The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1906-10-14
COAL LANDS GONE
PRESIDENTS PLAN TO SAVE THEM
COMES TOO LATE.
Railroads Said to Hold Title to al
Worth Having-Westeru Coal
Companies Controlled b.
Railroads.

D-
Washington Special to The New Or.
leans Times-Democrat
Interstate Commerce CONN ssioner
Prouty. who made an Investigation Of
the subject, has completed a report
which shows that the President
plan Of withdrawing coal lands from
ontry comes too late that practically
a railroad monopoly OF Western coal
fields already exists. and the only
remedy is to set aside by legislation
patents fraudulently obtained to mill
lions Of acres Of mineral land.
The report will soon be submitted
to the President. 1t may not be made
public. but Its contents are known.
1t outlines a gigantic scheme of land
frauds that has been for many years
inextricably tangled with the mining
and transporting of coal in Wyoming.
Colorado and Utah. The Union Pa
cifc Railroad principally is attacked
in the report, but the Santa FEE and
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
and the Denver and Rio Grande are
namei as concerns whose activities. in
occurring government coal lands may
not bel.' the limelight.
Senator Clark Of Wyoming. a pow
er on the Republican side OF the Sem
ate. Ia dragged into the tangle. His
brother. D. o. Clark, is president Of
the Union Pacific Coal Company.
Railroad. 1t is stated hat only
closely woven web of political infu
ence enabled the continuation of the
frauds.
Mr.. Prouty was assigned to the task
of investigating the situation as to
the Western roads under the Tillman
Gillespie resolution calling on the In
90. COT
report on the extent of the coal lands
held by the railroads CT the country.
and he finds the greatest ingenuity has
been devoted to the development Of
devices for securing the ownership Of
the public domain for the railroad or
its subsidiary companies.
The Union Pacific owns the t5,0o0,-
900 capital Of the Union Pacific Coal
Company. director Of the Union
Pacific holds the stock Of TIE Superb
or Coal Company. which controls
many acres of the lands. The rail-
road and the two companies, Nj.
Prouty's report shows. work together
on system for getting and holding
the coal lands and controlling their
development.
Criticism Is aimed at the Interior
Department in this connection for its
failure to protect the public domain
| The department has various agents
through the public land country but
| they are declared to be subject to
local political influences. and accom-
plish little.
The investigation brought out that
prominent politician of Wyoming
admitted to using $4,000 of money
provided him by the railroads to buy
ing and entering coal lands. which he
afterward relinquished TO the road,
receiving 5000 for his trouble. Others
| did not get so much. Bartenders and
gamblers were paid s. for the use of
their names in entering claims which
were soon relinquished to the roads
This was the principal method of eva
ding the law.
Mr.. Prouty will urge tina: many Of
these patents be set aside and that
some fundamental change in the land
laws be made to break the grip of the
railroads.
These developments show the inef-
I fectiveness of the Presidents plan
of Withdrawing lands from entry in
that the accessible lands are already
in the hands OF the railroads, and in
that the railroads will fight the de-
velopment Of any lands rot theirs. In
accordance with the Presidents re-
quest for a report on the extent of
unentered coal lands, the Geodetical
Survey has put eight parties in the
fields OF the Far West looking up the
facts.