The Elbert County tribune., 1910-09-09

NJ. and down to Auguat. mn. therD Woro
but II entries. with an area Of LIN .cres.
sition of the coal lands In the last two
years Of about 5000 acres for q. 3oe. 900.
The present congress, already said.
has separated the surface of coal lands.
either classified or withdrawn for ciassi-
ication. from tho coal beneath. 80 az to
permit at all times homestead entries
upon the surface of lands useful for ag-
riculture and to reserve the ownership
in the coal to the government The aues-
tion which remains to be considered 10
whether the existing law for the sale of
the coal In the ground should continue
In force or be repealed and new method
of disposition adopted. Under the present
law the absolute title In the coal be-
meath the surface passes to the grantee
OF the government The price nxed Is
upon estimated amount of the tons
OF coal per acre beneath the surface. and
the prices hSed that the earnings
will only be reasonable profit upon the
amount paid and the investment neces-
sary. But. of course. this Is more or less
guesswork. and the government parts
with the ownership of the coal in the
ground absolutely. Authorities of the Ee-
| illogical survey estimate that in the
| United States today there n supply of
about three thousand billions OF tons of
COAL and that of this one thousand billions
are In the public domain. OF course. the 9TH
| er two thousand billions are within private
| ownership and under more control as
to the the prices Mt which the
coal may be sold than any other private
property. II the government leases the
coal lands and acts as any landlord
| would. and imposes conditions in Its
leases like those which are now imposed
| by the owners in fee of coal mines In the
various coal regions of the east, then It
| would retain over the disposition OF the
| coal deposits a choice as TO the assignee
| of the lease. or of resuming possession at
| the end of the term of the lease which
might easily be framed to enable It to
| exercise limited but effective control
In the disposition and saie of the coal to
| the public. 1t has been urged that the
| leasing system has never been adopted In
| this country, and that its adoption would
| largely interfere with the investment of
| capital and the proper development and
| opening up of the coal resources. ven
ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question to how great an area
| ought to be included in lease to one
| individual corporation. is not free from
| difficulty; but in view of the fact that
| the government retains control owner,
| I think there might be some liberality in
the amount leased. and that $500 acres
! would not be too great a maximum.
BY the opportunity to readjust the
| terms upon which the coal shall be held
| by the tenant. either at the end of each
| lease at periods during the term. the
| government may secure the benefit of
| sharing in the increased price OF coal and
/
| BY imposing conditions in respect to the
| character of work to be done In the
mines. the government may control the
| character of the development of the
mines and the treatment of employees with
| reference to safety. BY denying the
| right to transfer the lease except by the
| written permission OF the governmental
authorities. 1t may withhold the needed
| consent when II is proposed to transfer
| the leasehoid to persons interested In
| a of IN
| in any state or neighborhood. The change
| from the absolute grant to the leasing
| system will involve good deal of
trouble in the outset. and the training of
! experts In the matter of making proper
| leases. but the change will pc a good
! one and can be made. The change is in
| the interest of conservation. and 1 am
glad to approve it.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The investigation of the geological sur
vey show that the coal properties In
Alaska cover about 100 square miles.
| and that there are known 20 be available
about 5000. 100000 tons. This is. however.
| an underestimate of the coal in Alaska
because further developments will prob
| ably increase this amount many times:
| but we can say with considerable GER
| tainty that there are two fields the
| Pacific slope which can be reached by
| railways at reasonable cost from deep
| water-in one case about nifty miles and
| in the other case of about $50 miles
which will AFFORD certainly 5000 ZOO, 900
| tons of coal. more than half of which is
| of a very high grade OF bituminous and
| of anthracite. II is estimated to be worth
in the ground, one-half cent ton
| which makes its value per from $50
! to $500. The coking-coal lands OF Penn
| sylvania are worth from $500 to 81. 900 an
| acre. while other Appala achian fields are
worth from $40 to 1886 acre. and the
fields In the central states from SO to
| 5000 an acre. and in the Rocky noun
| tsins $40 to $500 an acre. The demand for
coal on the Pacific coast Is for about
| 100000 tons "A year. 1t would encounter
the competition of cheap fuel OIL of
! which the equivalent of 12 900 900 tons of
| coal year is used there. 1t is estimated
that the coal could be laid down at Sc
| attic or San Francisco. a high-grade BIZ
| luminous. at 81 ton and anthracite at
| s. or 81 ton. The price OF coal on the
| Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
| time In the year and from year to year
from 81 TO sl2 ton. with regular coal
| supply established. the expert OF the
| geological survey, Mr. Brooks. who has
made n report on the subject. does not
| think there would be excessive profit
| in the Alaska coal mining because the
price at which the coal could be sold
| would be considerably lowered by compe-
tition from these fields and by the pres
ence OF crude fuel oil. The history of the
laws affecting the disposition OF Alaska
| coal lands shows them to need amend
ment badly.
| on November IL. 1906, President Roose-
| welt issued executive order with
| drawing all coal lands from location and
| entry in Alaska. On May 1s. 1907. he
modified the order to permit valid
| locations made prior to the withdrawal
on November H. 1906. to proceed to entry
and patent. Prior to that date some 900
claims had been filed. most OF them said
| TO be Illegal because either made fraudu-
lently by dummy entrymen In the inter-
| est of one Individual corporation, or
because of agreements made prior to To-
| cation between the applicants to cooperate
in developing the lands. There are 90
| claims for lG0 acres each. known as the