Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-09

Ik55FSVI6ENl NCLE SAM is at ldst SutNVNN
lNDM Nl ing in his efforts to protect
l@H 81 the coal, phosphate, oil beds
I'M va 81 and water power on the
IM = Sll lands still owned by nm:
IHkAeSz8I He has parties in the nelu
making extended, detailed surveys OF
tracts down to the smallest legal SUB
division, and when deposits are tound
he proposes to dispose of them at
price commensurate with at least an
approximation of their value. lie Is
now willing to sell coal lands on a
fee simple basis, but If the views Of
the responsible authorities are ac-
cepted by congress, the oil and phos-
phate deposits and the water power
will be leased and not sold. Leasing
of coal Is also urged because II VIII
afford a better method of controlling
waste.
When a man can, by the expenditure
of less than ten cents an acre-and IN
some cases less than one cent-ehhance
the selling value of his land from
twenty dollars per acre to as lnuch as
S465 per acre, he is something OF
genius. Yet that is exactly What lne
Geological survey has been doing since
1906. There still remains some 70.0OO,-
600 acres of coal land in the possession
of the government, about ho,oou, ouo
acres already having been taken up
THE old law which was passed IN
1879. set forth that all coal land shoulu
he sold under certain terms, ana I'M
tied the amount any individual or
corporation could buy. All such lahdS
WITHIN fifteen miles of a railroad
should be sold at mot less than
twenty dollars per acre; and all over
fifteen miles should be sold al NOT
less than" ten dollars per acre
Under the Interpretation of the law
ted. and $40 and $40 were made the
max ximum and only prices. Then the
regulations of 1906 were prepared anu
thev took cognizance of the mot less
than" Thereafter coal lands shoulu
be sold on a basis of their coal ue-
posits. SO the land was ordered clas-
sified Each foot of territory was soiie
over carefully. and the quantlly OF
coal estimated. The coal beds are tHe
fossilized swamp growth torineu Just
after the land emerged from the DOT
tom of the sea. Some of these swamps
were of enormous extent, and the
many different kinds of vegetation
growing in them accumulated 1or
many ages, and gave rise to peas OF
coal of great regularity over VIDE
areas.
The geologist takes an outeropplng'
measures its thickness at many points,
and where he finds this uniform ne
knows the coal will continue of an ap-
nroximatelv even thickness all through
the bed. unless it happens to be broken
by faults i'm the rock. BY following
well-established geologic laws he Is
-enabled to tell just what coal Is there
as well as If he used diamond drlll
every twenty feet. After hndlng tne
quantity of coal on each tract or forty
acres and plating 1t on the oHlcld'
nf land
puted. There being no provision lot
disposing of it on a royalty basis, IL
must ne sold outright. So price is
fxed that will allow every one VINO
takes a tract to make a good pfont
from II. yet which is high enough tnat
purchase for mere speculative holulns
may be discouraged III Is hgureu
that the life of the usual coal inlne
will not exceed twenty years and that
II will take that long to get all the
coal out of a tract on this basis the
actual cash value of the Gus
tomarv 10-cent royalty would be
cut down to one-half that amount
Then to err on the side of generosity
toward the entryman. the present uay
cash value of the prospective royalty
is again cut in half. That would MAKE
the average royalty about st,t cehss s
ron But all the coal is not of unlform
quality. and Uncle Sam wants to en-
courage the development of the cheap-
ar Grades. To accomplish this he puts
a nresent day cash value on the coal
in the mine down to one-half cent
ton on the cheap coal and up TO cents
a ton on the best coal, -o ooo mn
As about two-thirds of the 7O,OOo'OOO
acres of coal lands contain the cheaper
grades. it will be seen that the major
norton of the total tonnage VIII De
sold on a basis of half cent a ton,
unmined value. In another particular
these terms are most advantageous 10
the purchaser. In the commerclal
market the royalty is usually about ~
cents a ton at the mouth of the NINE
no matter whether it is the finest BIZ
luminous to be found or the cheapest
Ignite that is mined. Therefore. in
the majority of cases, the coal oper-
ator who buys government land will
get coal for one-half cent ton
that would cost him 10 cents if he
bought from private parties. the only
difference being that in the former
case he pays cash in advance
But even at this price the govern
ment gets much more out of it than
under the old terms of sale. The
maximum value of a single township
in wyoming, under the old regulations,
was S949 900. Under the present regu-