before I deal with the methods which must be employed in
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              working, I will speak of the duties of the Mining Prefect, the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeister,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
                <lb/>
              the Jurors, the Mining Clerk, the Share Clerk, the manager of the mine
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              or tunnel, the foreman of the mine or tunnel, and the workmen.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>To the Mining Prefect, whom the King or Prince appoints as his deputy,
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              all men of all races, ages, and rank, give obedience and submission. </s>
              <s>He
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              governs and regulates everything at his discretion, ordering those things
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              which are useful and advantageous in mining operations, and prohibiting
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              those which are to the contrary. </s>
              <s>He levies penalties and punishes offenders;
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              he arranges disputes which the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Bergmeíster
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              has been unable to settle, and if
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              even he cannot arrange them, he allows the owners who are at variance over
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              some point to proceed to litigation; he even lays down the law, gives orders </s>
            </p>
          </chap>
        </body>
      </text>
    </archimedes>
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