The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-14

of the surface lands for agricultural purposes and the extraction of the mineral fuels in such manner as will best meet the needs of the people and best facilitate the development of man ufacturing industries. am aware that objections to this system are be- ing urgef.
 It is claimed that so large a part of the coal In some of the Western States has already passed into the hands of certain large corporations that parties endeavoring to operate under lease system other coal deposits would be unable to compete with these corpora tions. ani, therefore. that the fuel de- posits still belonging to the Govern nfent should also be allowed to pass into private ownership presumably into the hands of the same or other large corporations. It is also being claimed that reservation of the fuel supplies still belonging to the Government would raise the price of coal in the West, and. as an argument in favor of this contention 1t Is claimed that the reservation of the natural forests Is raising the price of lumoer in the West ~
 Tt should be remembered that the best and most accessible bodies of tim Der in the West passed into private holdings. before the forest reserves were established; that while. the price of timber has advanced in the West, 1t has advanced still more in the East, where there are no forest reserves: that supplies of timber are today be- ing shipped from the West to the mar kets of the Mississippi Valley and even to foreign countries To secure cheap ness of timber and fuel for the moment at the cost of ruin to our own children would surely be a suicidal policy. 1t may be fairly claimed among the ad- vantages of the leasing system that:
 Advantages of Leasing.
 'First-It will facilitate the work ing, under favorable conditions, of coal deposits for locaF markets by miners, without large capital, as no land pur- chase money would be required and the small royalty charges would be paid out of the earnings.
 "Second--It will facilitate large oper- ations. as the leases could be made suf- hciently liberal in the matter of time, area and other conditions to induce healthy competition and meet all real demands; and yet in all cases the gen. eral supervision of the Government could be such as.
 "Third-To prevent waste in the ex- traction and handling of these fuels
 "Fourth-The system can be operated in such manner as to prevent the evils of monopoiistic control.
 "Fifth--lt will permit the Govern ment to reserve from general use fuels especially suitable for metallurgical and other industries: and.
 'Sixth--It will enable the Govern ment to protect the public against un- reasonable and discrIminating charges for fuel supplies.
 Already probably one-half of the total area of the high grade coals in the West has passed under private con- troll Including both the Ignite and the coal areas, these private holdings probably aggregate not less than .30,- GOO. 900 acres of coal fields. With the renainer of the lands containing min eral fuels reserve and leased by the Government, there will be ample op- portunity to determine, in the near future, which of the two systems-pri- vate ownership. or the leasing system with general government supervision- will best protect the interest of the people and thus promote the perma- nent development of the West.
 'Tn planning such leasing system by the Government the question Of revenue beyond that necessary to cover the expenses of administration and exploration, need not be seriously considered. The spirit of generosity which the country as a whole has